it was a groggy morning and i was two steps from "missing the alarm" but i begrudgingly persisted with my morning routine. we were all out of milk this morning (as we will be again tomorrow since i didn't get any) so a stop at quicktrip had to suffice. i scour the many beverage options for something new and there in the smoothie machine is HORCHATA! this is when i realized it would be a good day. i drive to work and manage to show up on time, only to discover that i left my apron (along with bank, book, pens, etc) at home. this wasn't a big deal, just a small damper. we were actually pretty busy and tips were decent. naturally, something had to go wrong.
the kitchen was running behind. three of the five tickets on the screen had gone red, "RUSH", and my table was wondering where on earth their food was. i went to address my table and offer my apologizes. "i'm really sorry. i'm not quite sure why it's taking so long. the ticket is red"... realizing they probably didn't know what that meant i tried to clarify, "i don't know if you've worked in a restaurant but it means your food should be up soon. i'm sorry again." moments later their food was ready and we brought it out.
while i was addressing another table i noticed they had grabbed my manager. i wasn't concerned- it was the kitchen's fault and i'm sure she knew that already. she approaches me. "they didn't seem too happy. i'm taking a good portion of their balance off- 25%. actually closer to 40%. anyway, i need to talk to you in a bit." ...? why?? what did i do? but she didn't seem all that bothered so i wasn't going to let it preoccupy me.
there were conventions and sports teams staying over at the hotel so rotation was pretty constant. for the greater portion of the day, my section was mostly full... much to my surprise. my shift was ending and my manager finally pulled me aside. "they said you asked if they've ever worked at a restaurant." knowing where this was going, i laughed. "biiiiig misunderstanding." i told her what happened and she smiled. i figured it was like that. but you've got to watch what you say. they stopped listening after they heard what they wanted to."
i had my hunch and it proved to be true. go figure it all revolved around someone not actually listening. something tells me they messed up the telephone game a lot in grade school.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
in review
i've been at my current job for six months now. i have to admit, i didn't really plan on staying at this job too long. i was mad at the hospital i worked at and wanted a job that got me far away from the people i dealt with. i'm in that i-don't-know-what-i-want-to-do-with-my-life spot so serving seemed like a good idea, especially since i've done it before.
i enjoy most of my job. we have fun. and i must hand it to them, they try really hard to make sure we have fun. they do little things like contests and prizes and they don't skimp either- it's not like in grade school where you got to pick from the teacher's "cool" collection of pens, erasers, and doohickeys; it's 25$ gas cards and baseball tickets. management is laid back (not lax, just laid back), there's a good array of sarcastic and like-minded coworkers, and the guests are usually nice people.
and even when times get bad, and we're all just standing around in small gossip circles, it still is a fun place to be. don't get me wrong, home always has and always will trump work, but it definitely outweighs my last job.
i enjoy most of my job. we have fun. and i must hand it to them, they try really hard to make sure we have fun. they do little things like contests and prizes and they don't skimp either- it's not like in grade school where you got to pick from the teacher's "cool" collection of pens, erasers, and doohickeys; it's 25$ gas cards and baseball tickets. management is laid back (not lax, just laid back), there's a good array of sarcastic and like-minded coworkers, and the guests are usually nice people.
and even when times get bad, and we're all just standing around in small gossip circles, it still is a fun place to be. don't get me wrong, home always has and always will trump work, but it definitely outweighs my last job.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
proper tipping protocol... or why most people suck.
as a server, i feel a certain anguish towards a particular subject. often at work, i've found myself saying, "i wish we aired a PSA about proper tipping protocol every 15 minutes or so on all of these TVs." and honestly, it sickens me that i should even feel that way, but i work at a job where i rely on the generosity of other people. so i feel it is my duty to inform everyone on the proper way to tip.
i guess we should start out with the basics. personally, i can remember sitting in class and learning how to easily calculate 10% of a number. it was quite simple actually; you take a number, move a decimal point over a notch to the left and voila! so let's do some examples:
sue's bill is $9.86. that makes 10% = .986, or 99cents respectively.
joe's bill is $47.81. that makes 10% = 4.781, or $4.78 respectively.
