The thing with Restaurants/eating out....

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Alevai
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05 Nov 2014, 5:23 am

kirayng wrote:
I'm grateful for my job at my restaurant. I have no idea if what I earn an hour makes me a slave, I have a modest but comfortable lifestyle.

I wouldn't worry too much about people who chose their line of work, if they're miserable they have the power to change their circumstances. I've worked plenty of really bad restaurants and right now I would say I'm in a good kitchen -- it's really worth it to find one at some point to work in. If not everything ends up sounding like Kitchen Confidential 8O

I think what the OP is really getting at is the fact that only the privileged get to go out to eat and get waited on, am I right? It's the severe inequality from society that stems from greed. People own restaurants to make money, like giant corporations the restaurant owner makes somewhere in the order of 6-8x that of that restaurants' dishwasher. (I'm assuming a million dollar grossing restaurant, which would pay out the owner (whatever he wants) $120k a year, a dishwasher makes at (my wage) $20,000 (rounded up a thousand))

The distribution of wealth is absurd; I don't buy the "we earned it" pledge either...

I'm really saddened to see my country, USA, become a service industry tourism country rather than a world-leading producer of tech, products, metals, etc.


Yes! That's exactly what I meant. Most waiters/waitresses I've come across all either have an additional source of income or are relying on the government for help (food stamps, rent assitance, etc.

I used to believe the "I deserve it" mentality for the longest time.. until I started working in various fields.. there is no such thing. There really isn't. It seems apparent that most people born rich will die rich and most people born in poverty will die in poverty... in the US and most other countries out there.. except for the 10 or 15% of people who actually make it out of poverty and get all the media attention



EzraS
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05 Nov 2014, 5:31 am

I like being taken to different restaurants and when we lived in Las Vegas we went to the buffets. The problem of course is the sensory overload issues. I hate places with ceramic plates and metal utensils because of the clattering. But I usually wear shades and earphones to dampen the noise and lights etc.

I'm so used to having to have so much done for me, never thought about restaurant workers having to make and serve my food. At least in this case it's not a situation where stuff is being done for me only because I'm so f***ing helpless.



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05 Nov 2014, 7:34 am

One thing I absolutly hate in restaurants is waiting for my food.



The_Walrus
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05 Nov 2014, 7:56 am

The thing I hate about restaurants is the food. I have simple but restricted tastes. The foods I like aren't things that people are prepared to go out to eat.

My family used to get around this by only going to places that served pizza, but now I'm lactose intolerant.



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05 Nov 2014, 6:03 pm

I don't like how they tell me I can't eat off the kids menu. D: I don't do it because I want to, but it's actually because the portions are smaller and easier to eat. I understand what's on a kids menu way more than I do the adult menu. I have a hard time understanding what I read, and there also times when I don't like the food on the adult's menu. It's really hard because if they say I can't, then it causes a meltdown and constant explaining from my parents.

I had one instance where we were staying at hotel for my anime convention. Well, the previous year we stayed, they knew my special needs and allowed me to eat off it. The year after, we went to the resturaunt again, and I wanted to eat from the kids menu. The woman said she couldn't but didn't say why. So, my mom explained my needs and such. She got her manager, explained to him the same thing. He comes out and says the same thing, that I can't eat off it. I ended up in one of my massive meltdown modes, which pissed my mom off so bad.

Now, I usually try to alert the hotel resturaunts ahead of time. That way, I have a better chance of explaining things on my own. My mom doesn't always know what to say, so there are times when they don't take it seriously. Sometimes, it helps to meltdown because they know I'm not just pulling their leg or something.

Other than that, I have no problem eating at resturaunts.


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05 Nov 2014, 8:46 pm

I consider cooking a serious and dignified profession - at least for those who are serious about it. A halfway decent restaurant can cook better than I can and probably ever will.

