A Job Well Done

This hasn't been prompted by anything in particular except another article I came across on Digg with a list of things not to do as a guest in a restaurant (I've seen at least a few of these, all written by waiters/waitresses). I've never been a server, never worked in food service, and I hope to keep it that way because I probably wouldn't be very good at it, and I'd hate to have so much of my income be dependent on my ability to be nice to people. That said, I feel a very strong urge to side with and defend these folks because I've worked for nearly a decade in retail, and as such I have extensive experience with customers who have no idea what is reasonable to expect from whomever is providing you with your service, and even worse, people who have never had to do such a job before and therefore have no idea how much it sucks anyway, even without having someone be shitty to you.

I know most of the people who will read this have had such a job, because the only place I advertise is on Facebook, and most of the people who populate my Facebook are current and former co-workers, so presumably this is just preaching to the choir, but I feel compelled to remark on this anyway because it seems like every time I go out anywhere, I see some customer service worker being treated badly for no reason they deserve, and I'm frequently tempted to say something; I should start doing so, I've never been one to keep my mouth shut about anything. For those of you who do not know, customer service workers typically make somewhere in the neighborhood of minimum wage, which wouldn't be enough to scrape by on even if you worked 60 hours a week (and if you're making minimum wage, you almost certainly are employed part-time, and not full-time). It's even tougher on waiters and waitresses, who typically make two bucks and change every hour, and are forced to rely on tips for the rest.

I know I have at least one friend who demands nearly flawless service and has unreasonable standards everywhere he goes to shop or eat; he does not work anywhere near customers, and only experiences one side of the exchange. The fact of the matter is, anybody working in any type of guest service is probably trying to work on several different things at the same time, sometimes with multiple customers, and they just cannot do everything all at once. Even worse, if a customer does have a complaint, they tend to make it personal. This is beyond unfair, because whatever the problem is, it is rarely the fault of the poor front-line workers, and even worse, our hands are tied to defend ourselves because almost anything we say, no matter how right or how justified, could get us fired from our crappy job.

Every bit as bad is the guy who fails to appreciate a job performed well. This applies more to the waiters and waitresses who, as mentioned before, rely so much on tips. Oh, you may protest, but it's their job to do well, that doesn't deserve an extra reward. To which I would reply, are you fucking serious? Have you got any idea how thankless it is to work anywhere in the service industry? It feels good to have someone tell you that you've done a good job, and I'm not talking about when a superior tells you that. That just feels hollow and forced, just something they tell you so they can feel better about themselves and look good on the HR report. What really means something is when a customer tells you that you've done a good job, because why the hell would they say that if it wasn't true? A couple weeks ago, Audrey and I went out to a nice sit-down restaurant for dinner, and our waiter was just exceptional. I'm sure the dude does a good job for just about everyone who sits at one of his tables, but probably not nearly enough people tell him so, either in words or with their tips. I made a point of telling him that he did a great job, and left him a tip above the standard 15%. I don't exactly have a bunch of extra money or anything, so I couldn't afford to leave as much as I would have liked, but the guy knew that I valued his hard work. You know these folks don't get that as much as they deserve, so hey, next time...no, every time you go out and you get good service, let 'em know. I mean, wouldn't you like that if you were in their place?