I hate how people treat food workers like crap.

[chrisa]

Basically, I just got back from a fast food place. The guys there work extremely hard. Some a-hole in front of me started throwing a manchild tantrum because he *gasp* had to repeat his order. The guy mumbled his order throughout - Dumbo could have been there and he would have said "What the fuck is this guy saying?"

Said manchild thought he was a total bad ass. You could just tell. I just looked at him for a few seconds after he fussed like a colicky baby, and could only shake my head.

Treat the people doing stuff for you with respect. Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.

[LeftishBrit]

1. k&r

[cyglet]

2. Many moons ago I worked fast food

in high school in an affluent area. Most of my time was spent with people who were making exactly sure you remembered how much better they were than you (and I gave you this change and why can't you do that in your head you idiot!??).

So I'm nice to them, having had that experience and knowing full well how easily your food can be spit in, or worse.

[Major Nikon]

3. I'm right there with ya

There's not much lower form of asshole than someone who berates a person while knowing damn good and well that they have no choice but to take it.

[chrisa]

4. Yeah, that's why - they know they can't say anything.

Or the a-hole would go whining to the manager like a baby.

[Major Nikon]

7. I suppose they figure it's not bad enough that the person is working for slave wages

Of course if they had any sense they might recognize the irony that the biggest crisis in their life is having to repeat their order when others have to worry about where the next meal is coming from and if they will have a roof over their head next month.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

5. NEVER, ever, ever be rude to the perso0n who serves you food!

You have got to be really stupid to piss off your food server! The piss you offed may very likley end up in your food. I've never worked in the food industry but I've got this really big thing about being treated with respect and I woulodn't hesitate.

You've got a problem with how I'm doing things? Don't agree with my opinion? Fine. Talk to me. I'll listen. But the minute you start getting in my face and not treating me with basic civility, I go straight for the throat.

Edited to add that I know some stuff is misspelled so bring back spell check already!

[siligut]

6. I am in total agreement

People who think they are important because they can be rude to other people make me so disgusted.

[elleng]

8. Glad you did.

Some people just don't know how to behave.

[MiddleFingerMom]

9. 2 words:

.
.
.
.
Special...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
... sauce.
.
.
.

[baldguy]

10. This is appropriate.

[DinahMoeHum]

11. The Stained Apron website is your friend here. . .

http://www.stainedapron.com/

Enjoy!

[siligut]

12. Signs you are a good tipper

You actually look at me when I am telling you the specials; you might even smile.
You don’t answer a hello from your server by yelling, “Two coffees!”
You say please and thank you.
You don’t make faces as you are being told the specials, even if you hear a dish you don’t like.
You don’t order water with lemon.
Your free-refill soda lasts more than 2 seconds.
You check to see if your dining partner is ready before you belt out your order.
You don’t slap your kids in public.
You don't immediately demand to see the cheapest thing on the menu.
You answer questions with actual words rather than grunts.
You start your requests with “May I please have...” rather than “Get me” or “I need.”

This is good to know, thank you for the link

[cyglet]

14. aka

people who weren't raised in a barn.

[siligut]

15. I went out to eat with a woman once . . .

We went to a restaurant that she liked and had eaten at before. People all around us were getting their food, even people who came in after us. We must've sat there for 40 minutes, waiting. Come to find out, she didn't believe in tipping. I never went out to eat with her again. And what you say was sort of true with her, she is uneducated and rude to all service people.

[cyglet]

18. I hate eating with my sister

she does tip. But, all she tips is the change remaining from the cash she pays (yes, she's otherwise ridiculously cheap). Enjoy your 11 cent tip, people...

[Digit]

21. Have you informed her that the IRS taxes waitstaff on tips even if not received?

I don't know what the percentage is since I don't work in a profession where I receive tips.

Really, please give her a clue because this is a horrible way to treat people.

[cyglet]

22. One of those

too busy talking to listen. A lost cause in many ways.