People work in the restaurant business want those jobs, don't they? I'm sure many would prefer other work. Some love restaurant work and would not prefer anything else. Imagine the millions of people who would be unemployed and have no income if we all stopped going out to eat. I do things for other people and get paid for it. Others do things for me and I pay them. Unless one is prepared to completely overthrow the entire system and have a society where everyone shares all work equally - like that's going to happen. I can't view the food industry as particularly unjust.

Some people love cooking for others and make it their life's work.

"Until I discovered cooking - I was never really interested in anything."
- Julia Childs


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VioletYoshi
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05 Nov 2014, 11:54 pm

LokiofSassgard wrote:
I don't like how they tell me I can't eat off the kids menu. D: I don't do it because I want to, but it's actually because the portions are smaller and easier to eat. I understand what's on a kids menu way more than I do the adult menu. I have a hard time understanding what I read, and there also times when I don't like the food on the adult's menu. It's really hard because if they say I can't, then it causes a meltdown and constant explaining from my parents.

I had one instance where we were staying at hotel for my anime convention. Well, the previous year we stayed, they knew my special needs and allowed me to eat off it. The year after, we went to the resturaunt again, and I wanted to eat from the kids menu. The woman said she couldn't but didn't say why. So, my mom explained my needs and such. She got her manager, explained to him the same thing. He comes out and says the same thing, that I can't eat off it. I ended up in one of my massive meltdown modes, which pissed my mom off so bad.

Now, I usually try to alert the hotel resturaunts ahead of time. That way, I have a better chance of explaining things on my own. My mom doesn't always know what to say, so there are times when they don't take it seriously. Sometimes, it helps to meltdown because they know I'm not just pulling their leg or something.

Other than that, I have no problem eating at resturaunts.


I hate when people make it difficult to accommodate us. I almost feel like dealing with them like children. Like I'd say in a saccharin voice, "No I asked for the KID'S MENU, do you think you could go get it?" If I'm going to be humiliated for having to practically beg for acommodations, then I'll treat the staff the way I'm treated fpr asking. Is it really so hard for them to bring a menu over? Why are they working there when taking a kids menu over is so difficult the manager needs to hold their hand to do it?

Your mom should be mad at the restaurant not you. They did the eqivelent of throwing a temper tantrum over pleasing their customer. And we get called mentally disabled? I think providing a customer their needs without bringing the entire restaurant's attention towards you should be something NTs can handle. Sometimes it feels like explaining your needs to a stubborn brat jumping up and down yelling "NO! NO!" Let me guess, it's a lack of theory of mind that I don't understand why an adult can't do a task a small child could?



Reon73
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01 Mar 2015, 3:41 am

Very well said Skilpadde. People working at restaurants are employees NOT slaves. I even don’t have never such kind of thoughts in my mind. Most of time I visit to San Francisco restaurants, and there services are amazing. The servants are so polite.



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01 Mar 2015, 6:04 am

Quote:
Some people are born to serve, others are born to BE served. Does anyone else feel this is really wrong?


No, not at all. It is just a service. And, I do not think that the social overload has to always happen; someone could just go to a small restaurant, or during the hours when there is few people as well. Also, as far as I know, if you are outside, and are hungry, you have to eat, anyways. So, there is nothing wrong with eating out.



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01 Mar 2015, 8:31 am

No offense, but that is a pretty strange way to look at it. Some people enjoy working in restaurants, and don't look at the customers as the ones that "got it good". And, like most of us, some people happen to work at a restaurant because they might have been turned down from other jobs, and the restaurant happened to be the one that hired them, so they are there to earn their money.
I am a cleaner and I hate it and I don't want to be there at all, and I often wonder what's the point, but then I have to stay there until I get something else, otherwise I wouldn't be earning any money.


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01 Mar 2015, 8:54 am

2wheels4ever wrote:
What I don't understand is how people can watch "Kitchen Nightmares" and "Restaurant Impossible" or one of the other shows where they show rotten food in the cooler and rats running through the dining room (often with crying owners who found out their business is not their personal ATM) and; seeing what goes on during these shows, still want to spend money to put something into their body that they can't see whether their chicken was touching garbage or the cook just scratched himself and probably has eBola.

