I’m a waitress. When I was new at this type of work, dealing with angry customers used to leave me frazzled, but it becomes easy to anticipate people’s needs and reactions. I usually average around 18–20%. Once a week or so I am the only server on duty, which means a maximum of maybe 20 tables. This is a really unusual arrangement, I think- most places err on the side of caution and give a waiter only a few tables at a time. Every once in a while there are difficult or demanding customers; every waiter sees a few. I actually like the challenge of trying to figure these people out and make them leave happy, but it is a greater investment of time. When the restaurant is full and I’m the only one there, my time is precious and I have to make sure everyone gets served in a timely manner. If one table is asking for four rounds of complimentary bread, water with sugar and extra, extra lemon (to make lemonade at the table), taking years to make up their mind, or making tons of fiddly substitutions that I have to explain to the line cook in Spanish, it’s taking time away from my other tables. I don’t really mind these things, but if a person is rude on top of this they will become a low priority for me, because I have an entire restaurant full of other people to help. I feel bad about having this callous attitude, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people are offended to hear that, but I have to prioritize to make as much money as possible. I don’t think there is really a “worst part” of my job, though, because the cook and the busperson work really hard and for longer hours than I do. Anything I could say- maybe my feet hurt sometimes or I spill food all over myself or something- they deal with that stuff ten times worse than I do. They’re really nice guys, too.
@KatawaGrey It sounds like this dude was getting a little turned on by oversharing about his piercings. It’s tough to deal with pervy customers, but if you’re assertive they can’t get away with that crap.