reviewing

[threeplusfire]

In case you have ever wondered what shoes your British phone sex operators are wearing, they are probably these leopard print slingbacks. Yes, the reviewer stated that these were her favorite shoes to describe to her callers.

Is it just me, or does this head massage device look more like something aliens might use to remove the top of your skull? I find it sort of hilarious that it is called the Heebeegeebee. Why have I not seen anyone in the Torchwood fandom menacing us with this object?

Finally, I code restaurant reviews for Open Table pretty regularly. They make me grit my teeth because most of them are full of a sense of entitlement that causes me physical pain. The following is a very mild example:

I went for dinner on Sunday at 3:00 pm, but didn't know they were still serving brunch. Most restaurants in DC start dinner at 3, so it was very disappointing. Even though the brunch meal we had was well prepared it was hard to be enthusiastic since we wanted dinner not breakfast. We had a great waiter, but Clydes could have been more accommodating about letting us order dinner anyway. It was my mother's birthday. Generally speaking I like Clydes. I had dinner there on Friday as well and that meal was terrific.

Seriously, whiskey tango foxtrot? Most restaurants may be serving dinner at the ungodly early hour of three in the afternoon but this one clearly wasn't. the answer was to go somewhere else if you want dinner, not badger the restaurant about their service hours and pout because you didn't get what you wanted. Gee, it was your special day. Every day is someone's special day. Why does that mean the restaurant should bend over backwards to placate you?

I understand that part of eating out is service and one pays for the pleasure of having someone else do the heavy lifting. But I find a lot or reviewers seem to expect restaurants to cater and kowtow to their every whim. What the fuck is that? This attitude is so repulsive to me. I would never imagine pitching a fit about not getting the dinner menu at 3pm, or being upset that I had to wait ten minutes during dinner rush for my drink to arrive and my order to be taken, or demand that the waitress be more happy to see me and fawn over me.

Waiting tables is hard, brutal work - physically and mentally. I know that I wouldn't last one day. Someone would make me cry or be so wretched that I would stab them with a fork. I tip my waitstaff high, even if service isn't great. I do this because I imagine they deal with horrid, selfish customers all day long who make unreasonable demands and make life difficult for them. If I went somewhere and they didn't have exactly what I wanted, I would order something else or go somewhere else. Sure, I'm paying for someone else to cook the meal and bring it to me. But I am not paying them to grovel or so I can treat them like slaves.

(If you're my friend and you ever act like that when we go out to eat, that's the last time we're going anywhere together. Ever.)

Comments

[miep.livejournal.com]

i love freaky head massager spiders. they make my head feel good, and it's an overall relaxing sensation. M has described it as "as good as sex". i don't find it _that_ good, but it's good.

[idadebeautreux.livejournal.com]

THIS. I once went out with some friends to an IHOP for breakfast on New Year's Day, and one of them gave SUCH an attitude. She ordered a tuna fish sandwich, and the waitress came back from the kitchen apologizing that the kitchen was out of tuna fish; would she like to order something else? The girl proceeded to pull the most brat-tastic self-indulgent passive-aggressive crap I had ever seen. She pouted, if she couldn't have her tuna fish, then she didn't want anything else, she would just go hungry, so there, and how was it possible that they were out of tuna fish anyway, what kitchen does that, and well, maybe she'd paw through the menu, and insult every other dish and whine about how none of it was anything she wanted, and then finally order something else and pick at it because it wasn't her damn tuna fish sandwich, and then to top it all off, she'll brag a bit about how much she stiffs waitstaff because they're jerks and they do things like this. Because OBVIOUSLY they shorted themselves on tuna fish on that day JUST to spite HER. If it weren't for the fact that she was the best friend of the girl hosting the party, and I was a guest, I would have ripped into her - now, in hindsight, I wish I had.

I was embarrassed. I was absolutely ashamed to be sitting at the same table - I asked for a separate check and left a 20% tip, which cleaned out my entire wallet. IHOP or not, the waitress was NOT getting paid enough to deal with prissy-ass prima donnas who had been partying too late the night before and were more minded to act like a 13-year-old rather than someone on the verge of graduating from college. I can't remember if I hung back and apologized to the waitress - I know I thought about it, but I can't recall if I had been able to find her again or not.

[etaureau.livejournal.com]

I couldn't wait tables either for the reasons you cited. (Although, my paternal grandmother consistently said that I should apply at every restaurant we went to. She said that I'd make good money in tips. I am pretty sure that wouldn't happen!) I try to tip well, too. 20% whenever possible. And a higher percentage if it's for breakfast or something where the bill is really low.

I do hate that the government considers wait staff as deserving a lower minimum wage than employees in other fields. Assuming that the tips will make up the difference is wrong.

Tantrums in restaurants are bad especially if the tantrum-er(?) is not a little kid. And then a quick get a way (after paying of course) is a good idea. I always wonder if the tantrum-er is in need of a nap. I get cranky when I get tired.

Breakfast for dinner, yummy. Makes me want pancakes, now. But expecting to be served dinner when the kitchen is set up to prepare breakfast is unreasonable. I agree, go elsewhere.

P.S. I certainly have not been perfect by any means, but with age (and naps) hopefully comes wisdom.

[sykii.livejournal.com]

I am 100% with you.
The number of things that cause me to judge someone instantly and permanently is fairly low, and has gotten lower with age. But being nasty to waitstaff is near the top of the list.