This one goes out to every whiny brat restaurant customer

[swag]

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https://wapo.st/3CsAb1C

Excerpt:

. . . From customers berating me and my co-workers because we’re out of ranch dressing for their takeout order (we all know you have some at home) to being yelled at for things I can’t control (I didn’t overcook your steak; I’ve never cooked a steak, period), to closing up after a double shift at 11 p.m. and getting less in tips than you’d see in a street player’s guitar case on a Tuesday afternoon, I’m quickly running out of patience and the willingness to work.

On top of this, I’m a high school senior taking four Advanced Placement classes, dual enrolling at my local university, submitting college applications and trying to do enough extracurriculars to convince admissions officers that I’m the next Mother Teresa or Elon Musk.
Some friends tell me I should “just not work.” Really? In this economy? My social-worker mother and construction-manager father simply don’t make enough to pay — along with supporting my siblings and taking care of all their other financial responsibilities — for what might be tens of thousands of dollars in tuition. My average $350 weekly income is my measly attempt to make up the difference that federal student aid, scholarships, tuition assistance and student loans won’t cover.
Did you quit your job or lose employees this year? We want to hear from you.

My deteriorating state of mind struggles to accommodate the degree of suffering inflicted on grown adults by the unavailability of ranch dressing.

I have six co-workers in the restaurant’s to-go department. Several of them are working second and even third jobs. I’m the youngest; the oldest has two school-age children. I think it’s fair to say we’re all tired, overworked and (mentally) beaten down.

We serve all kinds of people. Some of them I go to school with; some are stressed parents; some are kind and some are awful; some are retirees; some don’t know how many are in a dozen. From the restaurant worker’s side, the impact of each interaction with customers rests on two things: the tip amount and how the customer behaves.

. . . more

[msongs]

1. the author should do the customers a favor and get a different job nt

[Skittles]

2. ?

you're dismissing their concerns?

[Hekate]

3. Odd reaction

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. YES!!!! Totally agree. And what kind of restaurant is this

that makes an experienced person cook steaks?

That said...I think the restaurant industry got hit worse than almost any other industry with covid. They furloughed people . They tried to pay people with PPP. They had to figure out how to deliver meals and make them still taste good. ( And no way in hell can you deliver french fries and have them taste okay ) They had to re-engineer their dining facilities to keep them safe

They HAVE to regroup. So many miss it Hope it all evens out soon!!!.

[Jon King]

7. Agreed, this person would likely whine no matter what.

I have 4 nieces and nephews who work at restaurants while in high school. They are so positive with everyone that they make way more in tips than their coworkers. They deal with the bad apples and more than make up for it with generous tips from the good folks. This person goes into work expecting bad stuff.

[ramen]

9. I am glad that your family has had that experience with this work.

Anecdotally from a variety of folks I know in that line of work, it is not currently the norm.

[PJMcK]

20. Wow

Have you ever worked a public-sector job? Some empathy might be in order.

[Aristus]

22. And when she does, the reaction will be: "What? No sticktoitiveness?"

Some people are damned if they do and damned if they don't...

[soldierant]

5. I think we're still in the period when

the only people going to restaurants are whiny brats.

I'm quietly vaccinated and quietly wear a mask whe I leave home. Would I go to a restaurant now, with so many unvaccinated people running around with no masks? Not on your life.

I'm pretty sure this young server isn't the problem here.

[Jon King]

6. Huh? Lots of folks go to restaurants these days.

We go, our friends go, our neighbors go. I have not seen any of what this person is saying, in fact most customers we see are quite patient. But they obviously have had different experiences.

Its silly to say people should not go to restaurants. We are vaccinated, exercise 2 hours a day instead of sitting in front of the TV, are very low risk. Why shouldn't we enjoy our kids and our lives?

Better chance of dying of 20 different things other than Covid for fit and vaccinated people. News flash....people with kids have sacrificed a ton during this pandemic. Got vaccinated, wore masks for 18 months, missed proms and graduations and sports. Had to quit jobs to care for kids when schools closed.

So hell yeah we are out and enjoying every damn minute.

[soldierant]

8. You may not live in an area where you are surrounded by MAGAts.

I do. I am also 76 with comorbidities. Also food allergies.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

11. That does make a huge difference!!! If I get to travel

to a place with a high vaccination rate and the great restaurants are there - hard to resist.

But hard to imagine risking life and limb to go to red state Chili's just to go.

I have decided it is ALL about how much risk, you as an individual, given your unique circumstances, are willing to accept. For some who have the need to go out and be around a bunch of people, this has been particularly hard. For people who could not care less about that, it's no biggie

[catrose]

12. Definitely true in the red areas. I've heard many servers complain about the way they're treated.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. Wonder why that is? Because diners don't give a flip

about covid in red states, and want all back to normal, they expect it to be. But the disruption in the labor force and supply chain means that the restaurants are not " like normal" yet? So their employees suffer?

[catrose]

15. Yes, exactly.

[Skittles]

10. I pick up food from restaurants

but I tip them the same as if I had dined there

[Laura PourMeADrink]

13. Yes and that is a new phenomenon.

[Skittles]

16. I call it "pandemic tipping"

[luckone]

17. + Entitled and cheap asses in restaurants but for service workers as a whole it's not new

Just getting worse right now
Here’s another good read
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/08/pandemic-american-shoppers-nightmare/619650/

As Americans return en masse to more types of in-person commerce, the situation only seems to be declining. At its most violent extreme, workers have been hospitalized or killed. Eight Trader Joe’s employees were injured in one such attack in New York, and in Georgia, a grocery-store cashier was shot over a mask dispute. Far more frequent are the accounts of short-fused shoppers becoming verbally abusive or otherwise degrading over slow service or sold-out goods.
Earlier this month, a restaurant on Cape Cod reportedly was so overwhelmed with rude customers that it shut down for a “day of kindness.”

[Skittles]

18. I have gone my entire life without ever being mean to a service worker

Last edited Thu Nov 18, 2021, 07:54 PM - Edit history (1)

and everyone knows what a hothead I am

these aren't short-fused customers, they are FUCKING ASSHOLES

[PJMcK]

21. Yep, I'm with you, Skittles

I tip like you do, too. These folks are really low on the economic ladder. Do I really want to treat them poorly? Nope, they deserve our support.

[Skittles]

23. I appreciate them, they are performing a service for me

I just cannot understand these arrogant assholes who make a sport out of demeaning people who cannot fight back.

[Tomconroy]

19. My wife and I have gone out to eat regularly even before

There were vaccines (Then there was nobody else in the joints).
Always try to be nice to the wait staffs. It can be a lousy job. Always leave a decent tip even when the service really sucked, like it did Sunday.