When a waiter/ess kneels or squats to take your order at a resturaunt. . .

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

What do you think about this? It doesn't bother me at all, but my mother gets mad enough to spit when this happens.

Also, what about them sitting down at your table? Thats another thign that drives the 'rents up a wall. So, what are your opinions?

[Deja Q]

1. 2 things:

1. If it's a male, they saw me looking and want to hide themselves.

2. If it's a female, they want to give me a better view.

:evilgrin:

[terrya]

Dupe

Sorry

[terrya]

Dupe

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

4. WHOA! Quintuple post!

[terrya]

Dupe

sorry

[terrya]

2. Dupe

Sorry

[terrya]

3. Well, bascially, you're going into THEIR workplace.

If kneeling before your table helps that waitperson to get your order correctly, hell kneel away. Or sitting down at your table. Doesn't bother me one bit.

[JVS]

6. stop pressing the button!

[terrya]

8. Sorry...got to edit.

My bad...I'm on a laptop.

[JVS]

11. I'm just glad the auto-ban spam filter didn't get you.

It got me once when I duped to much. It was the buzz of the lounge

[terrya]

I think it's time for me to take a nap now or something.

Apologies to the OP about this.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

13. lol, np, you kept it at the top for a few seconds straight

:P

[JVS]

5. Stand up dammit

[Phillycat]

7. From a former waitress:

Re: the kneeling or squatting: Tell your mom to try being on her feet for 12 or 13 hours at a time, dealing with people's moods, idiosyncracies, and ridiculous requests. Tell her to remember that her salary will be completely based on their whim, and that if they're in a bad mood, it doesn't matter how well she does her job or how nice she is, she will still have to wonder if she can make rent that month because they might just screw her for the hell of it. Tell her to sweep up Cheerios from under high chairs and refill ketchup bottles and dish up salad - all OFF THE CLOCK, because she has to get her "sidework" done before she leaves or she'll get fired. Tell her her boss will most likely be a petty little powermonger who plays favorites and sleeps with members of the staff. Tell her she may be verbally abused by the cooks, the bartenders, senior members of the waitstaff, and the 4 or 5 managers she has above her. And tell her that she has no health insurance and no job security.

Sitting down at the table is uncalled for, however.

Damn, I'm glad I don't have to wait tables anymore. Makes me thankful for my job, even if I AM at work today.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

10. That's what I said; However, she waited tables for her entire 4 years to get

through college, so I can't say that.

[Phillycat]

12. I think people are ruder/meaner than they used to be. nt

[NewJeffCT]

16. I was always told...

That when people squat down, it is so a taller server (male usually, but sometimes female) can be closer to the same level as the seated guests. If you're 6'0" tall or more and you're in a crowded and noisy restaurant, it is sometimes difficult to hear somebody that is seated and whose mouth is 2 feet below your ears. I was even told this by a few female servers that it was great for male servers to do this because it allows the guys to be more intimate with their clientele.

[skygazer]

9. While it doesn't bother me

It does seem unprofessional. Much would depend on the restaurant. Was it an Olive Garden? O8)

[LostinVA]

14. Oh no you didn't!!!

[trof]

15. Remember the "Bunny Dip"?

Playboy clubs?
So their boobs wouldn't fall out of those skimpy costumes.
;-)

[Gidney N Cloyd]

20. Fondly.

[coffeenap]

17. I always feel like it is a sort of compliment--

it means s/he feel comfortable enough with you to let his/her guard down for a minute and relax.

[JVS]

24. I consider it too chummy.

This is my personal space, if you want better eye contact angle, step back, don't crouch.

[Schema Thing]

18. I'm neutral on the actual event, but I'd rather not see

..."squats" and "take your order at a restaurant" in the same sentence.