[siligut]

23. Sisters. My sister used to wait tables when she was younger

So you think she would have some compassion for the people who bring you food. No, not at all, what she does is pull every trick that someone did to her when she waited tables. She asks for lemon in her water, states when she receives her food that it isn't what she ordered, makes substitutions and asks for separate checks. Then she tips 10%. One time, I padded my tip to make up for hers and she sneered at me and told me she was just better at math than I was.

[wildflower]

27. I keep seeing this about asking for lemon...

Is there something wrong with asking for lemon in water that I don't know? I'd hate to think I put someone out.

[siligut]

28. I saw it somewhere on The Stained Apron website

http://www.stainedapron.com/

I couldn't find where on the site I read it. My guess would be it is an extra step and out of the way for a server to put a slice of lemon in your water. I am not sure though.

[OriginalGeek]

34. What?!?!

I can abide by all the other things but I like lemon in my water and I like water at dinner because I don't like caffeine after lunch and I don't drink soda and I only want beer sometimes. Like not the night after drinking a lot at a concert. Like tonight. But I tip a minimum of 20% and usually closer to 30%.

The food and service were spectacular tonight, BTW. Our waitress got many pleases and thanks-you and she got paid well to cruise by the lemon bucket and drop a wedge in my water.

I had the Hercules platter at Olympia - a sampler platter of roast lamb, gyro meat, some kind of spinach and feta cheese thing in filo dough, a domalda, souvlaki and some rice and pita bread and tzatziki sauce. I'm only sad that I'm not still shoveling it into my mouth.

[siligut]

36. Spanakopita? The spinach and feta thing is one of my favorites

Sounds like you had a good time and a good server can make all the difference. There was a study done on those lemon wedges. It seems they are cut and left out until they are used up, cultures takes from them showed E-coli among other icky bacteria. But if you still want lemon in your water, I think with everything combined, your server would be more than happy to get it for you. I like to leave 20 + %, and sometimes I will write 15% on my credit card, then add 10% in cash.

[OriginalGeek]

38. Yes!

I knew it sounded like that but couldn't remember exactly. I'll be on the lookout for it from now on. Everything was really terrific and we plan to go back even though it's a little out of the way from our usual hangouts.

I've heard that about the lemon too but I never remember it when I'm ordering. I imagine it will take one bad one to drive that point home.

Speaking of the part credit, part cash does anyone else do this? I sometimes pay with the card but leave cash for the tip. So when I'm signing the receipt I write "cash" on the tip line and the only reason I do it is because I worry that the waiter or waitress will see the receipt before seeing the cash and have a moment of feeling like shit and thinking "THOSE !@#$!$$!$!@&ERS" if all they see is a "0" on the tip line. It bugs me to think about possibly putting them through even a few seconds of that (they'll eventually see the cash). lol We always argue with my wife's aunt about that because she just writes a slash through the tip line...


I reckon it's a small thing but why add to what is already a stressful job when I can avoid it?

[cyglet]

46. They have it at Costco (a lot) and Trader Joe's n/t

[OriginalGeek]

50. We just recently got Costco memberships

will definitely look for it! thanks for the heads up!

[Odin2005]

30. The "Mr. Dildo wino" story is HILARIOUS!!!

I was working at a wine bar/ retail place. We had this asshole blow-hard that I will call "Dildo" who used to come in all the time blabbering about how "he was in the wine industry for such in such years and he was a big shot in California.." Blah, blah, whatever.

Never, ever, ever does this jerk tip.

So his normal question every time he came in was, "So you have anything other than sweet crap on the bar today?"
Me: "Yes sir, of course."
Dildo: "I don't know why you bother having that crap."
Me: as I get him some not sweet crap, "Well, in Texas, Sweet wine is a big seller and we like to keep our customers happy. "
Dildo: "Bullshit, I've been in this business blah, blah, blah..."

I'm tuning out because I've heard this speech before. This jerk buddies up with the owner (who I will call "ShortMan)," all the time and expects special treatment because of it. Let me point out that the owner is a little, disgusting toad who is WAY too forward with he ladies and constantly makes a fool of his lush ass by getting wasted and pouring expensive bottles to his free-loading regulars. (Who seldom spring for more than a $9 bottle themselves).

