*begin rant*

Unless you have been living under a rock you are aware that Valentines Day was last Sunday.  This holiday is traditionally reserved for couples to gift each other with flowers, chocolate, and a nice meal out at a restaurant somewhere close by.

I work at such an establishment, and I thought I would share with all of you some of the experiences I have had over the last week.  The good, the bad, and the terribly disrespectful and rude ones.

First lets get something very clear.  When you go to a nice place to eat, your server is NOT your slave!  We do our best to make sure you have a pleasant experience,  but please remember to treat us with respect.

As a server, I like to make my customers laugh.  When I greet a table I usually say something like this…

“Hi guys, my name is Adam, and I will be taking care of you tonight.  Before we get started I should probably apologize ahead of time, because I am going to do everything I can to screw up your order, and make your experience miserable.”

This generally gets a nice laugh out of people, and breaks the ice.

On Valentines Day I had two women come in, and sit in my section.  I greeted them with a variance of the above text, and they laughed, had a good time, and left me a very nice note which read…

“God Adam! You lied to us! AGAIN! You said this was going to be the worst Valentines Day dinner ever, but you lied! It was fabulous!  So disappointed!  Just kidding because you’re awesome!  Thank you!”

This little note made my night!

Sadly however not all tables react this way to my sense of humor.

I had another table come in, and I greeted them the same way.  For their entire stay they ordered me around, spoke rudely to me, sent back food time and time again, and overall were very unpleasant.

Now when you are a server you have to expect this kind of table from time to time.  I served them with a smile on my face, and treated them with respect.

It wasn’t until they left, and I discovered the note they left me, that I got upset.

“Hi Adam.  I was a waitress for 27 years.  Please, please, please, NEVER introduce yourself as a sub-standard waiter.  It will ALWAYS come true if that is the expectation.  Tell people your (she should have used you’re) new, exhausted, but never that they will have a bad experience.  You should tell them that you are working on their behalf, and trying to help them have a happy day.  I treated you they way I did in order to teach you a lesson.  You are a nice guy, and can do better.  I hope the lesson was learned.”

Did I mention they also left me a 4 cent tip?

So I guess the real lesson I learned here is that my table approach doesn’t always work for everyone.  Not everyone gets, or has a sense of humor.  And some people feel it is their duty to teach the world lessons they didn’t ask for.

*end of rant*