Tweet
Alrighty. Those of you who read the last thread know what kind of a restaurant I work at. In summary, low class restaurant in a heavily rural area. Not a good combination.
Anyway, I was at work tonight and this mom and her son come in. I figure it'll be a pretty easy table, by the looks of it. Oh god, was I wrong.
So after the beginning small talk, I ask for their drink order. The little boy says what he wants, while the mom dilly-dallies for about a minute before she comes up with the stunning conclusion of Coke. Not an SC yet, but it was mildly annoying.
After getting their drinks, I ask what I can get them to eat. Again, the little boy says a kid's cheeseburger with french fries. The mom, after muttering under her breath and shushing me when I ask if I can help/make a recommendation for a minute, decides she too wants a cheeseburger. Again, not SC material, but annoying.
The real %!#$-storm starts when I bring their food out. She takes one look at it, and says "That's not what I ordered." I'm slightly confused, but I ask her what's wrong with it. "I ordered a CHEESEBURGER. What's all that other crap doing on it? -referring to tomatoes, lettuce, onions-" "That comes on the cheeseburger, ma'am." "Get me a new one without it. That one's dirty now. If I even SMELL the onion, I'll puke."
Meanwhile, the kid says "Thank you" and begins eating his food. After I check back a few minutes later, he asks for a refill on his coke.
Moving into the SC region here for the mom, but again, I wouldn't waste your time if it didn't get worse. After she waits the 5 minutes it takes us to remake the burger, making sure to look at her watch and sigh loudly every time I pass her table, she begins doing THE single most annoying thing a customer can do (to me, anyway.)
"Hey, get me some more ranch."
"Alrighty. -grabs ranch- Anything else I can get you?"
"Some more napkins."
"..Not a problem. -gets napkins- That all I can do right now?"
"Another coke."
". . . Ok. -gets coke- That all?"
"I need some more ranch."
And so on, and so forth. To anyone who does this: You are not the only table the server has, 99% of the time. Please say everything you need in one shot, so we don't have to make 10 trips back and forth. We would love you for it.
Back to the story, by this point, I guess you could see the fact I was getting annoyed/frustrated. She notices, and says "Lighten up. You have to be willing to work harder for kids."
Ma'am, your SON has been the ideal customer so far. He's been nice, polite, and he actually ordered his food how he wanted it. He actually asked for a refill, instead of demanding one. In fact, he's one of THE best people I've had the pleasure to serve.
You? You've been rude, bossy, and you've consistently been unsure of what you wanted to get to eat despite your claims you knew exactly what you wanted. And since I doubt you're going to leave a tip after all this, I've actually had to pay for the 'pleasure' of serving you.
And at this point, I'm annoyed. The last table I had left me a $2 tip on a $60 check, and the one before that stiffed me, so I'm not in a good mood anyway. And now I've got some idiotic woman who's convinced that because she has a child she is due special treatment. It's all I can do to not say "Ma'am, the fact you are not sterile does not make you in any way special."
Thank whatever deities you pray to, she finally leaves. I overhear her telling the server cashing her out that I was very impatient with her son, and that I got their order wrong, etc. etc. etc.
Luckily, nothing came of it, since I had to run it by the manager when she wanted the burger re-made and explained the situation then. But still. The sense of entitlement some parents get when they sit down in a booth is amazing. It still boggles my mind how a parent like that can have such a sweet, nice kid.
Looking back, I didn't mean for this to be this long. O_O I was thinking a couple paragraphs, tops.
Anyway, I was at work tonight and this mom and her son come in. I figure it'll be a pretty easy table, by the looks of it. Oh god, was I wrong.
So after the beginning small talk, I ask for their drink order. The little boy says what he wants, while the mom dilly-dallies for about a minute before she comes up with the stunning conclusion of Coke. Not an SC yet, but it was mildly annoying.
After getting their drinks, I ask what I can get them to eat. Again, the little boy says a kid's cheeseburger with french fries. The mom, after muttering under her breath and shushing me when I ask if I can help/make a recommendation for a minute, decides she too wants a cheeseburger. Again, not SC material, but annoying.
The real %!#$-storm starts when I bring their food out. She takes one look at it, and says "That's not what I ordered." I'm slightly confused, but I ask her what's wrong with it. "I ordered a CHEESEBURGER. What's all that other crap doing on it? -referring to tomatoes, lettuce, onions-" "That comes on the cheeseburger, ma'am." "Get me a new one without it. That one's dirty now. If I even SMELL the onion, I'll puke."
Meanwhile, the kid says "Thank you" and begins eating his food. After I check back a few minutes later, he asks for a refill on his coke.
Moving into the SC region here for the mom, but again, I wouldn't waste your time if it didn't get worse. After she waits the 5 minutes it takes us to remake the burger, making sure to look at her watch and sigh loudly every time I pass her table, she begins doing THE single most annoying thing a customer can do (to me, anyway.)
"Hey, get me some more ranch."
"Alrighty. -grabs ranch- Anything else I can get you?"
"Some more napkins."
"..Not a problem. -gets napkins- That all I can do right now?"
"Another coke."
". . . Ok. -gets coke- That all?"
"I need some more ranch."
And so on, and so forth. To anyone who does this: You are not the only table the server has, 99% of the time. Please say everything you need in one shot, so we don't have to make 10 trips back and forth. We would love you for it.
Back to the story, by this point, I guess you could see the fact I was getting annoyed/frustrated. She notices, and says "Lighten up. You have to be willing to work harder for kids."
Ma'am, your SON has been the ideal customer so far. He's been nice, polite, and he actually ordered his food how he wanted it. He actually asked for a refill, instead of demanding one. In fact, he's one of THE best people I've had the pleasure to serve.
You? You've been rude, bossy, and you've consistently been unsure of what you wanted to get to eat despite your claims you knew exactly what you wanted. And since I doubt you're going to leave a tip after all this, I've actually had to pay for the 'pleasure' of serving you.
And at this point, I'm annoyed. The last table I had left me a $2 tip on a $60 check, and the one before that stiffed me, so I'm not in a good mood anyway. And now I've got some idiotic woman who's convinced that because she has a child she is due special treatment. It's all I can do to not say "Ma'am, the fact you are not sterile does not make you in any way special."
Thank whatever deities you pray to, she finally leaves. I overhear her telling the server cashing her out that I was very impatient with her son, and that I got their order wrong, etc. etc. etc.
Luckily, nothing came of it, since I had to run it by the manager when she wanted the burger re-made and explained the situation then. But still. The sense of entitlement some parents get when they sit down in a booth is amazing. It still boggles my mind how a parent like that can have such a sweet, nice kid.
Looking back, I didn't mean for this to be this long. O_O I was thinking a couple paragraphs, tops.
Comment