now often what we servers find, is people are far too lazy for this simple technique. they instead, take the first number and consider that to be 10%. so on that $47.81 bill, where joe and his date ordered drinks, an appetizer, entrees, and a dessert to share, and where his server had to make a bare minimum of five trips to their table (this doesn't include condiment runs or checking back to make sure everything is okay), they left a $4.00 tip. now for some more simple math. most restaurants, if not all, require a tip-out amount be granted towards bussers, bartenders, and sometimes even the hosts/hostesses. this typically translates to about 3% of your total sales. now for joe's table alone, the server has to tip out $1.43, making that $4.00 suddenly become a $2.57 tip. but even at the proper 10% tip, the server would still only receive $3.35. in order for the server to actually receive the 10% joe thought he was giving, he would have to leave at least 13% (10% plus the 3% tip-out).
there's another situation that leaves many servers in a dither. many restaurants, especially larger chains, offer various discounts. at my work alone, i can think of at least nine various discounts that, for the most part, could all be used at once even. so let's take joe's $47.81 bill and add a discount or two. joe takes plenty of his dates to my location and thus has racked up several points on our frequent diner card, so his $7.00 appetizer is now free. he also found a buy one-get one free coupon in the newspaper so the $9.00 salad his date ordered is also free. this brings his new balance to approximately $29.45 with a savings of $16.00(pretax). so now, instead of the $4.00 tip, joe leaves a $2.00 tip, regardless of the fact that $3.00 is closer to 10%, and after tip-out the server will make 57cents. i'm sure it's pretty easy to see why we servers think most people suck.
believe it or not, i've actually heard people say that servers make too much money. this concept baffles me. currently the minimum wage for a tipped employee is $3.25 in missouri and in illinois the rate is $3.90, with a federal mandated minimum of $2.13. i'm sure you're tired of all of the math here, but there's just a little bit more. we'll say that sue leaves a nice $3.00 tip on her $9.86 bill. joe, being that coupon-clipping douchebag that he is, leaves the $2.00 tip. after tip-out, the server will make $3.27 in tips, plus (we'll say they're from illinois) $3.90 for the hour they were all there. that brings their hourly rate up to $7.17, a mere 67cents above non-tipped employee minimum wage.
please consider these aspects next time you're dining out. i think the largest misconception is that 10% is acceptable for all levels of service. 10% is the suggested minimum for tipped employees. please reward service with a substantial and worthy tip based on the level of service received. i find far too often the server is punished for situations out of their control. the restaurant is too loud. the food took too long. their alcoholic drink tastes watered-down. these are all situations beyond the realm of the server, yet we're still the ones that pay the price. far too many people don't pay enough attention to realize that you just got double-sat, and have two bickering old ladies at another table and that is why it's taking you longer to get back to their table.
although greatly appreciated, compliments just don't hold any monetary value. so please don't consider them as a worthy substitute. and this swings both ways, if you think service is sub-par, inform your server- they may have not even been aware of a problem. if the problem isn't remedied, inform management. laws consider 14% of the server's total sales when considering their tips, whether reported or not, so punishing a server by tipping them less than such, isn't just teaching them a lesson, but costing them money.
i don't know how people get lost in their terms and think server is synonymous with servant. this doesn't happen often, but still is a problem that needs to be addressed. we may not have a corner office or drive buicks and we certainly aren't offered a 401k and full benefits simply for signing on, but we're still people. and take it or leave it, but the fact remains that there's a good chance we work twice as hard as you do. i've never heard a CEO complain about how badly their feet hurt from walking around all day on a 12-hour double.
the expression rings true: walk a mile in someone's shoes and then you'll know where they're coming from. it usually takes someone who has previously been a server to truly understand where the server is coming from. but it doesn't have to be that way. in a job where every move you make is judged, it's not easy to get the upper hand. it's not an easy job, period. but if people were a little more understanding of what truly goes on, everyone's lives would be a lot easier. and the world would be a happier place.
i guess we should start out with the basics. personally, i can remember sitting in class and learning how to easily calculate 10% of a number. it was quite simple actually; you take a number, move a decimal point over a notch to the left and voila! so let's do some examples:
sue's bill is $9.86. that makes 10% = .986, or 99cents respectively.
