Okay, I have to share this. It's too unbelievably ridiculous to not to be shared.
I have reached a real milestone as a server. A rite of passage, if you will.
That's right, I've been Yelp!-ed.
Let's begin with the whole story. I picked up a waitressing shift at Live Bait last Friday as a favor. I admit that I may have not been my most chipper, but I certainly wasn't in any kind of nasty mood. I was going about my business, waiting on my tables with my usual amount of cheer and attentiveness. I'm a pretty spunky gal. And I'm a really good waitress...up to a point. I simply DO NOT tolerate rudeness. So, here's what went down. A rather lumberjack-y looking, readheaded, bearded twentysomething man and his two older companions sat down in my section. I went up to take their order, and already something is off putting to me about this bearded guy, but whatever. Just a general air of arrogance and entitlement. Did I mention he looked like a fat lumberjack? Well, he did.
All sandwiches at Live Bait come with a choice of french fries, coleslaw, or salad ( a question that I have asked approximately 2343.9033 million times in the last year and a half). Paul Bunyan tells me he wants french fries, but he also wants a salad as well. Fine. The lady he's with orders a cup of soup to start, and the third guy orders no appetizer, but chooses salad as his side order for his ENTREE.
I put the order in the computer, and like any waitress with a modicum of common sense, I send out the cup of soup and the gingerman's extra salad first, before the entrees. I glance over a few minutes later, and the man who DID NOT ORDER AN APPETIZER is eating Beardy McGee's salad. I find that weird, but I assume maybe he gave it to him? Whatever. Not my meal, I don't care.
Moments later, I'm standing at the computer, and extra salad guy comes up to me and says, very rudely, "I don't know what happened but I think 'they' gave me salad to my friend".
I sort of just look at him, and reply "well, he didn't order a salad, so why did he eat it?"
"They gave it to him, not to me. Don't you have some kind of system so that they give the food to the right people?"
"We DO have a system, but sometimes people make mistakes. Do you want me to get you another salad? I'm more than happy to get another salad".
"No, don't bother. they're already passed that point in the meal."
At this point, he's being really grumbly and rude. Remember, he sat and watched someone else WHO DIDN'T ORDER A SALAD eat his. He waddles back to his table, and I go clear they appetizer plates and he makes a huffy comment about how they "still are going to need silverware".
OH, THANK YOU, you genius of dining. Thanks for assuming I wasn't going to bring you MORE.
At this point, I'm busy, so I don't get around to filling up their water or checking on them constantly. Not that I'm in any hurry to, when you're rude to me I'm not going to bend over backwards for your 8 dollar tip.
Which, by the way, they stiffed me. Which was to be expected. But in my mind, my dignity is worth way more than kissing your fat ass for 8 dollars, so I'll forgo the tip and take back the power by making you be thirsty for the remainder of your meal. HA! Take that!
Oh, I forgot to mention that as I walked past I heard him growling about how "he used to be a server" blah blah blah. Yeah, I get it. You think you can do my job better than me. If you've been a server before, then you wouldn't come up to me and speak to me like I am devoid of intellect. I went to college, buddy. I'm just working this job to pursue true happiness, unlike you who probably hates chopping down trees for a living.
On the way out, I heard him ask another server, very sweetly to make it seem like he likes me, what my name was, and I immediately knew what was going to happen. He was going to go home, create a Yelp! account because he doesn't already have one, and write something nasty about me because I could tell from the second he sat down that he was that kind of sad and petty person.
And I was right. You can read it all here:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/live-bait-new-york?rpp=40&sort_by=date_desc
Second one down. The most recent one was written by my dear friend, who not only do I wait on frequently, but is one of the most awesome people I know. Defending my honor on Yelp!, now that's friendship.
Some people should not be allowed to eat out. But what do I know? I'm just a waitress.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
"unlike you who probably hates chopping down trees for a living" had me laughing out loud! wait, was i supposed to write LOL? regardless, your blog is a great eye-opener, even if you ARE in the industry. mostly because it makes the rest of us feel a little more human to hear another server/bartender at another restaurant/bar/venue in another STATE, nonetheless, is going through the same issues with the same self-centered idiots. i've realized that some people just don't want to get along, no matter how nice, giving, forgiving, or generous you are. but what makes US better people is our ability to continue to try, every day, by going in and working a job that is JUST that. a job about "taking orders", giving, and understanding that you can't control someone's awful attitude, but maybe you can change it by being a little bit of sunshine during their lunch break/dinner/etc. and when you can't change it that way, make their lunch hell because...isn't that what they're asking for in that manner...? i mean, i'm all about solving problems, but no one is paid enough, ESPECIALLY service industry folk that live on TIPS and 2.13/hr (in TX), to take verbal abuse so that they can pick up a couple dollars off of a table after crying in the bathroom for ten minutes about the terrible way you were treated. kinda makes us sound like call girls or strippers, but then again, they're probably treated better than waiters/bartenders.
ReplyDeletei hope someone made your day equally as wonderful as he made it bad. :)