I saw a post awhile ago about whatās considered rude in other countries/ other parts of the US when striking up conversations, I was gonna reblog it with this as a comment, but it got really specific to restaurant work so iām making itās own post.Ā
Iām from Georgia, Iām a server, and for godās sake please say hello to the hosts/servers when you walk into a restaurant. Even if youāre from the north, and it feels unnecessary, and like youāre wasting time, it doesnāt feel that way to us. If you sit down, and I come up to your table and greet you with āHello, welcome, my nameās rachel, how are you?ā etc. and you respond with āiced teaā (which isnāt a thing in the south btw, itās all iced, do you want sweet or unsweet?) what youāve just told your server is āthatās nice, but I donāt want to regard you as a person, more of a pen and paper with legs thatāll bring food to my face.ā And for a job where you are literally serving and waiting on people for money, which is a little demeaning in and of itself, thatās a huge slap in the face. You donāt even have to partake in the small talk, āhi, fine, unsweet tea, pleaseā is plenty, and itāll let me know to leave you alone during your meal.
As for hosts, they can be a little ruder. I have seen people straight up ignored for not acknowledging a hostās greeting before.Ā āHi, how are we doing this evening?ā āThereās four of usā Etc.Ā Again, itās not even considered rude if you donāt answer the question, Iām perfectly fine with justĀ āhi, four.ā Ā I understand that not everyone is super comfortable in all social situations, myself included, i actually hate going to restaurants because i donāt know what to do with my face when i talk to servers, but i do know that as a server, if you greet us, and donāt yell at us, weāll be a-okay.Ā