So one particular day, after I had just made a deal to buy the place from ShortMan, he having made a valiant effort to run it into the ground, in walks Dildo. Now technically I don't own the place yet so I can do nothing but take Dildo's crap. He is especially shitty tonight and gets very pissed when I don't agree with him about the Sweet wine market in Texas. He tells me I know nothing about the industry and would do well to "shut my mouth and learn something from him for a change." I am fuming and in walks ShortMan all "Hey man what's up? Let me brown my nose some more."

It's the end of my shift so I gather my things and hear Dildo tell ShortMan, "That dykey bitch has a lot to learn about wine you should talk some fucking sense into her." Shortman gives a horsey laugh and begins to pour the free wine. For the record
A. I hate people use words like that to describe someone's sexuality.
B. I'm not gay.

The next day I pay cash for the place and tell ShortMan to not let the door hit his ass on the way out.
2 days later who should arrive? Yep, Dildo...same spiel. I smile a rich and contented smile as he asks if there is anything on the bar that isn't crap.

Me: "Actually, I don't think I've got anything on the bar you would like."
Dildo: "What? Surely you have something."
Me: "Nope, in fact, I don't think I have anything in this store you would like, perhaps another shop could serve you better."
Dildo: "What the hell are you talking about? Where's ShortMan?"
Me: with a smile even bigger and more silky, "ShortMan no longer owns this store, I do. In fact, I bought it two days ago and frankly I don't need "customers" (using my fingers to make quotes) like you. You will notice the door conveniently located right there." I gesture to the door.
Dildo: "Well, that's bullshit. I guess I couldn't expect anything decent out of a dyke bitch."
Me: in my sweetest voice, as he stomps to the door, "And I wouldn't expect anything less from a dildo."

The best part is that when he opened the door to leave it just so happened my 200 lb, tattooed and bearded, MALE fiancé was walking in. Dildo says, "Don't expect any decent service from that bitch!"

Needless to say my man had a few "words" with Dildo outside.
I guess being from California he didn't know it's not a good idea to insult someone's woman in Texas.

All I have to say is haha.

—EinsteinOfWine, Smalltown, TX

[snacker]

13. That's one of my pet peeves.

It's so disrespectful.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

16. People suck

Just out of high school I delivered pizzas for a couple of years. Years later I spent a couple of years working retail. I can't decide which group of customers was more obnoxious.

Fun experiment: Post an ad on Craig's List in the Rants & Raves section posing as a server complaining about a customer who didn't leave a tip after being an asshole the whole meal and watch the fun. (This works best if you live someplace where there are a lot of upper-middle class+ professional types)

[Honeycombe8]

17. I know! These are people who've never worked for the public before.

It's rude, childish, and insulting to the workers. I'm also EXTRA nice after talking to a food worker after they had to deal with a person like that. I try always to be nice to them, anyway. I worked in burger joints and such when I was young, so I know what they have to deal with.

[nolabear]

19. Love the colicky baby line. I'll use that sometime!

I'd love to say to someone who's got that whiney pissy pseudomacho attitude "You know what you sound like?"

[pipi_k]

20. Like someone above said

never never NEVER mess with someone who will have access to your food.

People who do that...WTF are they thinking? Seriously. Are they so stupid they don't know their food can be altered in some disgusting way?

OK, so aside from that, it's just plain good manners to be polite to people. When Mr Pipi and I go out, usually to the same places on a regular basis, the wait staff remember us and are extra nice because we're extra nice to them.

Plus we tip well.

I guess I'll never understand people who have to be on a power trip all the time. I treat others the way I want to be treated, and that's it.

[deucemagnet]

24. I worked in the food industry in college

from sandwich and pizza delivery to bartending at nice neighborhood restaurants, and I have never, ever known anyone who messed with a customer's food, no matter how obnoxious. All the restaurant people in town knew each other, and I have never heard a story about a customer's food being messed with, even during our late night after-hours BS sessions at the bar. It's just out of the question; something we never considered.

