Yikes! That’s just plain creepy! :eek:
It’s even worse when they proceed to offer you the children’s menu.
I had a friend in college who worked summers as a waiter, and he said that a good waiter should not let the water glass get less than half-full, that it should be refilled without the customer needing to indicate that more water was desired, such as by asking or moving it to the edge of the table. Is that what others were taught?
I don’t mind if they don’t notice that my glass is half-full because it’s on the other side of my plate. I prefer not to have them reach over my food to get it, anyway, which is the other part of me moving it.
No. All non-alcoholic drinks should be refilled or replaced when they’re low; a good waiter will replace them without that annoying “Did you want more Diet Coke?” that makes you feel like some sort of Thirst Monster for going, “Actually, yes, I would…”
I never asked; I always just brought a new one when I saw anyone running low, and I appreciate this when I go out to eat.
But never letting the ice-water get less than half-full seems a bit much. Kind of cloying. Depends on where your friend worked, I’d assume; I always worked in casual dining restaurants where that sort of thing isn’t really expected or required. (Ditto for white Oxford shirts, brushing up breadcrumbs, etc., etc.)
Just out of curiosity, could this be because of your Indian heritage?
Part of it was because I was brough up so conservatively and touching just wasn’t allowed. So, that’s the Indian heritage.
Part of it was because my mom actually *eschewed * physical contact, and my dad…well, he was a little more affectionate but not much.
My personal hatred is directed at the “Super Saver Discount Club Card” and it’s myriad of variations.
Clerk: “Is this everything?”
Me: “Yep…just the gum.”
Clerk: "Do you have your “Holy Snappin’ Arseholes I Can’t Believe How Much I’m Saving!” card?
Me: “No.”
Clerk: “I can sign you right up…it’s only $15 per year.”
Me: “No thanks, I’m not from around here.”
Clerk: “But it’s good for a year…you may be passing through again. Plus, I can apply your discount to today’s purchase. Let’s see…you’d save 8 cents on your gum!”
Me: “Ma’am, I live on the other side of the freakin’ Continental Divide…I won’t be passing through again. Just sell me the freakin’ gum.”
Clerk: “I’ll put some information about the club in your bag.”
[QUOTE=Nava]
Oh wonderful. My last US job meant 70% time travel, most of it to Latin America, and the 1-800 number Diners gave could not be used from abroad!.
Well, Duh! Maybe they don’t want calls from Latin America so they don’t have to hire someone who speaks Latin.
Balle_M,
Proud Insular American
There was probably a sign up somewhere that said, “If we fail to thank you by name, you win A FREE CAR!!!” or something like that. I hate stupid policies like that. If people aren’t getting my name already from a credit card or check, I’ll give them some totally bogus name, just to see what they do with it. “Well, thanks, Mr. Esterhazy!”
{snerk} That reminds me of one of my favorite webcomics:
http://queenofwands.net/d/20030201.html
[QUOTE=Agent Foxtrot]
That said, I cannot for the life of me understand why cashiers always want to give you a bag for one item. This especially goes for when I buy a gallon of milk or a case of soda (which has its own handle and is even more difficult to carry in a bag) or something small like a candy bar. Why waste the plastic? I always tell them not to bag it, so they end up shoving the bag in the garbage can by their feet! What, you can’t save that bag for the next person? It’s been tainted now? Sheesh.*
My peeve is exactly the opposite. If I don’t hover over the bagger, they will unevitably fail to bag my gallon bottles of milk and water. Or they’ll ask “do you want your water/milk/six pack/detergent in a bag?” It’s all I can do to refrain from barking “Why the HELL WOULDN’t I?” I’ve got to shlep these big bulky items from the same car, up the same steps as my other six bags. I can maybe understand if I’m just buying that one item, because as you say, it’s easier to carry by the handle, but when I buy groceries, I tend not to carry each item in one at a time.
I feel sorry for anyone who tries that on my uncle. He’ll tear 'em a new one…“Did I ask for the supersize fries?”
The other day, a grocery store clerk asked if I had found everything, and I actually said no. So she called someone over and told them I was looking for a specific brand of cat food. The guy goes to the cat food aisle, looks on the shelf, then returns and tells me, “We don’t have it.” (Duh!) I told him I’d bought it last week, and were they planning to get more, or had they discontinued it, or what? So then the manager came out and he headed off to see if it was in the cat food aisle. A few minutes later, I caught sight of him sitting in the office. I went over and asked about the cat food again and he said, “I didn’t find any and I don’t see where it goes on the shelf so I guess we don’t have it anymore.”
Gee, thanks!
It’s never happened before, but today at lunch the friggin’ waiter came by three times and TOUCHED ME when he asked if everything was okay. I didn’t want to make a scene by telling him to stop, but if I go back to that restaurant again (and the touching makes me not want to), I’m going to have to say something. It’s so condescending and phony.
Also, there are very few waitpersons who don’t seem like a tip-whoring phoney when they call a customer “honey” or “sweetheart”. I wish I knew how to tell someone that it just doesn’t work for them.
Hmmm.
I routinely touch my clients during the course of my work day. I feel that not only are they not offended by my touching them, but that they would be disappointed if I didn’t.
But then, I’m a massage therapist…
Have you tried using wooden spoons, Mango?
If cashiers ask me for my personal information, I very politely ask them why they want it, then decide to give it to them based on their answer. We have new privacy legislation in Canada and Alberta that is very specific about personal information; if the business does not need it in the normal course of business, they are not allowed to ask for it.
(I’ve also whited out my name on my air miles card so Safeway people can’t call me by name. Amazing how many of them will still squint at it and try to figure it out - listen, you, it’s obviously been obscured on purpose - maybe you should respect that.)
Even worse in my book: the current trend in hotlines where there’s no menu of touch-tone options at all (e.g. “For current balance, press 1; to check on a payment, press 2; etc.”). Instead, you are asked to say the words, “balance”, “payments”, etc. And you can’t just say the word as soon as you hear it, either; if you speak while the recording plays, it pauses and says, “please wait for all the options” or something like that.
I think a lot of people have complained about the “impersonal” nature of these touch-tone menus, but replacing them with voice-recognition menus is even worse. It’s not any more personal, it’s slower, less reliable, and most of all, you’re forced to have a stupid-sounding one-sided “conversation” so that everyone in the office can hear you shouting, “PAYMENTS. YES. NO. FOUR.”.
This made me giggle because I just got back from visiting aforementioned store at lunch. I’m in there at least once a week. I head directly to the DVDs, first the new release section, then I browse the rest if I’m not looking for something specific. And every time the same employee asks me if I need help. If it were different people, it might not bug me, but it’s always the same guy. Sure, I know he sees a lot of people every day, but on no less than three occasions he has said something about the t-shirt I was wearing, or the weird green nail polish, or some other physical attribute that should at least make me look familiar to him the next time I come in.
Isn’t it obvious? He’s interested in you. So go out with him already.
Yeah, I had the same thought. Ask him out.
He’s thirty years older than me and wearing a wedding ring. I’ll pass, but thanks. 