The Real World of Waiting

After reading the post made by The Boy, I was suddenly inspired. My contribution this week and in future weeks will be stories from work that piss me off. While the movie "Waiting" may give those who do not work in a restaurant a little taste of what this kind of work is like, I feel that my posts will help everyone remember what to do and what not to do when dining out.

Let me give you a little history. The restaurant I work in used to have order at the counter service as opposed to full service with a waitress. However, one FULL year ago this service was changed to entirely full service. This means that those who enter the restaurant see a host or hostess to be seated at a table where a waitress, perhaps myself, will take care of them. For those customers that have a hard time figuring out what the podium is for at the entrance, there is a helpful sign that reads "Please see greeter."

So yesterday as I was going into the second part of what turned out to be a 14 hour shift, a family comes in the door and proceeds to seat themselves. At this point in time the hostess grabs them, walks them past the please see greeter sign again, and then places them at a table in order to avoid overwhelming another waitress. Lucky for me, this family was now seated in my section. However, before I could go to get their order they walked to the counter to ask for some drinks. The cashier standing at the counter nicely instructed them that their order would be taken at the table. When I greeted them they asked me when it changed to full service. In my head I answer this question "A F*CKING YEAR AGO!" They then told me that they had not been in to eat in a while so I understood their confusion, but was still frustrated with their presence. Although annoyed, I asked them what they would like to drink and even suggested some delightful happy hour specials. The man asked for a pitcher of beer. I responded to this as I always do, "I am sorry sir we do not sell pitchers of beer. We do have tall drafts and buckets of beer instead." In response to this statement the mans looks at his wife and says "Man this place sure has changed a lot." BUT in reality it hadn't changed much at all because we have NEVER sold pitchers of beer.

Once I got their drinks and took their order the man at the table shared with me that he was "such a huge fan" of one of our new menu items. It was at this time that I experienced a light bulb moment. If they had not eaten in the restaurant in over a year and that is why they did not know to see the hostess or order from me.....THEN HOW COULD THEY HAVE EATEN A NEW MENU ITEM! In conclusion, some people should always EAT AT HOME!