The restaurant industry put me and many others through college, and now that we have embarked on our permanent careers we have more respect for those who prepare and serve our food. Maybe the world would be a more civil place if everybody had to spend some time serving food to the public.

[pipi_k]

25. I'm glad

you never knew anybody who messed with food, and never actually saw it happening.

I've seen secret film footage of it happening, and I've also heard the occasional person say he's done it.

Which means there are people out there who will do it. Which means people can't always assume it's never going to happen. The nicest looking server in the world could turn out to be someone's worst enemy.

In any case, and all that aside, I agree with you that the world would be a MUCH better place if we all were more civil to each other. What does it cost? Nothing. Yet the rewards are almost priceless.

[era veteran]

26. I have 35 years in the industry and I agree.

I would fire and blackball anyone that did not serve wholesome food.
Karma will get the cheap bastards. If my servers are not making good money I am not doing my job.
I worked in a spot in the '70's where we could throw out anybody that pissed us off. The owner, who just died,would not let people shit on the help. That place did have a "No Colors" sign though. LOL

I have had famous drunkards and The Queen as guests in foodservice. They were nice. Not so much with the kiss up kick down kind of people.
20%

[deucemagnet]

33. That has been my experience as well.

Although I don't doubt pipi_k's accounts, the food professionals that I have worked with have been just that -- professional. Dealing with assholes is an unfortunate reality in the food industry, but it is done politely and professionally 99% of the time.

I'll bet you have quite a few stories to tell. I have a few doozies, and that's after only four years in the industry!

[BiggJawn]

32. We had an asshat one night...

We had FOUR phone lines for carry out and delivery. On a heavy night it would go like "Pizza Pub, please hold, Pizza Pub, please hold, Pizza Pub, please hold, Pizza Pub, please hold, thanks for holding how may we help you?" ALL evening...

Well working my way down the line I get to Caller Number Four, and he's pissed, because I had him on hold for 3 minutes, and he's calling in on a $3 a minute mobile carphone (yes, this was long, long ago) Calls me everything but a Human, but I take his order and get it going. Told him it'd be 15 minutes. He's at the counter in 5, fuming and demanding the manager and my nuts in a cup.

Pie comes out of the oven, manager asks "Is that his?", grabs a handfull of cornmeal and sprinkles some on the top (we used cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking to everything. It's rather gritty and crunchy) takes it in the back, opens a new can of anchovies, drizzles some of the oil on the pie, bags it and sends it out.

Never saw the sumbitch again.

[OmahaBlueDog]

29. Everybody should work in the front-of-the-house once

Server, bartender, bus, or host. It's bustass work, and you learn a lot about people. It will also inform how you treat folks in restaurants for the rest of your life.

[BiggJawn]

31. I hope he got "Special Sauce" on his burger...

You really do NOT want to fuck with the people who prepare your food!

[Odin2005]

35. We get some real assholes at our thrift store.

The worst are the ones that take the price stickers off the more expensive merchandise and then tell the cashier that the price is missing, hoping to get it for a lot cheaper.

[BiggJawn]

37. That's classified as Shoplifting in Indiana

Most thrift stores have signs advising "customers" they can be prosecuted for "tag switching".

[pipi_k]

42. My favorite thrift store has

a pretty good system for foiling thieves, for clothing, anyway...

Instead of tags, they use little colored plastic thingies that go through the item.

Each color corresponds to a specific price.

Other stuff, like books and records , etc., the prices are set by type of item.

Household items use stickers that are nearly impossible to remove. I used to complain a lot about those stickers, but I suppose they make sense if people are removing them and putting cheaper ones in their place.

[BiggJawn]

43. "Goof-Off" removes those stickers.

Unless the item would be harmed by the solvents. Then I use Dawn Power Dissolver.

[pipi_k]

48. Oh yeah...

Mr Pipi loves that stuff. Goof Off, I mean.

