Dear Restaurant Patron,
I am a waiter. It is not really by choice that I have this job. It is a necessity for me so I can make my car payment and other bills that are not covered by my moderately paying day job. It is a pretty good day job for not having a college degree. I am lucky. I live alone with a mortgage, car payment, insurance, and maintenance of everything that I own. I do not have any credit card debt and I do not want to begin to have any now, especially to pay things like utilities. I am not crying the blues, and I do not want you to feel sorry for me. For the most part I do not mind being a waiter. I believe when someone goes out to a little bit nicer restaurant they want more than just someone that is an order taker and food drop off person. There is a level of knowledge, presentation and entertainment that is involved and should be expected. You are paying for it so please let us make it a symbiotic relationship and allow me to do my job. I will admit I am not that great of a waiter. I liken myself to a food attendant entertainer much to the dismay of management at the restaurant where I work. I am trying to get better though. Funny, I say this after almost four years of service to the company. Talk about looking at the man in the mirror, but I digress.
Technology is a wonderful thing, but how fast would your head snap if I were to answer my cell phone while you are giving me your order? Would you ask to speak to a manager if I was text messaging while you decide what you would like to drink with your $30 steak? How frustrated would you be if someone asks you a question and when you are answering it the person that asked the question begins to talk? Please do not put me off and continue to put me off then act agitated when I am not right there when you finally decide to begin your process. I would love to treat you with kid gloves and make you feel like you are the only person that is in the restaurant. Look around though, I have an obligation to others as well. We can work together but I need your help.
If you are trying to go to the theater or the cinema by a certain time it would help if I knew that. There is a certain order of things that follow a specific timeline. Adjustments can be made but I am not a mind reader. Please do not wait until you have 30 minutes to eat and drive across town before you tell me you have tickets for a show. If you are celebrating a special occasion then let me know I might be able to pull something special out of my hat. No, I will not gather the other staff and sing. You will have to go to some cheesy chain establishment for that kind of treatment. I just recently bought birthday candles though. I hope you enjoy your dessert.
I do not know how much wait staff is paid in other states. I do not know how much wait staff is paid in some places. I do know that wait staff where I work is paid the required minimum of $2.65 an hour. We are supposed to claim our tips so that we can be properly taxed on them. Then there are tip outs to bartenders, host/hostesses, bus persons, and possibly cooks. That money is off the top no matter how much I bring in. Those pay outs are based on sales. Did I really deserve a fifteen or even a ten percent tip? If you understand that the reason why your food took a little longer than normal is because of how busy the establishment was, then why affect my income so drastically? I tried to give you everything you could need and attempted to give you what you wanted so that you could enjoy your dining experience. I even managed to smile. I was not artificial. I tried my best to give you a genuine, enjoyable, and positively memorable dining experience. A twenty percent tip is the going rate these days. My paychecks for two weeks of work at a part time job are usually no more than $50. You could really help me out in another way too. If you are paying with a credit card please consider leaving a cash tip. There is no sense in your paying interest on more than something tangible. Besides, I have to pay a percentage of my credit card tips to the house.
I learned a very valuable lesson from Robert Charles Maximilian McDonald III. He wisely told me that I should treat everyone the same. He continued that you never know how a person is going to tip. A person that you think is made of money does not translate into an automatic good tip. Someone you perceive as being of meager means does not mean he or she is going to be tight with their funds. However, even without doing a longitudinal analysis there are some stereotypes that seem to permeate the masses. I am challenged to not prejudge and do my best to treat everyone equally. I remind myself that not any one guest makes or breaks me. It is the whole that matters so I can continue on.
I, as a waiter, work very hard to try to ensure an enjoyable dining experience. I work long hours. I am rarely allowed breaks and I probably can not afford to eat at the establishment where I am employed. I am not dependent on any one of you but I am definitely dependent on the whole of you. I realize that these are tough financial times but all I ask is if you can not or will not afford to tip properly and accordingly without unjustifiable or unattainable expectations then please reconsider where you have your dining experience. Maybe an establishment that has a drive through window would be a better option for all involved. Bon a petit.
Thank you for your time,
~Melik
I welcome any feedback, comments and suggestions for future commentary ideas.
melik_2001 @ yahoo.com
