Why No School for Waiters?

[xchrom]

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/2012/01/why_no_school_f.php

Would-be chefs routinely blow $60,000 for half-year courses at the city's cooking academies. Afterward, they stage at restaurants, spend years as prep cooks, work the line, and finally function as sous-chefs before donning the chef de cuisine's toque. How much training do waiters usually get? About two hours.

This is why the service is often the weakest part of a restaurant. And when a new dining establishment -- over a period of months or even years -- perfects its package of premises, décor, menu, and beverage program, often the last thing thought of is hiring waitstaff. Indeed, restaurateurs complain about the difficulty of recruiting experienced waiters, but do little to remedy the problem.

Yes, talented front-of-the-house staff is in great demand, and many waiters perform brilliantly at their jobs. But too many waiters I've had lately have no idea what they're doing, and don't seem to care. I've seen waiters in full view of the dining room texting and goofing off, while my entrée grows cold at the pass-through. I've had waiters upselling the hell out of me, while leaving the water glasses unfilled and ignoring simple requests, like, "Can I have another napkin, please?"

Don't get me wrong, I love good waiters, and consider the job co-equal in importance to chefs. Or even more important. How can you enjoy great food if it never gets to the table in good shape, or some small problem prevents you from fully savoring it? I can't tell you how many dishes have arrived on my table without the proper silverware, or indeed any silverware at all. I've recently had waiters sit down at the table with me as they take my order. They're ready to be my chum, but don't want to be my waiter.



*** i would have my own rants about this -- such as -- americans don't want 'professional waiters', they want them young and on their way to doing something more 'meaningful'.
or americans aren't very good about appearing in public at a restaurant, period -- they all seem to get their dinning out experience at TGIF.
still it's a good article -- made me think.

[Tansy_Gold]

1. I have worked at a long list of various jobs over my working lifetime, but I've never waited tables

I always thought it was too hard. And by that I mean I thought it took a really exceptional skill set that I just didn't have. I have always admired and kind of envied good waitpersons for the job they do; it seems to be a rare talent that indeed goes too often unappreciated and unrecognized.

[xchrom]

3. I loved waiting tables.

It's fast, intense for a short period of time.
You get to help people have an enjoyable part of their day - have an experience out side of their routine.

But I swear - every other table wanted to know 'what I was studying' or 'what's your real job?'.
It was so frustrating - in my 30s I realized people didn't want some one my age waiting on them.

[dmallind]

2. great. More snide pseudo-sophisticated look-at-me snobbery

It's food. It either tastes good or it doesn't. All the rest of the crap is frippery. "The waiter DARED to sit down at the special persons' table! This fork has tines at least 3mm too long to be suitable for fish! I am appalled! I need to be SEEEEEENNNN!!!!"

[MattBaggins]

4. I can't get over the 60k for chefs

that is asinine

[xchrom]

5. no, it isn't. nt

[wickerwoman]

6. Why no school for cashiers?

Let's be honest... there actually are some jobs that any person of average intelligence with a decent work ethic can learn how to do in two hours. If they have problems with wait staff texting or not doing their jobs then maybe they should pay more so they can get some decent staff in. It's not like sending a slacker, asshole or idiot on a six month $60,000 service training course is suddenly going to turn them into a great employee.

Cooking attractive tasty food is an art with a ten thousand year history. Carrying things to tables is not "co-equal in importance to chefs". I'm sorry. I respect people in the service industry. But that's patently absurd.

I would go to a restaurant with great food and lousy staff. I would never go to a restaurant with lousy food and a great staff.

[xchrom]

7. i don't see it that way.

there is a right way and a wrong way to actually provide good service.

and it consists of a lot of little things that 2 hours can't cover.

i'm not suggesting a school for waiters -- but there is certainly more to it than what you've described.

[Tansy_Gold]

11. ROFLMAO

I've never waited tables but I've spent a LOT of time behind a cash register, and it ain't as easy as it looks.

Sometimes it's downright embarrassing to watch how people can FAIL a "test" given after a week of cashier training.

How are debit cards processed differently from credit cards?
How do you enter payment with a check?
What if the item doesn't ring up at the sale price?
What if the customer says the price is wrong?
How do you void a sale?
How do you process a food stamp sale?

Those are a few of the mechanics, but there's a lot more to being a cashier.

How do you explain to the customer that this item isn't covered by food stamps?
What do you say if the ID they present to buy liquor doesn't look valid?
What's the procedure if you suspect the customer is shoplifting?

Sometimes you have to explain to people how to make change. Right, the cash register tells you HOW MUCH change to give them, but believe it or not there are people who have to be shown what coins make up 67 cents, or 42 cents or 89 cents. I remember one night when I worked at Walmart we had a new cashier who was constantly calling for more rolls of dimes and nickels. If you've ever cashiered, you know that NO amount of change is ever going to require more than one nickel or two dimes. Why was this gal going through so many dimes and nickels? Because she couldn't figure out quarters. If the change was 72 cents, she gave seven dimes and two pennies. 68 cents was six dimes, one nickel, three pennies. She never used quarters because she didn't know they were 25 cents, and when someone actually showed her, she said she couldn't add that much in her head. This was in the mid 1990s.

Read Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed" to find out how "easy" those low-wage jobs are.

[wickerwoman]

14. I was a cashier for years as well.

I'm not saying it's easy. I'm saying you don't need to go to a school and get a degree to do it. Being a cashier isn't an art form. It's a job that a reasonably intelligent and motivated person can pick up with onsite training. And so is waiting tables.