Never heard of the Dawn Power Dissolver, though. I'm not real happy about using chemicals, so I'd probably try that.

[OriginalGeek]

39. OH and while we are on tipping:

If you have a coupon for free or discounted food, tip on what the regular price would have been!

I don't know how the tax laws work in those cases but I'd just feel like an ass for shorting the server just because I had a coupon. They still bring me the same stuff and in most cases they know in advance I have a coupon (I also believe in not springing that on them after everything is done - first thing I say is "we have this coupon&quot and yet they still do their best to make sure I enjoy my meal.

[lunatica]

40. They do it because they can

It's like kicking your dog who you know will never bite you back.

I was a waitress once. Crappy people are crappy people no matter what.

[pipi_k]

41. OK, so much for being polite

to food service worker...

Yesterday Mr Pipi and I went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch, where there was a new guy working the tables.

It wasn't busy or anything. We were nice to the guy, as we are to all the food workers we run into. He seemed nice. We gave him a decent tip. We didn't finish our meals, so he packed them up for us to take home.

Dinnertime rolls around and I get out the leftovers. Mr Pipi looks at his and asks if that all there was. Yep, I say. He says well, there were a whole lot more pork ribs left over that weren't packed.

I look in my container. No pineapple left from my sweet and sour chicken, and it looked like all the sweet and sour sauce had been scraped off the chicken fingers and I was missing some pork fried rice.

From now on, I'm bringing plastic containers so we can pack up our own leftovers.

[davsand]

44. You never treat a service person badly--ever.

There is ZERO excuse to be rude to any service person--even if your service is less than satisfactory. You ask for a manager, and tell them politely and succinctly what your major malfunction is and then you go on your way. A lot of times that "too long" wait for your food was not anything your waitperson did, maybe it is the kitchen got in the weeds when a bus rolled in unannounced or when one of the line cooks showed up drunk. Hell, maybe your wait is being forced to cover somebody else's tables in addition to their own... You just never know. Mgt can't fix it unless they know about it, and they are less likely to give a shit if you act like some kind of rampaging psycho-turd.

On a similar train of thought, I am apalled at the number of people who never use "Please" or "Thank You" when they ask for something--be it in a restaurant or even in at the meat counter at the market. When my kid was just learning how to behave in public situations, I would prompt the "Please" and "Thank You" if it was neglected, and I even did it with any other kids that were tagging along with us. I know I sounded like a broken record sometimes, but I'd say "Nobody ever got fired for being too polite, but you sure can be if you aren't." Sounds like a mom thing, I know, but I will admit freely that I had the experience of a lunch interview where I was completely turned off the company by the generally impolite VP doing the interview. (This was back in the days when people actually did turn down job offers with a reasonable certainty that there'd be something else on down the road...) That toad never once said please or thank you to anyone and I've seen many dogs with better table manners. I figured if he was that much of a toad in the interview he'd be terrible to work for. Never regretted that decision.

Tipping is not a city in China. If you can't afford a minimum of 20% on the total bill you probably need to either eat someplace cheaper or else stay home. I do end up in restaurants a fair amount of the time in my job, and I can't tell you the number of times I have seen guys leave some pissy little tip after scarfing down a huge meal complete with extended cups of coffee and desserts. These guys are not usually on the edge of poverty, you'd think they could manage a decent tip for the person that has been busting ass to take care of them for the last 90 minutes--ya know?

Service industry is a back breaker, and some of the most demanding work I have ever done.



Laura

[hedgehog]

45. I had to train my kids in this both for fast food and grocery service counters -

you're standing there with a lot of noise on your side of the counter, and the clerk is dealing with a lot of noise on that side of the counter. You need to raise your voice and speak clearly so they can hear your order.

[treestar]

47. People being assholes to anyone in that kind of job

Are usually jerks who need to feels superior to somebody.

[raccoon]

49. I think that's a litmus test of character, how someone treats people such as food workers. nt

[Iggo]

51. I'd say it's 50/50 justice was served with a-hole's food.