joe's bill is $47.81. that makes 10% = 4.781, or $4.78 respectively.
now often what we servers find, is people are far too lazy for this simple technique. they instead, take the first number and consider that to be 10%. so on that $47.81 bill, where joe and his date ordered drinks, an appetizer, entrees, and a dessert to share, and where his server had to make a bare minimum of five trips to their table (this doesn't include condiment runs or checking back to make sure everything is okay), they left a $4.00 tip. now for some more simple math. most restaurants, if not all, require a tip-out amount be granted towards bussers, bartenders, and sometimes even the hosts/hostesses. this typically translates to about 3% of your total sales. now for joe's table alone, the server has to tip out $1.43, making that $4.00 suddenly become a $2.57 tip. but even at the proper 10% tip, the server would still only receive $3.35. in order for the server to actually receive the 10% joe thought he was giving, he would have to leave at least 13% (10% plus the 3% tip-out).
there's another situation that leaves many servers in a dither. many restaurants, especially larger chains, offer various discounts. at my work alone, i can think of at least nine various discounts that, for the most part, could all be used at once even. so let's take joe's $47.81 bill and add a discount or two. joe takes plenty of his dates to my location and thus has racked up several points on our frequent diner card, so his $7.00 appetizer is now free. he also found a buy one-get one free coupon in the newspaper so the $9.00 salad his date ordered is also free. this brings his new balance to approximately $29.45 with a savings of $16.00(pretax). so now, instead of the $4.00 tip, joe leaves a $2.00 tip, regardless of the fact that $3.00 is closer to 10%, and after tip-out the server will make 57cents. i'm sure it's pretty easy to see why we servers think most people suck.
believe it or not, i've actually heard people say that servers make too much money. this concept baffles me. currently the minimum wage for a tipped employee is $3.25 in missouri and in illinois the rate is $3.90, with a federal mandated minimum of $2.13. i'm sure you're tired of all of the math here, but there's just a little bit more. we'll say that sue leaves a nice $3.00 tip on her $9.86 bill. joe, being that coupon-clipping douchebag that he is, leaves the $2.00 tip. after tip-out, the server will make $3.27 in tips, plus (we'll say they're from illinois) $3.90 for the hour they were all there. that brings their hourly rate up to $7.17, a mere 67cents above non-tipped employee minimum wage.
please consider these aspects next time you're dining out. i think the largest misconception is that 10% is acceptable for all levels of service. 10% is the suggested minimum for tipped employees. please reward service with a substantial and worthy tip based on the level of service received. i find far too often the server is punished for situations out of their control. the restaurant is too loud. the food took too long. their alcoholic drink tastes watered-down. these are all situations beyond the realm of the server, yet we're still the ones that pay the price. far too many people don't pay enough attention to realize that you just got double-sat, and have two bickering old ladies at another table and that is why it's taking you longer to get back to their table.
although greatly appreciated, compliments just don't hold any monetary value. so please don't consider them as a worthy substitute. and this swings both ways, if you think service is sub-par, inform your server- they may have not even been aware of a problem. if the problem isn't remedied, inform management. laws consider 14% of the server's total sales when considering their tips, whether reported or not, so punishing a server by tipping them less than such, isn't just teaching them a lesson, but costing them money.
i don't know how people get lost in their terms and think server is synonymous with servant. this doesn't happen often, but still is a problem that needs to be addressed. we may not have a corner office or drive buicks and we certainly aren't offered a 401k and full benefits simply for signing on, but we're still people. and take it or leave it, but the fact remains that there's a good chance we work twice as hard as you do. i've never heard a CEO complain about how badly their feet hurt from walking around all day on a 12-hour double.
the expression rings true: walk a mile in someone's shoes and then you'll know where they're coming from. it usually takes someone who has previously been a server to truly understand where the server is coming from. but it doesn't have to be that way. in a job where every move you make is judged, it's not easy to get the upper hand. it's not an easy job, period. but if people were a little more understanding of what truly goes on, everyone's lives would be a lot easier. and the world would be a happier place.
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