Sarah Nigbor

Before I was a newspaper reporter and editor, I worked through high school, college and beyond as a server and bartender. I loved it, for the most part. The money was great and I made many good friends along the way. In fact, many of my coworkers and bosses became like family to me.

I had to laugh as I listened to the KDWB morning show the other day. They had people call in to talk about listeners’ pet peeves as a waitress or bartender. I could relate to so many of them. I often wondered if customers were really that oblivious to how rude they could be or if they just didn’t care.

Before I tell some of my waitressing pet peeves, you must know that 98% of customers were just fine, if not awesome. I worked at one place in Prescott so long that I became a fixture; customers knew me and I knew them. I didn’t even have to ask what they were going to have. It was my own “Cheers.”

If you have been a server or bartender, you’ll understand many of the things I list. If you haven’t, then it might not be a bad idea to keep in mind what not to do when dining out. And yes, I know that you’re tipping your server or bartender (I hope), so they should provide you with good service. But that doesn’t mean people have to be pains in the you know where.

1. Parents who let their children order macaroni and cheese and throw it everywhere. In case you didn’t know, macaroni sticks to everything. It’s also really fun to try to get out of carpet when it’s been ground in.
2. We’ll stick with the parent theme. Parents who let children run laps around a restaurant while they relax at the bar or table are ridiculous. Servers are not your babysitters. Dodging them as they run while carrying trays of food and drinks is dangerous. Unplugging toilets stuffed with toilet paper and paper towels is also not fun. Mediating children fighting over the Big Buck Hunter game is even less fun.
3. Coming into a restaurant to order food at 9:55 p.m. when the kitchen closes at 10 p.m. This is the absolute worst. Most of the time, most of the side work and cleaning are well on their way. Knowing that you’re just about done with work then realizing you’ll be there one to two hours longer than you thought is just deflating. Especially when they decide to chat and linger as their kids run laps around the restaurant or fall asleep in booths while their parents tie one on. It’s just plain inconsiderate.
4. People asking for or expecting a deal because they know the owner. It puts the employee in an awkward position. If you want a free drink, go talk to your friend the owner.
5. Ordering a steak well done and complaining when it takes longer than 10 minutes. Anyone who does this might as well not eat steak. It’s just wrong. Also coming in at 9 p.m. and expecting to be served rare prime rib.
6. Ordering ice water and asking for sugar packets and 10 pounds of lemons so you can make your own “lemonade.” If you are that cheap, stay home.
7. Waltzing in during the dinner rush with a group of 20 people with no warning and being annoyed you have to wait. I can’t even count how many times I saw this happen.
8. Asking for a side of ranch when the server was just at your table and asked if you needed anything. My record is returning to a table 10 times in a row as people remembered things they needed, even though they were asked multiple times.
9. Asking the bartender to guess your age and inevitably getting mad when they guess you’re way older than you are.
10. Viking fans leaving no tip when their team loses after receiving more than three hours of great service.

If you have any serving horror stories, share them with me at sarah@piercecountyjournal.news