[Drum]

19. I don't mind it a bit.

I have tremendous sympathy for our food/bev/entertainment "servers"...I keep a high level of courtesy going toward them, and I tip big (I caught on to the concept of "Karma" long ago.) I can understand a wait-person's long hours on their feet, carrying things, etc., and I can also understand how crouching or kneeling might make it easier for everyone to hear each other at tableside. Also there is nothing wrong with lateral eye-to-eye contact to ensure everyone's understanding what is being offered and ordered. In my opinion it actually shows a little humanity that waitstaff does so, and I don't mind it a bit.

Now if someone slides into the booth and cozies up to someone in my party in an unwelcome way, then that's another thing. And if it's a welcome way, that's yet another thing...and then we're probably talking about a whole different venue than where you were with yer Mom. In that case---the OP---it might have been to help with the "audibles" or to prevent someone twisting their neck to talk with the wait-person.

Of course, it all depends of the restaurant, and the gathering/occasion too.

[xchrom]

21. it's just a way of getting comfortable for a few moments.

[grasswire]

22. I read something a few years ago ...

...about how servers can increase their tips and add on sales by certain maneuvers. Some employers, I think, push really hard for the add-on sales, and this getting familiar style is part of the shtick.

I don't like it, either. I'm thinking of Outback particularly. I find it annoying.

[Gormy Cuss]

25. I find it annoying just like servers touching me as if we're friends,

or asking if "we" are finished with the course, and other behaviors that apparently make some customers order more or leave bigger tips. I don't factor these behaviors into the tip but I do prefer interacting with servers like equals. I'm not dining out to feel like a princess. I wish we could do away with the subminimum wages for servers in most states. There is no reason for it. Pay them the same minimum as everyone else as insulation from a bad night or stingy customers.

[graywarrior]

23. Were you ordering bread?

[InvisibleTouch]

26. Had a waitress sit down in the booth at Outback once.

I didn't say anything, mostly because I was flabbergasted by the move, which I found totally unprofessional. I had the impression she (or the management) was trying to present the image of "we're all family here," but since that obviously isn't the case, I'd just as soon not have a stranger plop themselves down at my table. It's an invasion of personal space, and I very much don't like it. Now if she were to kneel or crouch down or pull up a chair to brace herself against, I totally don't mind. Just stay out of my space.

[hippywife]

27. I don't mind any of it at all.

I waited tables in my youth and in middle age for a break from the corporate life. In many restaurants anymore, the music is so loud that you can barely hear the conversation at your table.

I do mind when it is a waiter trying to flirt just for tips. I can spot that a mile away and am not amused by it.

[pitohui]

28. they should not sit down at my table

however i don't object if someone is flexible enough to kneel/squat to get my order, perhaps they feel a need to do this to hear me correctly

[AlienGirl]

29. I think they may be a bit hard of hearing and need to see my mouth

It doesn't bother me. In a loud place I usually need to see their mouth to understand them too.

Tucker

[Dastard Stepchild]

30. I've never thought about it enough to have an opinion on it...

But in thinking about it now, it couldn't bother me less. I also don't mind the mindless chatter, the saccharine overenthusiasm or the various suggestions regarding the supercool new Colosso Appetizer Jamboree Basket with Kickin' Chipotle Cheddar Sauce.

As long as I get my iced tea refilled and the hint of a smile, I couldn't be happier. I so vehemently loathe cooking that, short of pulling down their drawers and taking a dump on my plate, a server could do very little to bother me since my presence in a restaurant suggests that I am not being tortured behind a stove somewhere.

[begin_within]

31. What bothers me is...

When they almost ignore you throughout the meal, but then towards the end become very attentive (because you're about to decide on your tip amount). I've seen this happen a lot. They do the bare minimum they have to most of the time you are there, and you have to even flag them down or ask some other passing employee to get them. But then when the bill is presented, suddenly they are refilling your iced tea without you even asking, they are putting your leftovers in containers for you, they are all over you, even overdoing it, just to get on your good side again and get a better tip out of you. They think they can ignore you for 45 minutes and then spend 5 minutes buttering you up, and you'll bask in that, and forget about those 45 minutes, and you'll have no choice to leave a good tip.

[Left Is Write]

32. It doesn't bother me.