Everyone warned me about getting into the food industry. I was told that people would be awful, that I would fun into some of the most despicable people, but they forgot to mention the truly incredible people you meet in the process.
I’m still new at the whole waitressing thing, so I do tend to make a few mistakes here and there, but this past week, I have met two people that were just awesome. I don’t know if it was because I was a good server or if they are just genuinely nice people, but regardless, they definitely renewed my faith in humanity.
The first woman was an older woman that came in alone. I sat her down in my section, then a child near by started screaming. I offered to move her to another more quieter section, so I had to make a very conscious effort not to forget she was there since she wouldn’t be in the section that I was assigned to. She was very friendly and fun to talk to. She ordered a burger and an ice tea which came to about $10. She ended up paying with a $50, and I was a little put out because it meant I had to make a lot of change. I had to get change from my manager, and this is where I made the mistake. My manager gave me change for the $50, but I had thought she gave me the change for the check so I just stuck the change back in the slip and gave it to the women to realize later that I had given back the women the whole $50 only in more bills. She had left a $3 tip, which mean that because of my mistake, she got her meal for free and I would end up having to pay $7 for her meal out of my tips that day. I accepted my mistake and went on with the day.
A few days later, I came in to work and my manager approached me saying he had something for me. He handed me an envelope with a card in it containing the recite and $10 i had mistakenly returned to the woman. In the card, the woman wrote that she had originally just put the money back in her wallet, but when she checked the next morning, she realized I had made a mistake and didn’t want me to have to pay for it. She returned the money.
I was absolutely dumbfounded. I don’t think I would even do that, her honesty was incredible. I was so impressed. She had left her address on the card so I wrote her a thank you note and I plan on buying her an ice cream if she ever comes in again.
The second incredible person I encountered was a woman I met today. She was sitting at the counter with two little girls and I noticed her once, but I was busy running around, I assumed someone else would take care of it. Of course, everyone else assumed the same thing. When I walked by again, she was still sitting there, so I asked if she had been helped. She had not, and said that she was about to ask if someone would help her. Of course I took her order right away and got it to her ask fast as possible, it was just ice cream. I did not expect any tip because she had been ignored for so long, but I felt bad so I made their ice cream with a little extra care and as fast as possible. Her check only came to $11.
They ate at the counter and I handed them their check, then went back to running around for all my tables. I didn’t make it back in time to take her money so my manager took care of it for me, but before leaving the woman sought me out and handed me some money and a note. It read as follows:
“Thank you for your nice and friendly service. I have to work hard for my money too, so I hope my tip reflects my appreciation for your customer service.”
She left me a $9 tip. I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t really done anything except acknowledged her and took her order, but she seemed to know I was rushing around. Her generosity was greatly appreciated, and caused quite a ruckus among the other servers who had passed her by.
These two women were amazing people, and made me feel really good about the people in the world. I have had dozens of nice customers as well, but these women have gone beyond. It doesn’t seem like a lot to do, but it has actually caused a change in me. Even with the people that walk out on checks or don’t leave tips, or are just plane frustrating to wait on, I can keep being nice and keep going back to work because I know that there are the good people still out there.
I definitely plan to pay these acts of generosity and kindness forward.
And I encourage everyone on their next trip to a restaurant, if you have good service with a smile that made you enjoy your meal just a little bit more, leave a good tip and a nice note. It can really turn a person’s day around. And be honest, there is no doubt in my mind that you will be rewarded for it.
3 Comments so far
Leave a comment
yep; like my mother (and probably your mother too) said, “being nice doesn’t cost you anything.”
Comment by deanne 07.28.08 @ 10:04 amyep; like my mother (and probably your mother too) said, “being nice doesn’t cost you anything.”
also – those people who do those random acts of kindness can really make your day – while it might sound cheesy to some, it’s nice to think some small act of kindness could make *someone elses* day.
Comment by deanne 07.28.08 @ 10:05 amLeave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>