CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character

Yahoo News ^ | Fri Apr 14, 2006 | Del Jones

[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.

[CORedneck]

I admit I would fail that test...

If you ever want to learn about someones character, have them DRIVE you somewhere in heavy traffic.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Admiral Rickover used that trick, he wanted people who thought outside of the box.

[Just another Joe]

You know those plastic eggs you buy at Easter? I think I've eaten them.

Yeh, but only the yellow and green ones. And only after they ground them to powder.

;^)

[fanfan]

My daughter dropped a guy a few weeks ago for that reason.

They had been on 5 or 6 dates, I guess he felt more familiar, comfortable, etc.

Apparently, he started acting like a complete jerk to the waitress.

That was enough for her.

Well, that, and he slurped his soup.
;-)

[fish hawk]

All my life I left tips but later I took a job in a restaurant seating people and running the register. I got to know the waiters and busboys and found out that they did not make much money from wages but relied on their tips to live on. After that I became a good tipper. One thing to be careful of is that if you get a bad meal but the waiter gave you good service, tip him well anyway. It was not his fault that the kitchen screwed up your dinner. Another thing is that if you leave a restaurant feeling unhappy and abused, do not make a big scene, just leave and never go back.

[BluH2o]

I gave it expecting never to see it again. EVERY SINGLE TIME I got paid back, to my surprise.

Reminds me of a story of a warm hearted hooker (not equating you to one) in Tombstone, Arizona who gave a special client, a gold prospector, an advance so he would have funds (grubstake) to continue prospecting. She didn't hear from him for nearly a year (and took a lot of kidding from other parlor girls) until one day a courier from Wells Fargo showed up with a certified check, drawn on a reputable San Francisco bank, for a sum of $50,000.
That was back in the early 1870's when 50 grand was a lot of money.

[RJS1950]

I worked as a restaurant cook and I know how they spice foods, most put none in and over the last 30 or so years salt has become a taboo. Besides, I am partial to certain salty foods including soup. Sometimes I taste first, sometimes not. I'm not jumping to a conclusion, just basing my salting on taste and what I know about restaurant food. If I happen to get a meal that is already salted (Haven't had it happen yet) and I add too much, too bad, my fault.

[RJS1950]

In a navy chow hall, those weren't eggs, it was the silly putty that comes in those plastic eggs.

[Finny]

Wow! One "special" tip I remember well and with fondness. It was at a 24-hour Carrows in San Diego. A bunch of military kids (freshly joined) would come in after USO events on a regular basis. There'd be about eight or ten of them in the corner booth, and they'd almost all order soda fountain treats. Anyone who's worked in a coffee shop with fountain treats knows that milkshakes, banana splits, sundaes, etc. are a major pain in the butt because the waitress is usually the one who makes them, not the cook, and they take a lot of time (time she'd otherwise be spending taking care of other customers)

Just ONE banana split or ONE hot fudge sundae is a groaner (you've got to get out the whipped cream, chopped nuts, cherry, etc. etc. etc.), but this table would order maybe five or six total, and they'd come in with the rest of the Saturday night rush, so it was time I could ill spare. WORST OF ALL, because they were young and away from home for the first time, they were perpetually broke, and I'd be lucky if I got a buck in loose change.

But they were such sweethearts, most of them around my age but most a little less ...er, shall we say, worldly than I was at the time (I was pretty wild). So I figured that their being such a fun group of nice folks was "tip" enough.

One night the gang came in and I could tell by the expressions on their faces that something was up -- they had something up their sleeves for sure! They ordered their usual, I gave them a hard time as usual (just teasing, and we all knew it, though I NEVER EVER teased them about lack of tip), and served them up. Then one of them with a wonderful grin on his face, every face at the table watching, their eyes twinkling madly, took a rolled up wad of bills and stuffed it into the top of the knee-high boots that were part of my waitress uniform. They made me promise not to investigate until after they left ... and those lovely kids had given me $45 they'd pooled up, which in the mid 1970s, was a lot of dough, especially for kids in military boot camp.

I will remember it always.

[Finny]

Nah ... salting one's food before tasting it and one's patience or lack of driving in rotten traffic in no way, no how, not by any stretch, indicates a person's core values in any way even approaching what can be correctly read in how that person treats perceived subordinates. Both the salt test and the traffic test may be gages of something ... but insight into a person as a personality, leader and business mind isn't it!

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

I agree with your sentiment, spitting in food is totally not acceptable, that being said it does happen. I had never even heard of this concept until I visited the East Coast for an extended period of time.

[JoeSixPack1]

In no way, no how, by any stretch of the imagination, in mind numbing terms, or just a loose mental strain, comparatively speaking or just making a point, does your post even come close to, align itself with, characterize as, or attain accuracy of, a non-explanation bridging the gap between a falsity and reality of tapping ones inner ego.

So in terms of finality while embracing years of mental accuity brought on by a demanding work ethic, what do you really mean? :-)

[Sometimes A River]

Not to mention that there's a good chance they will spit in your food if one is rude to them!

[shempy]

There are two other guidelines. How they treat dogs. And, how they act when they are drunk.

I am always nice to dogs, waitresses, and receptionists. But that last test you through in there... I don't know if I can pass it. When I am drunk I am happy and laughing, but I am also loud as hell, swear more than ussual, out of control and make very bad decisions. Consequently, I get drunk once or twice a year, and only when I am with my wife. She doesn't drink and she makes sure I leave before I make an ass out of myself. So can I pass the drunk test or is it cheating to get help from my wife?

[Grampa Dave]

One of our younger relatives, is a chef, and he has warned many of his friends about what you posted: "Not to mention that there's a good chance they will spit in your food if one is rude to them!"

[Sometimes A River]

Absolutely. I have no doubt they do it to many peopla.

I have known for yrs to be very careful when I complain at a restaurant (which is pretty rare, but the funny thing, the more expensive it is, the more likely there is something wrong with the food/service.)

[ConservativeBamaFan]

One thing to also keep in mind is that in many restaurants, it is commonplace to "tip out" the salad bar guy (1 or 2 percent), the busboys (1/2 to 1 percent), and the bartender (2 to 3 percent). This money comes from the waiter's tips. I worked at Ruby Tuesday as a waiter for about a year back in college and this happened every night.

Another thing to remember if you're inclined to be a small tipper is that the restaurant (at least it was back in the 80's) is required to report eight percent of the waiter's sales to the IRS to insure tax collection. I don't know if this was true but I know we had to enter our tips into the computer when we clocked out at the end of a shift.

As a general rule, I tip 20 percent. It drives my wife crazy because she is a tightwad but I leave the restaurant knowing that I've been blessed and I'm just passing a little bit of it on to another. (Its my "compassionate conservatism" coming out)

[Feiny]

Years ago, I saw how a date talked down to our waiter & treated him with no respect....I even commented on it in front of both parties at the time by apologizing to the waiter for my dates boorish behavior. He still didn't get it. That was our only date.

[Thumper1960]

All people are deserving of respect and consideration.

Until their actions indicate otherwise.

[Finny]

Wha ....???

:^)