The Most Confusing Table I’ve Ever Waited On
Last night I had work at the seafood restaurant I work at, and my first table started off the day pretty bad. Here’s the story:
A couple came in, probably in the late 50′s. I went over to them as I usually do, very energetic and in a great mood. I got their drink order and brought it down to them. As I gave the lady her drink I said “there ya go” and she responded by saying “same to you”.
I was a little perplexed by this because I had no idea what that meant, so I went about my business and got their dinner order. As usual I said thanks as I was taking the menus from their table and she responded with “same to you – bye” again.
“Ok” I thought, maybe she’s from a different culture or a different part of the country or something and that’s how they respond to certain things. I should mention now that when she said that I didn’t respond to it because I wasn’t exactly sure what I was supposed to say, so I just let it go.
I went to the kitchen to make their salad, and when I dropped it off she again said “same to you” after I said “there you go”. She then said in a very low voice, without looking at me, “I can’t believe how rude of a server you are, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
Shocked, I stood there and looked at her for a second, not knowing what to say. At first I thought she was joking with me like a lot of my tables do because I make them feel comfortable. However she didn’t have even a slight hint of a smile on her face, so I just walked away confused.
I thought that would be the smart thing to do because the customer is always right and if I said anything back to her I didn’t want to start any kind of conflict. She didn’t seem like the type of person that would actually be nice and explain to me what I was doing wrong.
It really shocked me when she said this because it was the first time anybody has ever called me rude – in my life. In my daily life, especially when I’m at work, I’m as polite as can be and I constantly get comments such as “I’m the best server they’ve ever had”, “I’m a fine gentleman and extraordinary server”, and frequently get tips that are above 20%.
She even went on to tell one of the bus boys that I must be the worst server in the restaurant. For the rest of the time they were there I decided to talk directly to the guy who was with her and pay no attention to her at all, in order to avoid any conflict.
There are some interesting things to learn from this situation I had with my table.
- I didn’t let her comments get to me and affect my ability to wait on any of my other tables. I knew that I did nothing wrong, so I just let it pass. This is an important skill to have, especially when you’re in a field in which you deal with a number of people throughout the day.
- I’m still not sure what I did to make her mad. The only reason I could come up with is that I did something that offended her culture. She had an accent so I figured she was from another country. Maybe I was supposed to respond by saying something after she said “same to you”?
- This event actually made me a little stronger and more knowledgeable in a way. If something ever comes up like that again, I’ll be sure to ask them why I was being rude and see what I can do to approach them in a better way.
This example can benefit anybody who’s in the people business, or even if you’re not. By taking this example and putting it into any context in your life you will be better able to understand if someone is mad at you, which can strengthen the relationship between you and that person.
Knowing what makes a person “tick” as they say can have tremendous benefits in your life. You will be able to understand what they’re thinking, get messages across better, enhance trust, and improve the quality of your relationship.
If I had asked her what I was doing wrong, I think it would have improved our brief relationship with each other and probably increase my tip that I got.
So what are you opinions on this? Should I have asked her what I did wrong and strengthened our relationship? Or should I have kept my mouth shut like I did and avoid the conflict?
I’d love to hear your opinions so please leave a comment and let me know what you would have done. Also make sure you remember this story the next time you’re confronted with a similar situation.
Jeremy
BlogMarks
Furl
Newsvine
Rojo
Email This to a Friend
If you like this then please subscribe to the 
April 21st, 2007 at 4:28 am
[...] Reeves presents The Most Confusing Table I?ve Ever Waited On posted at The Road To A Perfect [...]
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:39 am
I think you did all you could do and it was the best thing to do. The responsibility lies with the consumer to express dissatisfaction with a service and ask for a resolution. She failed to do that so no resolution occurred.
That isn’t your fault. For all we know, she may have simply been disturbed or inebriated prior to arriving.
I would steer clear of trying to initiate a resolution for a customer who could not clearly state their dissatisfaction. In short, I would politely and professionally ignore them.
Keep in mind, just because a person or persons can navigate an automobile through a series of turns and stops to arrive at the restaurant does not preclude them to be sane or sober. There are plenty of, let us say, “unusual” people out there.
You did fine. Maybe you didn’t get a good tip or a tip at all. But alas, that is life. We all run into brick walls occasionally and even lose money in the process, let alone make less than desired.
April 22nd, 2007 at 10:22 am
Thanks Don,
I thought so too, I just wanted to see what everybody else thought. I guess we’re all on the same wavelength
.
April 22nd, 2007 at 6:10 pm
For all you know she’s hard of hearing and thought you said, My, you’re slow, or There’s the do’.
I’d have asked for more, sat down at the table and said, “What did you hear me say?”
May 10th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
cool site
May 10th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Well thanks, I’ll be adding much more content now that the semesters over, so make sure you RSS it (top of the page) and come back!
December 20th, 2007 at 11:51 am
very interesting. i’m adding in RSS Reader
July 13th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Randomly stumbled across your post… I know it’s been years since you wrote it, but I have a comment!
She was probably saying “thank you” and expecting a “you’re welcome.” I grew up overseas and can totally see how “thank you” could be turned into three syllables that sound like “same to you.”
July 13th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
Haha… I think you may have nailed it on the head!
By the way… I’m moving this blog over to http://www.JeremyReeves.com – not sure how often I’m going to post but for anybody that comes across it… check out that site, maybe there’ll be more updates