As a Brit living in the USA I simply don’t understand how a waiter could read when a customer has finished eating. We, the British, fastidious about table manners indicate when we are finished to the staff by placing the knife and fork together the tines and blade pointed away from us. This clearly indicates that the diner has finished eating. This is not the case in the USA where diners finish eating and leave their cutlery strewn all over their plates. Hence the ghastly, “Are you still working on that?” or waiters swooping down and snatching plates before the last mouthful has been finished. My other pet peeve: we were taught to finish everything on our plate. This often solicits a raised eye brow and an ‘ironic’ comment about you having must really hated dinner. The ‘tip compliment’ is the crudest device of all. When the unsolicited compliment about the hat, baby, hair, teeth etc. comes I immediately deduct 5% from the expected tip. It is crude, undignified and irritating.
Apropos of nothing, I’m listening to the episode where you were on Loveline with Dr. Drew. Keep up the good work!
you are really fucking funny. how much would you love it or hate it if people compared you to augusten burroughs?
i would love it
First, as to your comment regarding waiters: Please be mindful that most of them have not be educated beyond high school and neither have most of their clientele. I know, I know… you are probably used to much better service, but please remember 230 odd years from being frontiersmen! 🙂
As for tipping, please note in many “fine dining” establishments, tips are usually shared with cooks, bus boys and even other wait-staff. I, personally, have only one favorite dish at every restaurant I go – whether local or in another state . If do not like a particular waiter/waitress I will tell the manager and they will make sure that I do not get that one again. I also despise the taste of pepper on my beef and, having been a chef, often carry my own tarregon with me. Most of the restaurants I frequent now offer tarregon to me , as well as, their other quests.
Happ and healthy dining to you!
Excellent writing; very entertaining and informative!
But no way to subscribe via RSS.
Can you add please an RSS feed, so updates you post can flow into newsreaders? I know this will increase your readership considerably.
Its quite easy to do….merely add the widget in wordpress.
Either way…thank you for sharing your story.
EP
rss done