Why? Why??? Whyyyyyyyyyy?????

[kingyummy]

Why do new customers in restaurants ALWAYS choose to sit on dirty tables? WHY? WHY?

WHY?

At the place where I work, if a new group walks through the door and there are 10 clean tables and ONE dirty one, covered with cups and plates and crumbs and spilt water and tea, THAT is the one the new people will sit on. And then they call a waitress over and

Comments

[kingyummy]

Ah, someone who understands!

I also always tip really well; I tip as far over the odds as I can possibly afford to. I feel so fucking guilty every time I set foot in any establishment where anyone has to wait on me that I do my best to be as good a customer as possible, up to and including stacking plates when everyone is done, because my least favourite part of waiting tables is having to lean across people to clear their plates while they just SIT there, determined to make it as awkward as possible.

In many way I am really lucky in my current job: the boss is really synpathetic and he doesn't treat us like robots - he makes us take breaks (for which we are paid, and we get free food too); he doesn't hesitate to give us whatever days we want on/off; he is always open to feedback from us about how the place is run, what's on the menu etc. He even - get this - called me at home last Sunday to thank me for my efforts the previous day!! He had had the Saturday off, and it was incredibly busy all day so we all had to work even harder than usual - and the takings for the day were the best ever since the business opened, so he called us all the next day to thank us.

It's just the fucking customers, you know? Today these 2 women came in and sat on the table right next to the (HUGE) specials board. After they'd been seated a couple of minutes, they signalled to me that they were ready to order. So I went over, and the one went, "What is the soup today?" So I turned 45 degrees and read off the board, "Tomato and basil." So she goes, "Oh. Well I suppose we'll have two of them. And what else do you have?"

I thought I'd misheard her - I thought she was just musing out loud on what to have as a main course, so I just smiled patiently at her - but no: she was actually sitting there, with a menu in front of her and a fucking specials board right next to her, and asking me to recite, for her convenience, every single fucking item of food that we could produce for her.

At times like that I just want to go, "Have you ever been to a restaurant before? Do you know how this works?" They eventually made their minds up but they were shitty customers from start to finish - after I cleared their starters they called us over three times - THREE TIMES - to ask where their mains were. Everything is cooked to order, so there was a wait of maybe 10 minutes, max, between the two courses - but of course they wanted something to complain about so they convinced themselves that we were all hopelessly stupid and incompetent, and had absent-mindedly eaten their order slip or flushed it down the toilet instead of taking it to the kitchen. I was so glad to see the back of them.

Hmmm, I can see that todya was not a good day for me...!

[inconceivable1]

Wow, I wish I'd had your boss when I was waiting tables! I had two bosses at one stage that I really got on with. They were partners and they bought the restaraunt I was working at from the previous owner. We got along so well that we became friends and ended up going out after work for drinks, most nights. :) Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and they sold ownership of the place and moved. I ended up working for them again in a different establishment later, once I got fed up with the new boss.

I've never had a boss that I wasn't close friends with call and thank me for a job well done, though...hehe.

Yes, even with a fantastic employer, the customers make the food industry a living hell. I think being waited on gives them an inflated sense of superiority.

[kingyummy]

We got along so well that we became friends and ended up going out after work for drinks, most nights.
Nobody I've ever worked for has liked me enough to fraternise with me on the outside (as it were)!

And to tell the truth, the boss at the place I'm working at the moment *is* a bit strange! He's a LOT easier to work with than the manager, though (FUUUUUUUUUUUCK, the manager pisses me off! I need to find a "managers_suck" community, fast!)

even with a fantastic employer, the customers make the food industry a living hell. I think being waited on gives them an inflated sense of superiority.

SECONDED!! Normal people are transformed into monsters by the presence of menus, apparently...