Friday, October 19, 2007

Experiences of a Waitress Pt. 1

               

Good Morning All !
 
I'm attempting to make more frequent entries so if I seem "harried ~ scarried" please forgive lol.
I don't know if I've mentioned before but I work as a waitress in a italian restaurant...a pretty popular one.  It's hard to be able to become a server at this place because of the training involved etc.  you have to completely memorize the menu, each ingredient in every dish, every wine etc.  I am good enough and have been doing this long enough that it really wasn't any problem for me.
Well, let me tell you, I can tell you some horror stories about the "guests" - I swear some of them have never been taught about dining out etiquette i.e. tipping practices etc. The kind of "guest" I hate waiting on the most are middle age single office women (I say this because they very apparently work in a office somewhere) and men in their 50's that come in the place wearing polyester and knit with their guts hanging out over the belt. Makes me shudder just thinking about it.
 
 
Okay, the women...at lunch time you know they come in on a limited time bracket.  They inevitably chose soup and salad (unlimited) and they want this, they want that, very picky creatures.  Some order dessert afterwards - I've noticed that some order the dessert taking the longest amount of time to make very close to the time they need to leave to get back to work, then they complain about the time and say they need it to go - we have to get one of the managers involved then, whenever there is any type of discontent showed.  Then of course, the manager has to give them their dessert free because of the length in time it took.  Can we say that to me it almost equates to fraud or stealing.  THEN they leave you the crappiest tips imaginable, doesn't matter that they received damned good service...they tip miserably RARELY do they tip even 15%, I'm sure that gives you a clue as to what they do tip.  In Texas servers only make $2.13 an hour + tips - in Oregon I made at the time $6.35 and hour + tips.  I hate those kinds of "guests" I feel like saying to them, if you aren't prepared to tip for demanding services of me, then you need to go to McDonalds or Burger King.  Not here.  Servers remember people like that and you can almost be guaranteed that you won't get good service the next time you come in - you mess with our income? then don't be surprised to make your next dining experience as miserable as possible.  That may seem small, but I'm sorry how would you feel if your boss started taking small amounts of money out of your bank account for fraudulent reasons?   to me that is what it is.  So remember little things like that the next time you go out to eat in a restaurant, tip accordingly at least 15% because you WILL be remembered & the word passed around to other servers so they will know you when you next come in. LOL.
As far as the males that I mentioned?   A day earlier this week, they look and treat you like "the little woman" or like a hooker. They leer at you, make comments etc. 
This one "male" reached out and grab me around my waist and was calling me Mother Teresa (like the other a**holes at the table) and said "yea, I know what I'd like to do to YOU little lady" well, I'm not little by any means lol  I'm voluptuous.  I looked at him like he was the scum of the earth ( which to my mind at that point he WAS scum of the earth) and said perfectly straight faced..."yes, and I know what I'd like to do to you" and yanked his arm from around my waist.  To me?  no one has the right to touch you without your permission, period.  I've grabbed males around the throat for less...or grabbed their balls and threatened to rip them off and shove them down their throats for touching me.  I don't like being touched for the exception of very few people.  Maybe I'm strange about that I don't know.  Whatever, it's theway I am.  So, last night I was sitting at the kitchen table with Cindy eating and I mentioned this happening to her... the b/f said I should expect that kind of behavior from men sometimes.  I looked at her and said "I'm not a prostitute or a whore and I don't work in a strip club or someplace like that, NO ONE has a right to touch me without my permission, period."  Got me riled up.  I felt like saying "do you allow men to grope you where you work?"  I wanted to say some other things to but I didn't.  I behaved.  
 
The temperatures are finally dropping even more here, I love it.  Seems like I've been waiting forever for this time to get here.  The boys are loving it also...they are able to stay out in their run longer and play.
Tonight, I'm going to fix dinner  ~ Breaded Pork Chops, Homemade Mashed Potatoes and a veggie...not sure what tho.  I have GOT to get Cindy to try something besides green beans, creamed corn, carrots or canned peas (she hates frozen peas, has to be canned peas) or pinto beans LOL. 
 
Alright, I'm out of here.  Thought practice just plummeted LOL.
 
 
 
 

 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Enjoy your weekend.
Missie

Anonymous said...

Damn right no one should be touching you! Been there, Teresa, and you are so right! I also HATE places that still allow wait staff to be paid less than minumum wage. Tips shouldn't be counted as wages. They are too unpredictable.
My minimum tip is $4...even when my little boy and I have breakfast somewhere and it comes to $7.50, I still leave 4 or 5 dollars. Most times, I tip about 30-50%...not because I'm "nice" (I'm NOT) but just because I've been on the tip-receiving end and know how hard y'all work for it.
Hang in there. Some folks just SUCK! --Cin

Anonymous said...

Awwwwwww Teresa, Damn right nobody has the right to touch you without your permission, I am so sorry this is happening, have you tried to tell your manager, by the way I am a volumptous gal myself so I can understand people acting like idiots, Love Ya and Hugs Lisa

Anonymous said...

methinks I would have mentioned how expensive sexual harrassment lawsuits are these days.  fuckers...

I've never been a waitress but one thing always annoys me about people who are ordering.  When they don't look at the waitstaff.  Seriously....they're not talking into an intercom...look up and talk to them like they're people, you know?!  (erm...yeah, I'm sure you do know...)

Happy Friday!

~Amy

Anonymous said...

You can't possibly be talking about me. I don't do polyester!
Gaz ;-) xxxxxxxx