*Originally published April 25th, 2019*
I want to start out happiness by talking about anger. What burns me up a lot about the industry is how guests sometimes treat or view us in the restaurant. Countless times I have heard the guest verbally abuse his or her server. I have had guests come to tell me how to do my job while on the line. There is this aura I feel of some people thinking that they are better than us in the industry. I sometimes feel it has grown even more in recent years due to negative rhetoric in our society. I believe it started with social media whereas people could get away with saying anything public and no ramifications. Whether it be racial, sexist, or any kind of verbal abuse; it is just way too easy to say whatever you want anonymously. I think that is now transferring over to people openly saying abusive things and feeling confident they can get away with it. And they can, and I am a big proprietor in freedom of speech. I do not think that this type of verbal abuse should be supported though. That leads me to an idea. We need to support positivity within the world. People should be rewarded, not by physical means necessarily, for their good deeds and recognized. That way it becomes a desire for people to become good. Currently if you are a negative person you receive publicity for it. Just a thought, what if a restaurant started rewarding amazing guests for their great attitudes, tips, or help within a service? Say a table treats the server great, they understand the kitchen made a mistake (or server), tips well and just act like decent human beings. Let's throw that table a free dessert, or give them 10% off their next visit, buy them a beer or something. Whenever the reward comes though, it is made a big show of it, kind of like someones birthday at a mexican joint, or ringing a bell. That way when other tables ask, "What did they do?" the answer is, "Oh, they just kick ass at being friendly" or something along those lines. I think this could work wonders. I really feel like not everyone should get recognition for every good deed they do, because then everyone will be expecting a cookie each time they are good, but I feel we have gotten too far away from wanting to help others. Let me know your thoughts, or if you know of any places that may do this so we can spread the word!
Blaine
- cook it up