Posted on 05/12/2023 6:15:44 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Mother's Day is one of the busiest days for the American restaurant industry. It also has a reputation among waiters and restaurant staff as one of the most grueling days on the calendar.
"Every server knows that working on Mother's Day is hell. In fact, if I die and go to hell, I completely expect it to be Mother's Day. 365 days a year," wrote Darron Cardosa, in his book "The Bitchy Waiter: I'm Really Good at Pretending to Care."
What's so bad about it? From big groups that show up in waves ("most of us are here!"), to food-fussy kids and grandmas to splitting the check dramas and three-coffee-cup lingerers, restaurants hate this holiday. This year is expected to be particularly challenging as high inflation and rising menu prices give some restaurant-goers an extra sense of entitlement.
"The anticipation alone can make you anxious," said Joe Haley, an abstract artist who works as a server at a Quincy, Massachusetts, Italian-American restaurant. It gets "jam-packed. People are calling at the last minute for a reservation, there are other people who made multiple reservations so Mom could have her pick and they never cancel... people who take out their mother once a year tell you 'Nothing can go wrong!'" he said.
But it does. With big tables, a few late arrivals can kick the kitchen into chaos. "And every family has at least one black sheep or in-law who can't be relied upon to save their lives. Mother's Day: I dread it," Haley added.
Chefs, servers and owners said that this year guests have set their expectations high: Special occasion meals in a time of rising food prices. In a post-pandemic world, luxury -- or rather the appearance of luxury and excess -- is "in."
(Excerpt) Read more at channel3000.com ...
I prefer to go fishing on mother’s day. This year we’ll be in Ocean Shores in Washington razor clamming. Weather is going to be beautiful.
I think the article is a sneaky way of trashing Mothers Day by the people who think it should be Parent 1 Day. They hate Mothers Day because it’s about how people reproduce in the normal manner.
Customers are dorks all year around. But Mothers Day is when they give mom a break from the kitchen and take her out to eat, so there are more dorks per square foot in restaurants on Mothers Day than at other times.
Steve Dublanica said the same thing in his book “Waiter Rant.” I wouldn’t get near a brunch place on Mother’s Day.
Same here! I don’t like eating out most of the time. Once in a blue moon is sufficient, and not on Mother’s Day.
My Mom wanted to go to Costco for Mother’s Day last year, LOL! She loves the Free Samples.
This year, she and I are going out for RIBS...to go! :)
Reverse the dates of Mother and Father’s Day: Mom can cook a nice inside meal at home for Dad — and Dad can fire up the grille for Mom.
No need to go bothering those put-out restaurants at all.
It is the busiest day of the year for most restaurants.
Most good ones are booked well in advance.
It is also the one day the EVERYONE who works for the restaurant has to work. Nobody gets Mothers Day off.
My wife worked for years as a waitress/hostess at several area restaurants. My son worked as a buss boy during college.
yes, some of our mothers die early. That is sad, but to go after Mother’s Day for that reason is absurd.
Some customers are so entitled that they make it miserable for the staff.
And fathers now have to share Father's Day with single moms who "do it all."
“..A Canadian school is banning Mother’s day as not everyone has a mother....”
LOL... Well, some of em act as if they were hatched from the eggs of demons and then climbed out of the Pit. So yeah, those wouldn’t have a “mother” in the classic sense..... /s
I told my family NOT to take me out on Mother’s Day - all the restaurants are far too crowded.
Last time we went out for a Mother’s Day Brunch, our usual restaurant was crowded, noisy and the waiters and waitresses surly and angry - all they did was try to get us out of there ASAP so they could turn the table over to the next group. They didn’t want us to linger - offered up the bill before we were done eating, etc. We’ve never gone back.
It will be up to them as to how we celebrate.
To paraphrase Yogi Berra “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded all the time.”
Yes. Just hanging with the family is all the fun.
Sounds like a plan. Hope you have fun! :)
I think the full quote is in my post #33.
Exactly, was just gonna say the same thing. I’ll bet the homeless man who lost his house and can’t find work wouod be grateful regardless of how hectic one day of the year got.
I worked at an “Omelette Factory” (name of resteraunt- served 40 different omelette combinations), and it was slammed every day with people- we were kept running nonstop till our shift was over, and being a tourist town, the diners werent th3 friendliest). However, It was sure loads better than sitting on the park bench wishing you had $$ for lunch. Back then customers were “always right” even when they weren’t. Today, servers will get in people’s faces in a heartbeat it seems. Today everyone seems angry- from business folks, to waiters, to the homeless. Many are witching about their circumstances
Back in the 60’s maybe, these days it’s a mad house out there.
But... at least it’s not Father’s Day in BBQ land with the carbon footprint of the United States getting completely skewed, while mass quantities of Bud Light is quaffed...
Not to mention the few days before Father’s Day where tons of emissions from lawn mowers smog large suburban areas!
Tons of picnic plates and plasticware fill the landfills and waterways afterwards... what a catastrophe!!!
At least lawn dart deaths have been mostly averted through legislation efforts.
” This year is expected to be particularly challenging as high inflation and rising menu prices give some restaurant-goers an extra sense of entitlement.”
Really? And what is this claim based upon?
Seriously, do they even have editors at all anymore in any media organization?
I don’t have any relatives related to Martin Luther King either- yet we recognize him one day a year. If the left banned mothers day in the US because not everyone has a mother, would they also ban Martin’s day beczuse not everyone is black or related to him? The left apply their “rules and demands” very selectively
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