Oh boy...with waitressing, there's tons of things I hate.
1.) People that order ice water with like 8 lemons so they can make their own 'lemonade'. Don't be cheap. I, will charge you for those lemons.
2.) Talking on your cell phone and ignoring me when I am trying to take your order. I am on a time schedule & have about 20 other things I have to do right at that moment. You're wasting my time, and my energy by doing this.
3.) When I come up and say "Hi, how are you today?", and people answer me with "Diet Coke." it makes me want to bitchslap you. Be courteous...remember, I am serving your food & drink to you...you're better off being nice to me.
4.) People that insist on having their strollers sitting at the end of their tables on a busy Friday night. Put your kid in a booster seat, or in a highchair and fold the thing up and put it off to the side, or better yet, leave it in your car. Leaving your kid in the stroller in the middle of the aisle is a safety hazard. Don't try to sue me when I trip over your bulky stroller and drop a sizziling hot skillet on your kids' face.
5.) Camels. Yeah, you people that GULP your drink down as soon as I get it for you so everytime I come by your table, you're in immediate need of a refill.
6.) Table hoppers. When I seat you at a specific table or booth, I am doing it for a reason. Do not take it upon yourself to move to another table/booth because you don't 'approve' of the one I just sat you at. Restaurants go in ROTATIONS with our servers. If we just sat one server, that has 5 other tables, and you happen to like a booth that is in their section and move to it, you're going to severely put that server behind because they can't keep up with having to run their food, take the orders, put the orders in the computer, get drinks/appetizers/soups/salads (majority of the time, all of the above.)on top of having to worry about being double sat. There's a lot of servers that can't handle more than 3 tables at once. So, just trust your host/hostess with where they seat you. They're really putting you in the section that is going to give you timely service.
7.) Pricing everything. Asking me how much EVERYTHING on the menu costs. It says it on the damn menu. I have a lot of things to remember, and prices are not one of them. Read the menu.
8.) Squatters. These are the people that order their food, are done eating, and sitting there with the check on the end of the table and just talk....for HOURS. It's especially annoying when you are my last table for the lunch shift, and I have to start working the dinner shift again in 15 minutes and haven't even had a chance to eat, sit down, or even pee for the past 4 hours and can't do that until you pay. If you're gonna sit for awhile, just pay it and I will not come back to your table, promise.
9.) Poor tippers. 20% tip now-a-days is just expected for average service. 25%-50% for excellent service. 20% now, was the 15% before. I know the economy sucks right now, but hey, we're suffering too. Remember, we get paid $2.83 per hour. We don't give a damn about our paycheck, we need the tips. That goes for foreigners too. When you come to America, it is standard to TIP your waiter/waitress! I know most places overseas don't expect to get tips because the gratuity is already included, or it's just not custom to tip. Here, it is. I've been screwed over on HIGH checks numerous times since my restaurant is connected to a business hotel.
10.) Bitchers. People that complain about EVERYTHING, usually to try to get something for free. If you're going to complain about something, it's perfectly okay to do so, just don't yell at me and blame me because your burger doesn't taste good to you. And don't cause a scene. Simply say, in a normal tone "Miss, this just doesn't taste right to me. May I please order something different or could you please take this off my bill?" If you're nice to me, I'll be extra sure to make sure you're taken care of. Oh, and don't EAT the entire thing and then tell me it tastes like shit. If it was that bad, you wouldn't have eaten it.
Ahhhhhhhhhh, I feel better. lol. Sorry for the long rant. I could keep going, but will end it there.
