It’s 9:55pm on a Tuesday night
A group of 10 teenage girls come into the restaurant.
“What time do you guys close?”
I say, “We close at 10:00pm”
She replies, “table for ten please”
A little frustrated (because I’m not a fucking hostess/server) I seat them and inform them that a server will be with them shortly.
I have to go to the back and retrieve a server who just got her tips from the day and is packing up to go home.
“_____, we have a table of ten for you..”
She started to cry because she had been there since we OPENED that morning and hadn’t seen her babies that day.
Obviously she’s angry too, and it shows.
But she’s still attentive to the young ladies.
They don’t get up from the table until almost 11:00 and come to the front to pay.
“Our server was a bitch”
“Our server was mean”
“Our server didn’t like us”
“Your server just wanted to go home an hour ago,” I say.
“It’s her job, she’s getting paid, so what?”
I let them know that she’s worked hard today and wanted to be able to see her kids before her husband tucks them in bed.
They pay, leave no tip for her, and leave the building.
The moral of the story is that it’s not “cute” or “cool” to go to restaurants late at night right before they close.
Workers want to go home.
Workers want to see their families.
Workers want to get sleep so they can do it all over again tomorrow.
It doesn’t matter if you’re rude or polite.
When we say that we close at 10:00pm, we would really like to ACTUALLY close at 10:00pm. And even if you leave RIGHT AT closing, that server still has to clean up after you.
Make sure the table is clean, make sure the floor is clean, make sure the dishes are clean and put away, make sure they have their tips, and get a manager to walk them to their car.
We don’t care about your $3 tip.
We want to go home.
