Y’know, I think I know what my problem is, and why I am rubbing some in the business the wrong way.
I am a very low maintenance customer. Other than asking for jalapeno’s on the side with the occasional mexican meal, I just want to choose my food, get it in a reasonable time and while it’s still hot, and be able to pay for it relatively shortly after I complete the meal. If something sucks I either decide I will never eat there again or, if it is a place I frequent, I’ll guess someone just made a mistake. I don’t complain.
There is very little a waitperson needs to do for me that is not their very basic reason for being employed in the first place.
It is because I do not like being waited on. It is disrespectful to the person doing the “waiting”. My sister and her Husband are VERY rich. When I visit their home or we spend a week with them on their 115’ yacht I always make the mistake of “overly befriending” the staff and not letting them wait on me. I’m getting better at it but it always makes me uncomfortable.
I would love to have a button at my table so that I would only be “bothered” by a wait person when I really need something. I’d hardly ever press the button, would be allowed to converse with my friends uninterrupted, and would be happy to pay a tip based on how many times I pressed the button, and how fast it was responded to.
Good waiters shouldn’t be hassling you too often. They should be looking for empty stuff (glasses to refill, plates to take away) and about half way through should ask how your food is, but other than that unless you engage them in conversation should be leaving you alone. I’m not a chatty guy, so I’m totally in alignment on the not wanting to be hassled, but I do want my glasses refilled.
There is very little a waitperson needs to do for me that is not their very basic reason for being employed in the first place.
Same here. I virtually never complain or send anything back (it has to be something absolutely inexcusable, like chicken that's bloody & raw inside), and I'm sometimes kind of embarrassed when my wife does, or when she makes some special request. Accuracy and keeping liquid in my glass are pretty much the only things I want from a server.