Grumpy Old Men  

Posted by Jude Emblem

Yesterday at work I had two elderly gentlemen sit at one of my tables. The one gentleman was somewhat friendly, but his friend was obviously never spanked as a child. This particular man had sat for less than two minutes during a busy Thursday night before I arrived to take the drink order and yet he demanded "Where's the drinks at I'll get 'em my self!". I'll be right back sir... So I fetch the drinks, post-haste, and on my way back to the table Grumpy is at the buffet line where the dinner rolls had just run out and were being replenished and yet, he thought it best to let everyone know that he wanted dinner rolls by banging on the empty tray right there at the buffet! I could not believe this guy's lack of manners or understanding at such a busy time of day! Worse yet, this guy probably wont tip very well if at all! (Sorry, but that's a big deal to us servers) You know what? This guy sounded like a challenge. Alright Grumpy. I'll play your game and kill you with kindness. See if you can stiff me then! Even though he continued to be as grim and gruff as before throughout the meal, I bit my tongue (and the quick witticisms in my head) and kept smiling while trying my best to deliver as good a service possible. When they were ready to leave it was Grumpy, and not his friendly companion, who handed me 20%! (Silent victory) So, even when something seems almost impossible all we have to do is try that much harder and things will work out for the better. Keep up the fight TradCats!

This entry was posted on July 31, 2009 at Friday, July 31, 2009 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

7 comments

Thanks for another tale of a victory won, Jude - they're good for our morale! God bless!

July 31, 2009 at 11:56 PM

Tales of Virtue, By Jude. See Ignacio some of us don't just laugh at cats, and write poetry =P!!!( Victory ) Where do you work, jude?

August 1, 2009 at 3:52 PM

I work at a nearby Ponderosa Steakhouse as a server. Hoping to get into bar tending when I return to Buffalo this semester.

August 1, 2009 at 10:42 PM

Sounds like it would be an interesting change... haha!

August 3, 2009 at 4:03 PM

is being a waiter boring?

August 6, 2009 at 7:54 PM

Absolutely not! As a server I get to meet interesting and new people every day! Some people come every week and you come to know them on a more personal level and can joke around about almost anything. At Ponderosa we servers not only serve tables, we also clean up the tables when finished (some places have a specific person do that for everyone), prepare fruit dishes and desserts for the buffet line, help carry out dishes for the dishwasher, and chase people when they leave something behind. At a normal restaurant you would have only about 4-6 tables normally. At Ponderosa I am in charge sometimes of the whole place by myself! Not to mention the continuous and mostly pointless bantar between us servers and all other workers. In the back I'll start singing a song and then someone else has to continue the next line. If anyone ever wants to work in restaurant, I recommend being a server. We also make more money than everyone else does. =)

August 7, 2009 at 11:17 AM

LOL -- okay, if I ever end up working in a restaurant I will be sure to be a server in a restaurant where people randomly sing! Sounds like my kind of place!

August 13, 2009 at 1:09 PM

Post a Comment