You Look So Familiar!
by sylvia
May I share a growing problem with y’all?
Because my husband and I are DINKs (double income, no kids) we tend to eat out a lot. Generally, I like to cook, but I like people waiting on me better.
Until recently.
Let me preface this post with the fact that I have never waited tables, so I can’t say that I can understand where anyone is coming from on that matter. I did work at McDonald’s and had my share of retail experience, so I can understand it so much.
I appreciate a friendly waiter (or waitress, I ain’t judgin’, I’m just going to use “waiter” since it is easier to type). I appreciate efficiency, and I appreciate that fact that waiting tables is no easy job and people can be complete assholes. I would also say that I am a pretty easy-going patron. I don’t ask for crazy things, I don’t get mad when my food is wrong, and I’m pretty patient when it comes to food delivery, etc. I know that a lot of times it is not the waiter’s fault that the food is taking forever.
But maybe that is my problem – maybe I am too nice. Because lately the waitstaff I have been encountering has been SUPER NICE, SUPER FRIENDLY, and SUPER APOLOGETIC about the littlest things. I am also getting the “You look so familiar!” or “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” or the other day (and Bianca got to witness this one) – “Hey! Welcome Back! Great to see you again! Do you even remember my name?” – which I didn’t, as I had only seen this waitress once before at that restaurant. I told her I didn’t, she proceeded to throw her card at me and tell me her name (once again, according to her).
So yes, this waitress was extremely friendly. She even came over and showed us a green bean (?!) she had added Miracle Grow to. No shit, that thing was about 3 feet long. I won’t even get into the randomness of that jank.
But she wasn’t a good waitress! I had to flag her down to get something to drink, as she seemed to spend most of her time in the back (there were about 5 other tables, none of which she seemed to be waiting on) and we saw her sit down at the bar and do something? while waiting for our check, which she only brought to us as we were standing at the front.
So, why has this been happening so consistenly with me? Here are my theories:
- I am totally hot and awesome, so the wait staff was all hitting on me
- I look like someone who is a local restaurant critic, so they were “killing me with kindness”
- This is God’s way of telling me to quit eating out so much, fatty!
I know management at my restaurant is just all over everybody about “hospitality” and creating “guest connections”, under the theory that if people feel personally recognized and appreciated, they’ll choose to come back to our restaurant instead of somewhere else. We’re told every day how “In this economy” if we don’t leave a GREAT! MEMORABLE! LASTING! PERFECT! impression, then people will go elsewhere and we’ll get shut down!1111!! Of course, some spastic idiots take that as “be super friendly and it’ll all be perfect regardless of how shitty a server you are!”
thats something i wud die to have in the cheaper restaurants in India…There was this chain called yo china that had come out with rs.150(little above 3 dollars) unlimited buffet out of a select menu…the first time i took along 3 of my friends with me to binge….and we didnt really care if people thought of us as the harbingers of hunger…coz we proceeded to eat for 3 hours….what really angered me was the look the waiters were giving us. as if we had been a famished lot…to extract revenge i went to that same outlet another 3 times…(the last time i went there along with 8 of my friends, binged for 6 hours)…and i cannot describe it in words how elated i felt to see the look on that same waiter’s face change from that look he gave us earlier to helplessness….the smile on his face was palpable when we finally proceeded to exit without ordering the main course (as we were already so stuffed with the appetizers ) !!
Yea sometimes they are too friendly it makes you want to kill them!
It’s possible to be friendly and professional without being BFF with your customers- I think a lot of this young crop of casual dining waitstaff don’t get that. *I* get it: you’re out there to have dinner with your hubby; not to visit me!