5 Things Servers Won’t Be Annoyed By Anymore When They Go Back to Work
Tens of thousands of servers across the country haven’t had the joy of waiting tables for many months as restaurants continue to struggle during the pandemic. Once upon a time, the list of things that annoyed servers was longer than Santa’s naughty list, but things have changed. Waiters and waitresses, eager and desperate to get back to work, are far more willing to put up with minor inconveniences just for the sake of being at work again and making money. A new dawn has risen, where servers will never, ever be aggravated by their customers. Things that once bothered them will now roll off their apron like water from a duck’s back.*
Hot Tea – There is no logical reason that servers hate serving hot tea, but they do. Maybe it’s because hot tea is the cheapest beverage on the menu, but requires the most steps to serve: mug, tea pot, spoon, lemon, various tea bag options, creamer, and honey… seriously, it’s a lot of effort for very little return. Now though, servers are so keen to work again they will happily announce all 102 varieties of teas and happily pre-warm the mug to ensure the hot tea is as hot as it can possibly be. Hot tea for everyone!
Customers Coming in Right at Closing Time – In pre-Covid days, a group of diners showing up at 9:59 when the restaurant closes at 10:00 was enough to send a server into a mini-meltdown. “I just dumped the coffee! I already cleaned the sidestand!” Nowadays, servers will roll out the red carpet for practically any customer even if it means staying at work way after closing time. Tips are tips, no matter what time they are given. Heck, servers will even happily extend the closing time even if it’s just for one customer who wants to read a book while eating a salad a snail’s pace.
Kids – There’s no easy way to say this, but kids are the absolute worst to wait on. Not only do they make a huge mess, they order food from the kids’ menu which doesn’t do much for the check average which doesn’t do much for the tip. Once servers are back in the game though, a crying kid throwing crackers on the floor will be a welcome reprieve from quarantine and borderline insanity. Servers will even be happy to host a ten-top of two-year olds celebrating a birthday!
Small Talk – There was a time when talking about the weather to a table of senior citizens was a complete time suck for servers requiring superhuman strength to not roll their eyes too aggressively. As they were discussing the average snowfall amount, their server was falling farther and farther into the weeds. After-Covid, servers are so grateful to talk to people again, they will gladly listen to stories about weather, Murder She Wrote reruns, and rheumatoid arthritis. And yes, now servers definitely want to look at pictures of those adorable grandchildren.
Water with Extra Lemons and Sugar Packets – Back in 2019, a customer making their own lemonade would infuriate a server because it indicated that the customer was a cheap human being who would do anything to avoid paying for a beverage. Flash forward to 2021 when servers will gladly bring their customers as many lemon wedges and Sweet’N Low packets as their hearts desire. Servers are just so happy to be at work again, not even this can ruin their joy!
*Please note that the acceptance of these grievances is a temporary setting and servers will eventually go back to hating all of the above examples. In fact, the window of opportunity for these things to not annoy servers is so small that it may actually close before customers can appreciate it. The window may only last for approximately two minutes from the time the server first ties their apron around their waste. But those two minutes are going to be absolutely wonderful.
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