Posted on 04/17/2006 8:19:37 AM PDT by ConservativeBamaFan
Office Depot CEO Steve Odland remembers like it was yesterday working in an upscale French restaurant in Denver. ADVERTISEMENT
The purple sorbet in cut glass he was serving tumbled onto the expensive white gown of an obviously rich and important woman. "I watched in slow motion ruining her dress for the evening," Odland says. "I thought I would be shot on sight."
Thirty years have passed, but Odland can't get the stain out of his mind, nor the woman's kind reaction. She was startled, regained composure and, in a reassuring voice, told the teenage Odland, "It's OK. It wasn't your fault." When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson: You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
jus' playin'...:-)
I disagree. I have been a waitress & bartender in dives and 4 star restaurants. I also dine in both. If I am treated poorly or have a bad meal, they will know about it. This pisses off my man who would rather leave & never go back. I prefer for them to know why I am leaving & why I won't be back. The owner/manager deserves a chance to right the wrong. Bad word of mouth is a killer & most owners know this fact.
Well, I AIN'T leavin' you a tip! Except to say, if you're a single guy on the dating scene, avoid dating women with really long fingernails. They're a sign of screwed-up priorities. Wait ... was that a tip?
My sister used to put salt on her watermelon and on oranges. I won't get into her character.
Yup, never a good idea to pi$$ off the cook, waiter or paymaster.
If you like dead bugs, spit, dirt, or worse sprinkled on your chow, go ahead and infuriate the waiter.
"Ralph Nader also, is supposed to be hell to work for."
Saint Ralph is also decidedly anti-union...amongst his own workers.
See the chapter on Nader in Peter Schweizer's "Do As I Say (Not As I Do)"
subtitled "Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy" (IIRC).
Rofl! And my back has the scars to prove it! :-)
Yes, but not with money. :-)
Your enlightened perspective is refreshing; my only point was that people who treat food service folks rudely are ignoring the fact that those same folks can do very bad things when they have your food out of sight.
Just not very bright, purely from self interest.
Thank you for that, feinswine. The Mr. is a restaurant manager. Too many people say, well, if he was a good manager, he'd know, and he wouldn't have this employee working for him anyway. That's not always true. It's not always that simple to fire a bad worker, especially if the manager's bosses are lawsuit-shy.
A customer complaint can be a powerful tool for a manager to use in getting rid of a bad egg.
Fishhawk, please reconsider complaining to management, just make sure you do it after the meal, but before you pay. You might just get that check torn up. Restaurant managers typically have a lot of leeway in comping unhappy guests' tickets.
The last thing you want is someone who introduces himself with a big grin and a chummy "Hello everyone, I'm Randy and I'll be your server tonight, and how are you all doing...," and proceeds to become an uninvited member of your party every time he comes to the table.
I don't want to know the waiter's name. Apart from the unshakable queasy feeling I still get at the thought of calling strangers by their first name, my knowing the waiter's name implies that at some point in the evening I'll need to use it, which should be completely unnecessary if he's doing his job right.
Mind you, exceptions can and should be made at places where your family has been dining for generations -- but then those are likely the places where people on both sides of the tablecloth still grasp the rudiments of civilized behavior.
Way too much information, mate. :-)
"If you ever want to learn about someones character, have them DRIVE you somewhere in heavy traffic."
Oh man I would be busted with that one. I don't do well following the people going 62 in the fast lane of 65 mph road.
I know -- no offense meant. Just telling you that this is one former food server who not only would never do such a thing, but who would come down hard on anyone seen doing it.
I just think that is the fair thing to do. One night, we walked out of 2 restaurants in a row due to slow/bad service. The 1st place, I wanted to let them know why we were leaving as I really wanted to try this place & had heard great things....but we did it my mans way & said nothing. We went to the place upstair (separate restaurant) & it was empty....we were ignored for 15 minutes, then waited 20 for a drink. I watched as the waitress waled back & forth around the small restaurant with 2 tables of patrons. She finally made our martinis and we could see her add water to the shaker. It was undrinkable....worst martini ever. We decided to leave & asked for the check.....another 15 mintues...nothing...finally I grabbed a guy who looked in charge & told him we were leaving & why & we needed the bill....he just said "don't worry about it".....didn't give a rip that the drinks were wrong & we wasted our time. Free drinks or not, never going back there.
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