DISCLAIMER: In simply one year of maintaining employment at various businesses throughout the restaurant industry, I have witnessed the incredulous amount of responsibility and work ethic required to ensure customer satisfaction. Yet, regardless of the amount of said effort that is put in by staff members each and every day to create a remarkable guest experience, workers will continuously cross paths with those who find even the slightest of ordeals to complain about. What these customers tend to forget is that the hosts, servers, chefs, and bussers at your favorite restaurants are human, and deserve to be respected for their efforts. Workers in each position bend over backward while engaging in countless efforts to satisfy parties of all sizes that enter their restaurant on a daily basis, though it does not come without the costs of tedious aggravation and the urge to maintain perfection.
With regards to my personal experience, I have been working as a hostess at various restaurants for a brief period of one year, and throughout this time, I often see far more disrespect than I would like to.
As an employee in this business, my number one priority is to accommodate guests to the best of my ability. As I am primarily required to seat guests, I often find myself in far more contact with them than I once expected. Whether I am engaging in small talk, answering questions about the menu, or taking an order over the phone, I remain incredibly grateful for the customers that display proper etiquette towards me.
Often times, I am lucky if I receive a "thank you" from a guest after assisting them. Do not get me wrong - this slight culmination of bitterness has developed over a period of time, and eventually, one learns how to adapt to working in this industry. Yet, in actuality, I have far less to complain about than that of a server, bartender, chef or manager. Their interactions with guests tend to be far more in-depth than my own, and the incidences of blatant ignorance towards these workers that I have seen is deplorable.
I believe that there is a certain level of respect that must be maintained between people, regardless of whether one works in the restaurant industry or not.
I feel as though there is no excuse to show ignorance to a person that is doing their best to guide you through a pleasant experience in their place of employment. Leaving a server little to no tip is possibly the biggest slap in the face you could give to one who is attempting to make a livelihood in this industry. Blatantly showing your disdain toward a host because you are required to be put on a ten-minute waiting list for a table when a restaurant is filled to capacity is not their fault. Sending drinks back and forth to the bar because they were made with "too much ice" is simply unnecessary.
If you are looking to enjoy your dining experience at a restaurant, show your respect to those who are breaking their backs to please you. If you find that impossible, I suggest you try walking a mile in their shoes.
