UNITED STATES—I was recently out at a restaurant this weekend and I realized that it was going to be a wait. The pandemic has literally dealt a devastating blow to the restaurant and food industry as a whole. We went to one restaurant first, but discovered they were NOT offering dine in service because of a lack of workers, so we tried another spot with the same result, before we tried another restaurant that ultimately offered dine in service.
I was wowed that only two servers were working the entire restaurant. They had people helping along the way, but these waiters were working their tails off, especially the waiter that we had. He was moving from one table to the next without missing a beat to say the least people. He got a hefty tip as a result because I always tip when I dine out, but I’m a big proponent of giving because waiters don’t earn a living wage in my opinion. They have to rely on tips and unfortunately NOT many people tip even though they should.
Yeah, I don’t want to hear that oh, the service wasn’t great; we’re in a pandemic you’re NOT going to receive top tier service when so many restaurants are literally hanging on by a thread. So many of my favorites closed as a result of the pandemic, and I’m not just talking about restaurants, I’m referring to actual retailers. There are so many people who think the service industry is such a cakewalk to work in, but they have never walked in the shoes of these people.
You have no clue how difficult, how stressful this industry can be if you’ve never worked in it. I work in the service industry, I have for many years and I understand the plight, the headache and stress that so many people in the restaurant industry feel right now. Sometimes you go unappreciated, but the American public can just be rude people.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had to encounter people who just talk to you any type of way without realizing that you’re still a person. That whole the customer is always right notion, I don’t buy it. Sometimes the customer is WRONG and they need to be aware of it. You can’t treat people like they’re less of a human being and think its ok because you’re spending your money. If you don’t like the service you’re getting fine, take your money and go elsewhere. However, if a person is doing their best to accommodate you and then you still act an a** that is NOT right and you need to be called out on it.
There are some people who just are not nice people. Their lives are miserable and as a result they take out their frustrations on everyone else. If I hear one more person say the government subsidies and extra payments from stimulus checks and extra unemployment benefits is the cause of such a lack of workers I’m going to snap. Perhaps people should open their eyes the same way the pandemic did for so many Americans who were stuck in jobs that quite frankly they hated. They weren’t being treated like they mattered, they weren’t earning enough money, so guess what, they vacated the service industry and looked for work elsewhere, and in other industries where more money was being offered.
Is it a sad reality? Yes, but at the same time when you treat your workers like crap and don’t deliver a decent wage a person is only going to take so much before they decide to seek work elsewhere or in the case of many Americans start their own businesses. For all those people out there who think the service industry is such a cakewalk, why don’t you walk in those shoes and let’s see how long you last. You may think it is no big deal, but be careful what you say until you’ve actually walked those shoes people.
