Waitering, Part Two
What the hell is a "certified playwright"? Good story, I suppose. Too bad for the poor bastards that had to cover his tables when Mr. Roberts decided that he wasn't up for the job, or for quiting in person.
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The Ordering Game
My personal rule is that nobody at a table should order the same thing-- although in some settings I'll refine this so that only my wife and I are so limited. It depends on how receptive to my neurosis the other people we are with should be expected to be. I like the Ordering Game, though, and will be integrating (grating being the key word) it into my set of quirks. Something like the Ordering Game is already a part of my set of rules for fast food-- it's McDonald's, for crissake. Why do you need to ponder the menu? Presumably the only reason we are here is because of a specific craving! In a fast food setting everyone can order the same thing-- because I am flexible.
Responses to Comments by outsidecou
Waitering, Part Two
I can completely sympathize with Adam. I waitressed for half a year and finally decided it just wasn't worth it and found a job not in the service industry. Not liking a job doesn't mean you're spoiled, it could just mean the job sucks. And it would be both stupid and masochistic to stay in a job you hated if you didn't have to do it. I considered myself a friendly, competent server and often went out of my way to do little things for customers. But so often people are cheap or just mean and will not tip well, regardless of how well a server does his job. Also, our kitchen was terrible and would constantly screw up orders or take forever to cook food, all of which I was blamed for. Waitressing is terrible and at times made me doubt that nice people actually existed in the world. Maybe it is better at some restaurants, but at the one I worked at, I wouldn't recommend a job to my worst enemy.
Waitering, Part Two
This guy sounds like a spoiled brat and incompetent to boot. He probably did his employer a favour when he quit, although he'd certainly worked there long enough to know he was screwing his fellow workers.
I grew up in the restaurant business, worked as a waitress for years to put myself through college. I only worked in one place bad enough to warrant quitting without notice and the place in which he was employed was nirvana compared to that.
Hosting/hostessing in every place I worked was always a plum job given only to very experienced waiters/waitresses. I'm not surprised he wasn't able to do it. His employer should never have put him in that position.
Waitering, Part Two
I have to agree with the sentiments about how awful it is when people just don't show up. I worked a summer with a boss/chef who would throw plates at the waitresses and call us every name in the book - on girl (understandably) quit - but I had to spend the next three weeks working double shifts, 7 days a week to cover her lunch shift. It sucked, and it would have been great if she could so much have given a bit of notice, or forwarded us a name of a friend who could cover her.
And maybe it's because I paid most of my way through college/law school waitressing for every psycho chef out there, but I don't really see the big, dehumanizing aspect of having to get a kid a piece of bacon and picking up a fork. Count your blessings if that's this is the worst job you get.
Waitering, Part Two
Unfortunately, Mr. Roberts comes across exactly like the spoiled blue-blooded wine merchant he so resentfully depicts. Gimme a break.
Waitering, Part Two
When has asking for an extra piece of bacon being acceptable? It's not buffet serive, you know. Restaurant does not give out free food, and an extra piece of bacon involves another dish which has to be washed. How do you even charge for an extra piece of bacon if it is not a side dish on the menu?
As amazing as this might sound, we pay for the food AND the serivce when we goto a sit down restaurant. So an extra piece of bacon is not ``just" another piece of bacon. It's an extra portion of food which involves more work for the waiter. Therefore, a food item shouldn't be offered unless it is specifically on the menu. It's really simple actually. Just like you wouldn't break apart a pack of cookies at the grocery store and expect to buy just that.
As someone pointed out, a waiter's salary is almost nothing, so where's the sin in quitting over the phone. The management made every effort to be hateful and exploit the lower economic status of their employees. Of course they lucked out of Adam since he worked there by choice. If the management were more humane, I bet Adam would not have quit over the phone. It's a lesson to be learned by the management.
Waitering, Part Two
Jeez...all you current or former waiters are a surly bunch. I don't think Adam was asking for your judgement. He was honest and told a story.
Waitering, Part Two
Exactly...you can't just melt into a puddle because someone wanted an extra piece of bacon. As a waiter you get paid nothing on salary...maybe two bucks or so an hour...you're working for your tips, and you earn tips by pleasing your customers. An extra piece of bacon? That's nothing. If you're new, you may not know how to make special requests like that, but you ask, you learn...because I'm sure that 'evil' professor wasn't the first man ever to ask for an extra piece of bacon.
Waitering, Part Two
The story is funny and well told. Adam is a bit spoiled, though. Most people can't afford to quit their jobs (Mom and Dad aren't subsidizing them) and so they just suck it up and persevere.
Waitering, Part Two
It really sucks when people don't have the decency to give notice. I've been on both sides of it, as a wuss who didn't want to face up to the responsibility and an employee who gets leaned on more to make up for it. Neither sympathy nor the behavior of others makes it okay. I'm ashamed of having done it, and it sounds like Adam is too. Live and learn.
Waitering, Part Two
Oh, I'm familiar with this tale of woe. And brunch, too? The very worst shift of all shifts. The Shift of Death.
What kind of ass asks for more bacon? Oh wait! I know! The kind of ass who declines to order a beverage but then asks you for a glass of water, four lemon wedges and some sugar! Or the kind of ass who doesn't order a salad ("...what do you mean it's not included with my entree?") but orders a side of lettuce and tomato for $1.75 (you know, the kind served on the side for those who don't want to order deluxe burgers) and then whips out packets of dressing from her purse.
The restaurant biz is brutal.
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