So am I grown up now? (1 Viewer)

I finally did it. I dropped half a tray of iced tea during someone's wedding reception and I thought to myself, "Two years ago I would have had to convince myself that I wasn't completely embarrassed and should really consider quitting the restaurant scene."

I was fine. It wasn't that I just didn't care, but I knew it wasn't a big deal.
 
Sounds like a more mature approach to a "crisis" situation. (I put crisis in quotation marks because apparently nobody's life was endangered and I put this digression in parentheses because I am self-aware in a post-modern kind of way. Take that Dave Eggars !)

So about 64-cents worth of iced tea was lost. So sorry for the customers. They had to wait...what.....about 1-2 minutes for replacements ? Lol............

Keep it all in perspective.
Don't sweat the small stuff.
The restaurant's profit margin was unaffected.

All the same - we won't be hiring you to cater the Bukowski.net annual picnic this year. You know why ?
 
i've dropped plates, spilled wine, knocked people in the head with oversized pasta plates... and i've been waitressing for 7 years. i find that if you pretend to be really mortified and flustered and apologetic, a lot of people will think your clumsiness is really endearing and leave a big tip (a rarity in new zealand).
 
rubyred,

lady dogdice had exactly the same experience while waitressing in Sydney, Australia.

perhaps it's an antipodean thing ?
 
in NZ waiting tables pays a better average hourly rate than in the US, and in Australia it's even better (ROC will need to confirm this, but i think they still get paid time-and-a-half on saturdays and double time on sundays, which we don't in NZ).

the thing that makes me mad is that americans get told they SHOULDN'T tip when they come over here. if your waitress recommends you a great wine, listens to you talk about what kind of food you're in the mood for and then organises the chef to cook something special to your requirements, and generally makes your dining experience a very pleasant one, please feel free to leave as generous a tip as your wallet will allow.

a new trick i've discovered that works on my old regulars who wouldn't normally tip: telling them about how difficult it is working two jobs, studying fulltime and trying to save for a big international move early next year. they feel sorry for me and want to help out.
 
I would think that Americans should tip in other countries as they do when at home regardless of what the server is being paid. Since when did we Americans change our habits when in other countries? If you are paying the same money for the food as you would in the US and you would tip in the US, then why not just pay the same there?

Would you not tip in America if you thought that the server was getting paid more?

Bill
 
(ROC will need to confirm this, but i think they still get paid time-and-a-half on saturdays and double time on sundays, which we don't in NZ).

It's rare, but depending on the agreement you have with your employer, you can still get t+1/2 or double.
With individual workplace agreements you are pretty much on your own.

Hey Bill, my wife and I got treated like dirt at a fairly 'nice' restaurant in Manhattan, so we left no tip. When we walked out, the offending waiter actually came after us to tell us we had not tipped him.
Oh... the joy of being able to tell him why his service was not worth paying for!
 
I'm not doing well at growing up, I still get overly upset in an argument, I either want to cry or punch a wall. My lip quivers, my eyes tear up, I can't get my words out, I lose most debates when right because I get so angry. I still stand tall at the fact I am right and will punch a hold in your closet door! :)

I am male.
 
It's rare, but depending on the agreement you have with your employer, you can still get t+1/2 or double.
With individual workplace agreements you are pretty much on your own.

Hey Bill, my wife and I got treated like dirt at a fairly 'nice' restaurant in Manhattan, so we left no tip. When we walked out, the offending waiter actually came after us to tell us we had not tipped him.
Oh... the joy of being able to tell him why his service was not worth paying for!

Apparently tipping is one way of showing appreciation for good service in the US and a few other countries. And here I was, thinking this was the employer's responsibility to pay the waiters well for a job well done

Hey there are 2 Melbourne posters here :eek:(Thornbury here - where are you?)
 
Since when did we Americans change our habits when in other countries? If you are paying the same money for the food as you would in the US and you would tip in the US, then why not just pay the same there?
It's not cool to tip in a lot of places, and can be taken as an insult. I always ask a local about tipping when I'm outside the US.

Tipping in general is a ridiculous practice, and every day it seems like there are more people you're supposed to tip. We had to look online recently to find out how much to tip movers. "Here's forty bucks, thanks for dropping that stack of boxes marked FRAGILE! Good work!"
 
Waiting on people certainly is no easy task, so cut yourself some slack. As to whether you're grown or not...?

Here's a "serving" horror story for you: Years ago when I was in the military aboard ship, I had done something wrong and wound up being assigned to be a mess cook in the Officers Ward Room. It was lunchtime, and we had to transport the food from the galley which was amidships, to the wardroom which was aft.

The head cook was bitching about getting the food down there, and soup was being served with salads. In an effort to expedite this process, I made a count of heads that had no soup and hustled back to the galley, grabbed two bowls of soup and made my way back.

As I moved along the passageway, the bowls began burning my hands terribly. I got through the doorway, and quickly sat one bowl in front of a junior officer, and then turned and went to put down the other in front of the Captain.

As I attempted to set it down, the bowl tipped, dumping the entire contents into the crotch area of the Captain. He made what sounded to be a stifled scream, his face seemed to go from red to a purple and he pushed his chair back with great force, headed for the door.

There was a look of shock among the officers at the table, and now the head cook, was really pissed. Later, I went up to his cabin and apologized.

The next day, I was back out on deck chipping paint.
 
I've made mistakes at work also, a lot of the fear comes anxiety and what people will think of you, being embarrassed, or being labeled a fuck up. I remember pushing a speed-rack full of hot beef stew off an elevator and one of the wheels got stuck in a jam and it started tipping over, being that it weighed around 150+lbs, i didn't attempt to catch it. I just jumped back from the severe oil burn and let shit hit the fan. It was one of those days where you just wish you never got out of bed, should have called in sick, or gotten too drunk to go to work the next day. Overall, the aftermath was the head chef's saying, "oh shit," "what happened here?" And me noticing it was almost 3 o'clock, time to go home. So I plainly said, "It tipped over, I have to go now," and left.

That's life...
 
Over here tips are included in the price when it comes to restaurants and taxi's. It was the waiters etc. who wanted it that way years ago. That being said, it's costumary to add 10% (or more) extra. That way they get tipped twice...;)
 
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South Melbourne? I worked in Dorcas St for a couple of years 10 years ago and would get into a few local pubs on a Friday night........Bell's and especially The Water Rat (the WR used to be one mean mutha of a pub in the 70's and 80's)

But anyway, in the early 90's in London a pile of us went into a Russian restaurant near Harrod's, a rather posh establishment. At one point two of the waitresses had a massive argument right in front of us. One of them then proceeded to literally rip the other one's shirt off, leaving her standing there in just her bra :D

Then a drunk Irishman from our bunch decided to go chat to the guy playing the guitar. Cigarette in mouth he leant over to ask him something and burnt him. Poor bastard was in rather a bit of pain but had no choice to keep playing :mad:
 
I used to have the obnoxious habit of leaving a pile of horse-racing tips in places that I was fairly certain I wouldn't be returning to. if the service was any good I would leave asparagus tips instead.
 

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