Working as a
waitress can sometimes turn a positive mood into a negative mood. That’s not to say that every serving shift will
break your spirit, otherwise, no sane person would ever consider waiting tables
for a living. But there are several aspects of restaurant life that contribute
to negative attitudes among staff members.
Here, I will
outline three specific factors that often affect my mood as a server, and how to
[try and] turn their effects from negative to positive.
1. Negative co-workers.
Even if you
go to work feeling great about life, when your co-workers are grouchy, your
mood will undoubtedly drop to a new level of low. We won’t always know what
outside factors have contributed to a co-worker’s pessimistic disposition,
but we can try to turn their mood around before their negativity rubs off onto
the rest of the serving staff.
It’s far too
easy to fall into a co-worker’s cynical trap, so try to stop their bad
behaviour by telling an uplifting story or a positive joke; the rest of
the servers will silently thank you for doing this.
2. Rude customers.
One of the
biggest mood killers in the restaurant industry is rudeness. Servers make
their living by waiting on other people; but some customers seem to confuse the
term ‘server' with ‘servant’. When your section of the
restaurant is filled with rude customers, it can definitely trigger negativity
in your own demeanour.
If being
friendly and helpful to your customers doesn’t change their attitude, try
to keep your head high and remind yourself that dining times are averaged at an
hour and a half; so they won’t be in your presence for much longer.3. Terrible tips.
It’s hard not to feel bad about yourself when customers aren’t tipping well; after all, waitresses work for tips. When the cycle of bad tipping doesn’t seem to change directions, servers can feel anything from sad to angry.
Even though
you can’t tell a customer how much they’re supposed to tip, you can be the bigger person by smiling
politely and secretly wishing for karmic revenge. All jokes aside, try to grin and
bear your terrible tips because at some point in the near future, you will
serve a wonderful customer who will lift your mood and expand your wallet.
Thank
you for reading Serving for the Future.
**Warning: This video contains explicit language**
I think anyone who works in the hospitality business can relate to all your tips, thank you. Always good to know we're not alone. Great clip, really showcases what we would love to say and do sometimes at work, but deep down know, a BIG NO NO!!
ReplyDeleteBeing a waitress is no easy task, as a past job I used to have I can relate to a lot of the things you talked about in your post. I agree with Meggles the clip really is all the things you wan to say but have to keep locked up haha thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI just quit my job as a waitress in Decemeber and I can relate so much to everything you're posting about. It can be incredible hard to stay positive with so many negatives around you. Everytime I went to work I would think the opposite to hopefully change my mood, I'm lucky enough to have a job and at least pay some of my bills with that money. Stay positive Heather, hopefully this new program will help us get a job we all enjoy going to everyday.
ReplyDeleteHi Heather,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've never tried waiting, I have worked in the front lines of the hospitality industry for about three years now and I can entirely relate to what you are saying. I find sleepy guests tough - wouldn't want to be anywhere near hungry ones, haha.
It was tough, especially when I started, to not let things get to me. It's hard not to take it personally when you're getting yelled at or spoken down to, but I've learned to just let it roll off. Just curious - what do you think of the recent trend of waiters and waitresses posting receipts (showing either unkind, discriminating remarks and poor tips) on social media websites?
I don't think you'll be serving for much longer - you're an awesome student and I know you're going to get a fabulous job out of the PR program. :)
Thanks, Kelly.
DeleteIn response to your question: Sometimes posting receipts can be beneficial, but other times it can be annoying and pointless. If there's a deliberate reason why someone gave the server a poor tip, then it might be a good discussion topic on social media sites; but if the server is just angry and posts the receipt without reason, then I don't think a social media conversation is necessary - it's just annoying.
I had my first waitressing job this summer, I hated it! Thank-god it was only a summer position because I'm not sure I would have lasted much longer. I have the utmost respect for server and unless service is absolutely terrible I'm a generous server because I know what they're going through. But I have to admit, I was probably one of those negative co-workers you talked about...
ReplyDeleteBeing a waitress is really mentally tough. I used to work as a waitress for a month and then got fired after I poured the whole liter of beer on my customer's head. Sounds very rude but he must be grateful he was still fertile after his actions. You can never know what your customer is going to do the next second. It was a great experience...Thank you for awesome tips)))
ReplyDeleteAs someone who works in sales, I can confirm customers can be rude.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with you; it's best to try to be nice to them and remind yourself they'll be gone soon.