Working in a restaurant is a pretty interesting experience. I'm no seasoned pro but I have been in this industry for a couple years and I think I've got a few things figured out. I wanted to write about this when I was slipped a business card after serving a table last night. The man who did the slipping must have been at least 25 years my senior and out for drinks with his wife and her friends for her birthday. I'm not sure if he was giving me his contact information in the hopes that I would call him up for a steamy affair or if he genuinely thought I was in need of an investment broker. Either way I ended up confused, pissed off and a little hungry. This is not the first time this has happened to me, not saying that I'm getting picked up at work every night but when it does happen it seems completely inappropriate.
Last summer I was serving lunch to a mother and her son who was roughly my age. They were both really nice so in turn I was friendly and stopped to talk to them for a bit. Halfway through their meal I went back to check on them and suddenly got a weird vibe from the both of them. After clearing their table I was standing behind the bar when the son came up to me and told me that he really liked me and wanted to take me out. I told him I was flattered but "very, very taken". I brought the bill out to their table and tried to maintain my friendliness because I didn't want the son to feel awkward or embarrassed but his mother was very short with me and quite rude. After they had left I went to grab their bill wherein they had left me absolutely no tip.
Thanks a lot.
It seems that the people who go out to restaurants and try to pick up their server or bartender (whether out of desperation or sheer drunkenness) don't understand that we have to be nice to you, it's kind of our job. If not for the reputation of the establishment then in the hopes of getting a decent tip out of you (which, by the way, is at least 15% these days). It infuriates me when someone takes my kindness as a come on which may prompt them to leave me their number or try to hook me up with their friend (or son). I'm sure that I'm not speaking only on my behalf but it makes one feel like a tease and kind of like you need to take a long hot shower after someone particularly gross tries to give you bedroom eyes.
There are other pitfalls to working in this industry, working all night on weekends and making it out for last call at the dive bar down the road, if you're lucky, on a saturday night. Rampant workplace politics, drug use, alcoholism and dishonest managers or owners who treat you poorly (and sometimes steal your tips from you or make sexually inappropriate comments).
But the money is generally good and sometimes you find a great spot to work where you get along with your bosses and co-workers (ahem- JAMcafe). That's when all the creeps and jerks don't seem to matter quite so much.
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