Last night my husband and I had a rare night out together as it was our friend’s 40th birthday. My inlaws came over to watch the kids, and at 6 o’clock, we were on our way to an adult night out in Libertyville.
We met some friends prior and had dinner at Mickey Finns. Dinner was fun, the food was good, and the service was fine.
The party was at a place called Main Street Social. It was literally like any bar one would go to in the city, where you are pressed up against random strangers, and there really isn’t anywhere to put your coats. At 21, I would go to a bar like this in the dead of winter coatless, but in my late 30s, not so much.
Once we were situated, it was really great to have a night pretending I was young again… ordering cocktails, talking to friends, and of course, the people watching.
One of the more interesting people there was the waitress. She came over to take our orders and just struck me as off. At first I couldn’t put my finger on it. After taking our orders, she came back moments later and said, ” Who ordered the blueberry vodka?”
My friend answered, “‘Me”
Waitress responds, ” Well, we don’t have any”
Silence. More silence.
Friend: ” Okay, so what do you have?
Waitress, “Cranberry ?”
Friend, “That’ll be fine.”
The general feel I got from that conversation was, ” Man, she does not want to be here tonight.”
Initially it’s easy to pick apart someone serving who shows attitude, and clearly would rather be somewhere else. So before I jumped the gun, I began to think about times where I truly would have rather been elsewhere.
These times have ranged from missing out on a concert to my dad suffering from a brain tumor ( thank goodness it was non cancerous… he’s completely fine). Did I act any differently? Was I rude to the customers?
I actually may have been when I missed out on a concert. I was 27 and completely in the wrong. I’m not sure if I was just rude to my boss, or if I gave the whole place the impression of not wanting to work. If so, I’ll apologize for it right here and now. I was fortunate to be blessed with a job, and no one deserved my bratty attitude. I am sorry.
I know for a fact that during more recent troubling times in where I was working I did not take it out on my place of business. In fact, it made for a good distraction. There is nothing like high traffic business to keep your mind off of what’s bothering you.
This waitress had a decent amount of people to serve. She was going to make money that night. She may have had somewhere better to be or maybe not. But regardless, she wasn’t wasting her time on a slow night.
Later in the evening, I asked her for a glass of water. She brought it, but never said a word to me during the entire transaction. She nodded her head so I knew she heard me. She was super prompt bringing me the water. However; speaking to me was above her pay grade.
A different friend had noticed and said, ” If you are nice, you make money.”
What a thing to say. It’s so simple, yet so true.
She was spending her Friday night with us whether she liked it or not. If she gave us a chance, she would have seen that this crowd was fun, respectful, and are likely good tippers. If she laughed and smiled with us, we would have showed her a good time.
Oh well. We still had a great time in spite of her. Hopefully whatever was causing the attitude is resolved, and her next customers see a more pleasant side.