Being a chef is an art form. Mastering one or more cuisines to the point where a sufficient number of people would actually pay money on a regular basis to eat your cooking is not in any way comparable in difficulty to mastering the skill set involved in seating people, taking their order and bringing food and the check to their table. There *is* a skill set involved in that, but it's not even vaguely comparable in terms of time and difficulty as the article in the OP implies.

Do you think cashiers should have to get a diploma in order to do their job? Would taking a cashier who was chronically late, or spent all their time texting, or cussed out customers who moved too slowly, or stole from the reigster and sending them on a six month training course actually turn them into good employees? Or are those actually character problems that would be better addressed by firing the person and paying whatever it took to get a better replacement?

[hedgehog]

8. Aren't many waiters more or less independent contractors?

I have the idea that most waiters make below minimum wage and depend on their tips. If that's the case, it would explain why there is a constant turnover in employees with many having their eye on the next job rather than this one.

[xchrom]

9. the pay gets a little better in upscale restaurants -- but not a lot better

unless you have good experience as a floor captain.

and you're right it is one reason for high turn over.

and some of it american cultural expectations.
you're not supposed to be a waiter past a certain age.

my aunt was a union waiter -- she waited tables for 35 years and made a great living.
but that was the 50s, 60s and 70s.

[JDPriestly]

10. Usually experienced waiters or waitresses take a new person in hand

and show them all the tricks.

Even experienced, "good" waiters could make the mistakes this guy is complaining about. As for sitting at the table to take the order, maybe the waiter's feet hurt.

The author of the article should try waiting tables for a while. You get really, really, really tired sometimes.

What a waste of money -- a course on waiting tables. Most of the things the author complains about are just common sense. It's up to the employer to set the waiters and waitresses straight about their jobs and create pride in their work.

[Jefferson23]

12. This brings back memories for me, most of them all good ones.

The short answer here is management..they are the ones responsible for training if they
decide to hire those with limited skills. They are responsible for drafting the type of service
they want the wait staff to follow too.

I worked as a waiter to help get through college and grad school and depended on the salary which eventually was
very good..all considered.


I will say that a school for waiters would be a wonderful investment for any restaurant to draw from
as the goal universally is to succeed...most especially, restaurant owners with little experience themselves.

I began as a complete novice at a country club which would not allow me on the floor until I
was well trained. My time there while still in high school was every
Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening for 18 months...not exactly fun when you're young.

We were paid by the hour, no tipping and this highly upscale group of members never to my knowledge
broke the rule and tipped on the side, lol.

The food/beverage manager was in charge of training the waitstaff..he was a wonderful fellow
with a great deal of patience. We had a manual to follow, that was first..protocol of how to serve etc.

You needed to understand the menu, not just be able to repeat the specials ( I discovered what a foodie
I was, lol ) When all was said and done, the manager would say things like, when you put the coffee cup and
saucer on the table and it is not with the handle directed to the right, the member likely won't notice, but
you should know you've done it incorrectly..that kind of attention to detail was stressed.

When all was said and done and I proved ready to work the floor, I was told you're very good, but, now you have
to take all you know and be much faster..you're too slow, lol. He was right of course, and I had to
concentrate in a way I never knew I could..this does not come without effort!

In the end I left there with a great deal of experience, and a lot of respect for the kitchen staff. I am not
sure many understand the amount of work that goes on in a restaurant kitchen..the chef works very hard yet
his staff's work is incredible and the hours almost impossible..they seem to live there.

After leaving there and working for a traditional restaurant I was shocked at how inept some restaurants
operated..the management was incompetent too often. I later was fortunate to find a job I remained at through college
that was a French upscale bistro, and I knew then that I was able to offer the owner an experienced
waiter. I took that opportunity to tell them that I would bus for them for the first night, they did not have
to pay me..this way we could both see if we both thought this was a good fit. I did not go in begging for
the job, that is my point..I believed I had experience to offer his new restaurant..and I wanted to negotiate
which days I wanted to work.

The owner said, you're a professional, I need you. I said, great..I can work these shifts for you, and
he agreed to my terms. I worked there for the next few years..it was a wonderful place and I made
very good money.

A well run restaurant, regardless of high end or low end, needs a waitstaff that knows the job,
some of the best waiters I have witnessed have been the very good women in diners..top notch
all the way. They should probably be the ones to open a school!

Thanks for posting such a fun OP xchrom...good memories for me.

[xchrom]

13. And you bring my thoughts as well to this idea.

Thank you for sharing.

[MFrohike]

15. Guess who never waited tables

I'd like to see him run 8+ tables, hound your co-workers to keep up with sidework, politely get your rookie manager out of the way so the food in the window can actually get sold, dash to the bar to get drinks for your table, spend 5 minutes explaining every ingredient of every item on the menu to lady who can't quite understand that trying to order food without onions in a Tex-Mex restaurant is just dumb, deal with the stoner who's too dumb to wash dishes, try not to yell at 16 year old hostesses who can't get a 4-person rotation right, kindly explain to the drunk guys in the bar that no they can't steal the decorations off the wall, and somehow manage to hold onto your pen before it gets stolen all while trying to get him that napkin that's got him in fits.

School wouldn't fix bad service. Better incentives would probably help, but probably not a lot. I sometimes think the biggest cause of bad service is the general public. It's pretty disheartening to show up to work, not wishing it would have burned down for a change, and have to deal with a variety of rude people who mistake being young in a restaurant setting for some kind of judgment on your character. I haven't done it in a long time, but the worst, and best, part were the customers. Good customers, actual human beings who understand you also are a human being, are not very common. Giant assholes who'd scream in pain if they were subjected to the standards they want to impose on their server are quite common. It's pretty sad.

I don't know if I really made much sense with this post, but it was kind of fun to write.