Reason for Restaurant Etiquette

I wanted to expound a little bit on the purpose that this blog is intended to serve.  There are actually two.  The first is simply as the subtitle reads, it is intended to be therapeutic.  Servers have to put up with a lot of crap throughout their day.  If I have no outlet, I will hold negativity and probably spread it to those around me.  Ever been around me when I’m in a bad mood?  Then you already know.  It is also intended to be a ranting place for my coworkers both present and past, and really anyone working in the restaurant industry?  I hope you all begin to speak up because I want to know your thoughts on the subjects.  The second reason that I wanted to write this blog was to educate.  And who is my target audience?  The people who go out to eat and while they may have a grasp on proper dining etiquette haven’t any decorum when it comes to interacting with their server.  Your average server spends at least part of everyday on the bad side of one of many different social injustices ranging from being assumed an idiot, to being flat out ignored, and so on, I could name a million…therefore, the blog.  Now before I am written off as just being a Negative Nancy, I want to say that I enjoy my job.  Those guest mentioned before only make up about 25% of the people that I interact with at work.  The other 75%  are well mannered and polite, and of those, there are a select few that make my job incredible.  I have some people who when they come in always smile and greet me. Asking how I am doing and then inquiring about my children.  Over regular visits, some customers come to know my children by name, and I have even had some remember my birthday and bring in a birthday card to express their wishes for my happy day.  I have waited on celebrities, musicians (my all time favorite, Al Green at Bahama Breeze in Memphis), millionaires, billionaires, preachers, teachers, bleachers…I joke, but the point is, I never know who I’m going to meet each day when I go into work and that is one of the things I love the most about the restaurant industry.  My hope for  the guests that can put a grey cloud over my section for their visit is that they can simply be enlightened by simple information that is sometimes overlooked if one is not familiar with the inner workings of a restaurant.  Of course I know there will always be some people that are straight up A-holes and there is nothing I can do to prevent that, but I can hope that if anyone treats their server with a little more courtesy or respect  because of better understanding, then maybe a ripple from that drop of good karma will come back my way and reduce my A-hole ratio.