This blog could be so useful to you. Most of you, my audience, are in college, which implies that you intend to secure some sort of professional position as a means of supporting yourself. One thing you can count on is that you'll be in a grown-up restaurant situation sooner than later and knowing how to handle certain situations with poise and etiquette can greatly improve the impression you make. It is not uncommon these days to be interviewed for a job over lunch at a nice restaurant, you might be invited to happy hour with your boss and his staff, you may have to entertain clients from out of town..... The possibilities are endless, and you may view this blog as your own personal restaurant coach, ready to help you navigate them all. I'm not saying that you may not be able to go out, order a meal, use manners, and tip appropriately, but sometimes uncomfortable situations arise during a dining experience that can affect the impression you make if you don't know how to handle them smoothly and with finesse, without coming off as rude. And if you've had etiquette training, are the perfect formal diner, or work in a restaurant and therefore know what I'm saying- then you can certainly use this blog for a twice-weekly laugh.
For the format of my posts will be simple: I am a waiter working weekends as I grind through college. I'll begin by presenting an example from my shifts over the previous weekend. And by example I mean a situation where one or more of my guests behaved so arrogantly that I or another server was left speechless. Or a guest whose table manners were so repulsive, a nearby table was mortified. Most of you wouldn't believe what I see on a weekly basis so when I get this off my chest after a long weekend, its sure to be hilarious.
But there are plenty of whiny waiter pages out there, why should you check out mine once, maybe twice a week? Well what if I'm ranting about a guy who almost had the perfect first date at my joint and did one little thing to screw it up, and you say to your self, "Hey Self, I've done that!" Or you're out to dinner with colleagues and you use one of my tips, looking smooth in the process. If you benefit just once from advice on my blog, my job is done. And if I make you laugh it's done too.
And I want to make it clear that I'm not some bratty college kid waiting tables for beer money in a "family restaurant." I've worked in the most upscale steakhouses and hotels and the greasiest of diners. In almost 15 years in the restaurant business I've worked all positions and seen the best and worst behavior from restaurant guests. I'm no etiquette expert but I certainly think I'm credible and I can dig down into my experience for examples in the unlikely event that all my tables are well behaved on a given weekend. I've already got something brewing concerning a four-top of drunk desperate housewives I had the pleasure of serving last night.
So look for my posts on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, that should give me time to get over the hangover that comes after spending a weekend at a busy restaurant and get some solid advice on the page. Thanks for your patronage, I hope you enjoy it, and remember: 20% is always accepted!
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