THINK waiters have it easy? Think again. Below, servers speak out on customer abuse, sexual harassment and other on-the-job hazards.
* “There was a lady sitting down with her daughter. I asked her what would she like to drink, and she said a Diet Coke. And I said, ‘What would you like to drink?’ to the little girl. She said, ‘Chocolate milk!’ The lady doesn’t say anything, so I go and get the Diet Coke and chocolate milk, and I come over and the lady grabs my arm and says, ‘The next time my daughter orders chocolate milk, you better run it by me first.’ She was sitting right there. She could have easily said, ‘No, you can’t have chocolate milk.’ The kicker is she then orders [the girl] chocolate-chip pancakes!”
* “Sometimes we get customers who think their money is no good here, and without any shame tip us with bags of Xanax, cocaine – you name it. They seem to think that if you’re in the service industry, you’re a drug addict by default!”
* “Sexual harassment happens every day. You either accept it or you get another job. On my first day of work, my manager actually followed me into the walk-in freezer and proposed to have sex right there at that moment. He actually started to unbutton his pants! I was mortified. But it was all in a ‘joking’ manner. Except a week later I hear that he actually did the same thing to the new girl, and she went for it. Who knew walk-ins were the new motels?”
* “It was my second month on [the] job as an assistant manager in an upscale sandwich shop in Midtown [when] an old French woman came in asking if she could have a salad. I explained to her that we could make a sandwich into a salad, or [make her] a mixed green salad. She wanted, ‘a salad with tomatoes! What’s the matter with you?’ I told her I would happily make her what she wanted if we had the items in house, but unfortunately, since it was March, tomatoes were not in season and we only had roasted tomatoes. Without any further discussion, she came up to the counter and spit on me [and said] she was going to call the cops because our sign advertised salads but that we didn’t have any salad. I was too shocked and covered in phlegm to do anything.”
* “Yes, I understand that in Europe, tipping is not standard [but] this is not the case in America. This is why we have a European (automatic gratuity button) on our computers. It’s usually used for parties of six or more, but those bastards deserve it. I’m sorry, I’m really bitter about this, as are most of my co-workers. I know those guide books tell them about tipping! I know!”