I guess this is why I am teaching a class on dining etiquette in a couple of weeks! Granted this is for a group of teenage girls who probably know the basics already, but we want to reinforce things with them. Such as knowing which bread plate is theirs and what fork to use when because we are looking forward to a big, fancy meal in a couple of months.
I used "the glare" with my daughter and have found myself reinventing it for my son now. LOL My cousin with the unruly kids, she say "1!.....2!.....3!......4!......5!.........." I don't know how far she'd eventually count, but since she basically was yelling at them with her back to them and wouldn't get up to go GET them and teach them, they just ignored her. I could just tell my daughter once, and if she got defiant, do "the glare". It ALWAYS worked. Probably because "the glare" was at first followed up by "the punishement". So she learned not to go past "the glare".
Yes! 3 meant trouble in my house too. And the stink eye would always go a long way in stopping any bs from the kids...
Back onto the bad service in restaurants subject - hubby and i went out for dinner on Valentines day (his bday) and we had a 20-30 minute wait. We went and got a drink across the street and came back around 7:30, where we were promptly seated. Around 7:50 or so we flagged a woman down and she came back 5 minutes later to take our order. 8:15 we finally got our DRINKS! and didn't get our food til around 8:30... we were about to walk out. They were not that busy either. They set us off in a corner and I think they just forgot about us.
I must say my most recent experience with Bob Evans wasn't good. My waitress went on break. She DID leave another waitress in charge of her tables, but had already dropped my bill and so the other waitress didn't bother checking up on me. A waitress for the tables across from me came through FOUR times. FOUR times I held up my hand motioning and called "Ma'am!" Three of those times, she actually LOOKED at me, then turned away and kept going!!!! I went to the front and found the manager and told them about that. I wasn't done and needed service, bad enough no one came to check, but this woman, even though she wasn't my waitress (I was going to ask her to send my waitress) IGNORED me. And THAT ticked me off.
When we were little my 4 brothers and I ate dinner by ourselves and had NO table manners whatsoever. For example, if you had to "cut the cheese" you got up and did in front of the table like it was a big production.
This is so Angie's sisters and brother...I truly believe we have never had a family gathering on that side without "FART ~ FARTS ~ GASSY ~ETC" coming up...and this is the educated side of us!.
Tiki
Quote:
Originally Posted by tikanique
Yep, that's about right, except we were not overweight. Pass the chicken meant throwing a drumstick across the table. It was crazy!
Tiki
We didn't pass anything with 3 boys and 1 girl, mom busy setting the table and cooking and dad usually working late or zonked out in his recliner from working...we learned to reach! Still have that habit...flat pisses Angie off!
Quote:
Originally Posted by tikanique
I'm a southern girl. I don't just glare, I tell them to "git on back ova to yo mama fore you gits in trouble over heah messin wit me!"
The accent alone scares the crap out of 'em.
Tiki
It's scaring me NOW Tiki!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lizziness
Yes! 3 meant trouble in my house too. And the stink eye would always go a long way in stopping any bs from the kids...
.
My mom never got past 2 ~ that flip-flop came off her foot and onto our butts so freakin fast!
About 3 weeks ago Angie and I ate at Chili's for lunch. We were seated quickly then the waitress came and took drink orders.....waiting and waiting...finally comes back with Angie's drink~ I ask where mine is ~ OH, I am waiting for the bartender to pour it..ok..Except I had a bottled Corona! Waiting and waiting....finally brings our meals without the salad that was supposed to come FIRST and the dressing was not on the side like Angie requested AND NO silverware or the water Angie requested....waiting.... waiting...fianlly rest of food order no water...but I asked for napkins...thought that would be nice since we were paying for the food...and well, if you have ever seen me eat, it's a good idea! Later...much later...she comes back and ask "how is everything?" FINE! dam....but could we PLEASE get the water and napkins (by now Angie was getting mad at me for using my shirt to wipe!) and another beer. Well, after...you guessed it, she comes back with water, NO NAPKINS, and A BUDWEISER...now I have nothing against Bud but I was drinking Corona!
Finally we tell her supervisor to bring us the bill (I got up and found my own napkins by the way)...she shows up, drops bill and leaves ~ we were paying with a credit card and she didn't leave us a pen...we flag her down again...she says oh "MY bad" and says I don't have one....and just are we supposed to do? She says...MAYBE YOU CAN BORROW ONE! WHAT!! I said screw this...of course she left as she was saying borrow one...she comes back and says did you find one! NO! then she goes to the next table and takes one OUT OF THE HAND of another girl about her age...gives it to us and says "I AM SUCH A LOOOSER!" . Well, she had that right!!
I tipped her...cause I am a sucker...but if I ever go back there...and I will...if she is my waitress I will FOR SURE wait to be seated elsewhere!
This has been our Chili's experience too. We decided to never go back there again after the last time - very similar to you story...
Girl shows up, takes our order and never comes back with drinks. We finally flag her down and get drinks... eventually. Got up and got our own water and silverware since we were close to one of the little service stations. About 40 minutes after we ordered she comes back to tell us they are all out of what we ordered!! So we ordered food we didn't want, which eventually came... and then we left her no tip at all.
On the flip-side today we went out for my hubby's bday lunch with his family and I was completely forgotten. Everyone got their food but me... and like 5 minutes later the gal comes out and realizes what she's done and goes and gets my order in and brings it to me on the house. They goofed, but they had good service and fixed it and got a very good tip.
Lizzi - do you have any McMenamins near you? The service you described at chili's is their trademark! But gotta love the hippie buggers!
dh and I had a service fiasco when we were getting dessert at a place called Dessert Noir last year. She kept forgetting EVERYTHING. water. coffee. cream. spoon. the desserts. more coffee. more cream. Not one thing came out the first time we asked for it. It was so ludicrous it was comical. The funniest part is you could tell she was MORTIFIED and wasnt really that bad a waitress normally, just having a seriously screwed up series of brain farts. She finally came over in disgust with herself and gave us the whole thing on the house. She was beet red everytime she came to our table. She was far more upset about it than we were. We gave her a pretty good tip.
ennay - Oh we have a McMenamins, I work right near North Bank actually. Hubby and his family went there a group of maybe 6. His family is not really organized and they always just split the check afterwards and then tell the waiter this amount on this card, this amount in cash, etc. It has never been a problem anywhere EVER! Well, we went in there and did the usual thing. The waiter was kind of surly and stressed even though hardly anyone else was in there (gee I wonder why)... well we go to give him our money and he actually YELLED at us for not telling him in the beginning to split the check. Not exaggerating, he actually yelled at us. We were all shocked. Another time we gave no tip. Not acceptable.
on a side note - the Mc******** in Lincoln City is amazing! The only one I'll eat at.
I'm also a SAHM and I've actually found the opposite to be true. If I go at more "off" times I get much worse, slower service, even if we're the only people there. During busy times it's fast fast fast.
freakin fast!
mad at me for using my shirt to wipe!) and another beer. Well, after...you guessed it, she comes back with water, NO NAPKINS, and A BUDWEISER...now I have nothing against Bud but I was drinking Corona!