The Most Important Thing I Learned From Being a Waitress.

So, as most of my readers know, I worked at the fine establishment best known as 'Chili's' for around 4 years.  It was quite the life learning experience, as many people believe working waiting tables is.  I can tell you, for me, there was one distinct lesson.

Now, let's take out the fact that there are plenty of variables that can affect one's tip - financial situations, cheapassedness, obnoxiousness, stupidity, lack of basic math skills, etc.  Let's say, hypothetically speaking, a tip is a direct reflection of what one thinks of the service he or she was provided (even though, at times, there are other factors).

The biggest lesson, I found, was that sometimes, I was very very wrong at guestimating what people thought of me.  Sometimes I felt like I was having a great time with a table and then didn't get a good tip.  Sometimes I worked with some very cut and dry folks who left me over 20%.  Most tables were predictable; however, there were always a few curveballs.

One thing that I sometimes found hard to deal with was when it appeared that some table liked me but the tip the left didn't reflect that.  It wasn't the couple of dollars, but rather, the insult.  Sometimes one of the biggest surprises was thinking that someone liked me and then realizing I was wrong.   Granted, it never really had any real impact on my life when someone I waited on didn't like me, sometimes it was just a minor surprise that kept me on my toes.

Anyone else have a shocking moment when it seemed like someone liked you, but then you realized you were sorely wrong?  I suppose these moments could potentially happen all the time (job interviews, dating, etc.).  Granted, when waiting tables, it's easy to quickly put these moments behind oneself and move on - sometimes in other aspects of one's life, it's hard to deal with when someone doesn't feel the way he or she initially appeared to feel.  Anyone out there know how to best handle it when she realizes she is wrong about how someone feels about her?   

People Who Make Things Even.

So the other day, I had a nice catch-up dinner with a good friend.  At the end, the bill came.  We both put it on our credit cards.  My friend tipped something to the extent of $5.43 - so it came to a nice, even $23 (or something like that).

I remember waiting tables at Chili's for about 4 years (I still have "I-forgot-to-bring-the-fajitas" nightmares, but that's a complete and total tangent).    I can tell you this is a very common practice.

My question - WHY?  I could see it making sense with cash - leaving the change and all.  But it's on a credit card.  We, as people, don't go to Target or Jewel and think 'Oh, today, I'm going to spend exactly $48'.  This won't make one's final statement balance even.  Heck, it might even throw off the final statement balance from being even.  Yet so many people continue to do this....  Why?

America's Favorite Condiment?

So, there's an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and George go back and forth about salsa surpassing ketchup as "America's Favorite Condiment". I googled "America's Favorite Condiment" and got mixed results - all salsa and ketchup. Now, let me tell you firsthand, nothing against salsa or ketchup, but after five years of waiting tables at Chili's (with plenty of both former condiments on hand, mind you), I know that neither of these are America's fav. That title, my friend, belongs to the one and only....



RANCH DRESSING.

People put it on everything. Pizza. Tortilla chips. Black Beans. It was FAR AND AWAY the most requested and used condiment. Hands down. Maybe it's a midwestern thing. I dunno. But I do know this - it's my favorite too. :-)

Scary Thought

So, something I recently noticed on facebook got me thinking....I have now passed the four year anniversary of being a college graduate (December 15, 2004).  AHHH!  Crazy!  I have been an "adult" in the "real world" for FOUR YEARS (I started my first 'real job' February 5, 2004).   (Yes, I do have an odd ability to remember dates and an unhealthy love for parenthetical asides.)  

It's weird to think of all that this means - I have not done homework, studied for or taken a final, or worked at Chili's in four years.  I have now been out of college for longer than I was in it.  It's a bit hard for me to wrap my head around at this moment.  I need some time and space to take this all in.  I'll be back. 

Black Wednesday

Today is apparently the biggest DUI night of the year.  I suppose that the thought of spending the entire next day with one's extended family sparks calls for desperate measures.  That, and people probably don't plan ahead for today like they do for New Year's Eve, etc., it's more a 'stop for one (or 12) on the way home from work', kind of day.

I am reminded of a time when I was working the lunch shift at Chili's on this day - I believe it was either sophomore or junior year of college and I was working the lunch shift in my hometown, right across the street from my former high school, on a break from college.  

Around 12, a large group of teachers from my high school (some of them my very own former teachers) meandered in (I remembered there was usually a half day of school on this day).  They started as a table of 12 (but kept expanding as the afternoon went on).   

Their server was slightly less than thrilled with them.  They sat for something around four hours (as of when I left, they may have stayed even longer), and they had ordered something over $120 of alcohol (mind you, this was at Chili's - home of the $5 as-big-as-your-head margarita), yet the only food they had was one order of boneless buffalo wings (amongst the however many at that point).  

A group of 12 first graders would have been quieter and better behaved.  The manager went over and asked them to keep it down a couple times.  I remember two of the female teachers standing up and kissing each other on the lips and all the men applauding rowdily.  As I was leaving, the management was contemplating asking them to leave because they were disrupting virtually everyone on their side of the restaurant.  

For some unknown reason, thinking of my former teachers in this disjointed, disruptive, inappropriate state always makes me smile to this day.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!