Eye contact
As a good waiter, you don’t just greet the table, you greet each person by making eye contact with them
via Waiting on celebrities « So You Want To Be A Waiter.
I tend to forget that when I'm in the weeds, but this is essential for making everybody comfortable. Just like talking to and making jokes with everybody and not only to those (kids) who talk (a lot) at a table. Also because you want to break the negative spiral (the waiter doesn't talk to me -> You see, I'm not worth it / my sister is more interesting -> I don't talk to the waiter ) because you won't the only one who tends to talk to the cute little sister instead of the big timid boy.
Thanks SYWTBAW for the reminder! (even thought the subject of his original posts is totally different... about celebs I will post later
)
Foto by OrangeAcid used under CC2.0
The CrazyWaiters pockets
Let's dive today in CrazyWaiters pockets. Everything he carries has his sense.
- Winekey To open winebottles of course. The knife is multifunctional. My preferred one is the Cellini of FarmItaly.
- Pen To write the orders and sign the creditcard slips. Bic Cristal because they don't leak inkt when it gets warm (read: in your pocket). Of course two because pens are there to loose.
- POS card to have access to our POS computer. We use Micros
- Crown cork opener It goes more quickly with a simple one like this than with the one on the winekey.
- Matches To lighten the candles on the birthdaycake. In France it's prohibited to smoke in the restaurant, so it hasn't sense to give a light to the beautiful girl at table 501
- Stickers To reward kids who have eaten everything. Or to put on the adhesive bandage to make an exclusive one.
- Adhesive bandage For ourself, the colleagues or guests.
- Needle and wire To fix buttons and perform other little reparations to our clothes or others. Also to adjust princess-dresses which are a bit too big.
- Faceshield To protect yourself and the other when performing Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The one of Leardael is the best according to my CPR teacher. By the way, I strongly believe that knowledge of First Aid and CPR is a moral obligation of everybody working in public places as restaurants and hotels.
- Gloves To protect yourself while cleaning vomit and stopping bleedings
- Earplugs There is a lot of noise in the restaurant where I'm working. Now I have Alpine worksafe but I'm waiting for Clear EAR 20 who will filter more the hightones and less the lowtones (eg. the voicerange). This type of earplugs is very discrete, you don't see them if guests are looking to the front of your face. The new ones will even be more discrete.
- Wallet To collect the creditcardslips, tips and the most of the stuff listed here. Fixed with an wire to my trouser because I'm too afraid to forget it somewhere or loose it.
- Handwipes To give to the guests after eating shrimps. (To give them opened half torned is a nice gesture because the guests hands will be fatty) Also useful to clean tables, shoes and spots on the wall. (NB: Not on the picture)
- Hotel- and parcinformation To answer all the questions about opening and closing times of shops, sauna's and other nice things we have to offer.
And what do you have in your pockets what is not listed here?
Give them!
Those who follow my weblog know that in general I adore my (little) guests and that I have a positive attitude. (enough weblogs about waitress who hate their clients) But today I really got mad. I was making a booking and the woman who was with the person who reserved told me:'The candies. Give them'. I told her:'Please don't talk like that to me'. The first lady asked me:'What should she say then'. If you don't understand it, you'll never understand it. I grabbed some candies, put them in their hands, said 'It's oke, have I nice day' and I turned away... I remember also a five-year old boy who told me:'Take my plate out'. I was shocked by this impoliteness and walked away. Pff... On my nametag isn't written Pluto !
(Don't worry about me, luckily I had 10 tables today with only nice guests... )
Singing in the rain
It's 15th of august and it's raining here near Paris. Somebody has a nice job in Italy or Spain with plenty of sun? However, here the most famous rain-song, ideal for miming purposes...
Better dead than plain
I've got a lot of guests of Spain and the kids love it when I sing Spanish songs. So another funny Spanish song of 2004
Shoes for CrazyWaiters

One of the big risks in the restaurant industry is gliding. Once I banged my head that hard against a wall that I was almost unconscious. (see also this video.)
Now we have the Executive Wing-Tip from Shoes For Crews. In contradiction to other shoes I have used in the past, they fit fantastic, have a flexible sole, have great cushioning, give support and I've never glided any more! I managed to run 200 meter in 50 seconds with it when I forgot my POS-card in my locker
and when I see them in a shop I'd definitely buy one of their shoes for daily use. So I really recommend these shoes!
NB: The CrazyWaiter is not paid for this message. However, if SFC wants to give a pair of shoes for this testimonial all they need to do is to contact me. ![]()
To know or to care…
Guests do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care
via The Rules of Serving: Rule Four « Tips on improving your Tips. This is a very good weblog with a lot of tips and useful information for everybody in the restaurant industry! Here is a list of topics in the past.
Walk on the wild side
Another melody in the collective memory. Although the lyrics are not to be sung to little kids, it's great to humm the riff
Ready.. or not
Today I'm going to teach a very important lesson. As wel for our beloved guests as for my collegues all over the world. How to indicate and see if the guest is ready or not (and want to take some more sidedishes or whatever).
This because I had some pissed of clients who almost scream:'I'm not finished yet' (and almost slap your hand like teachers did 30 years ago) or complain about the slow service:'It took ages when you took my plate out' while their fork and knives said otherwise. So print out and put it on the wall at the entrance!
P.S. It's also possible that the guests puts his plate aside, which may be usual in the USA like this post says at point 2. That's obvious ofcourse
Also a pile of plates indicates that somebody is doing something wrong. (and normally it's not the guest)


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