Not to mention they're probably paying $20 for a plate of spaghetti that the sauce comes from a can at Costco. Meanwhile people who were trained to handle food can't even get their foot in the door at most places


I'm currently 60. If I go into a restaurant and I'm below the average age, I can't get out of there fast enough. I figure that if the average age there is more than 60, then there is something drastically wrong with the food that the elderly can no longer taste. The younger the average age (but at least 21), the better.

I rarely go to restaurants any more, anyway.



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01 Mar 2015, 1:25 pm

Non autistic answer but I just don't know what I am really eating. More important post stroke than ever


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01 Mar 2015, 1:58 pm

I waited tables when I was in college. It was a bad choice for me but I didn't realize I had Asperger's. I thought I just needed to build a bit of self-confidence and I would get better. I couldn't keep track of orders or my tables because the sensory overload was incredible (restaurant had a bad music soundtrack rotating every hour at top volume, conversations everywhere, plates clinking, silverware clanking, having to interact and make small talk with customers, etc.). I was way out of my comfort zone but it did help me learn to read people a bit better.

When I eat out now (which is rare) I tip well and try to be polite. It's a tough job. However, I did work with a lot of people who made a living waiting tables and did pretty well! They were excellent with people and loved the environment. Their pockets were always full of tip money at the end of the day.

I don't have a problem with the concept of waiting tables and being waited on. However, I do have a problem with people who behave rudely toward a waiter. Most people were respectful to me but I had a few customers that were obnoxious for no reason.



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01 Mar 2015, 3:48 pm

What annoys me about businesses in general, especially large chains run by large corporations, is that the people who actually do the service jobs and work with customers are valued the least and paid the least. It's the bottom level of the company hierarchy, and as the levels go up, the gaps in the pay structure get larger and larger, so the people at the "top" can reap huge rewards. It's not as bad as using slave labor, or having a caste system, but it's still very classist.

What that means is, in most cases, no one with any real level of skill or experience will want to do those jobs. Most people in service jobs are totally unsuited to be working with customers. They are just too young and inexperienced, and you can tell they usually aren't trained very well either. It's valued low because it's viewed as an entry level job that "anyone" can do, but it really shouldn't be. It takes a certain degree of skill to work with customers effectively...well, not just skill, but maturity.

I live near a college town, and the average age of a restaurant server is probably around 20. Many of them are just clueless. They only know the basics...take the order, bring it to the table, ask if you need anything else. But if anything varies from that basic pattern, they have no idea what to do. They don't know how to handle things that are out of the ordinary, and they don't know how to take care of a problem. They just want everything to be routine, and get it over with quickly. It's not real service, at least not much beyond what you might get at a fast food place.

People with little or no work experience have to start somewhere, but I'm not sure that restaurants are the best place for that. Especially when I read a post like the OP's 8O

Alevai wrote:
Another part of me has some real issues with Restaurants... Why do some people get to sit and have a meal cooked for them and then have people serve them, having a great time, while other people in the restaurants have to work hard for minimal wage and have to run around serving strangers?


Do you ever stop and think that some of these people who sit down to eat in restaurants might work hard for what they earn in their jobs too? And maybe they came in to eat because they are too tired and stressed from their own job to cook a proper meal for themselves that day? Or some of them eat out regularly because they are not able to cook for themselves? And some of them have to run around at home serving food to their own families, and they just want a night off from cooking once in awhile?

And sometimes people just want to have a special meal, to treat themselves and their family/friends to something out of the ordinary? That they might be celebrating a birthday, anniversary, or some other special event? Or they might be eating out because they just had a death in the family?

But whatever the occasion is...they are paying for the service, and they want good service and have every right to expect it. The last thing anyone wants is to end up with a server who resents doing their job. You're not being forced to do slave labor. You weren't born into servitude. You chose to take the job. And the upside of the job is, you have the potential to earn more money in tips if you take good care of people. Most jobs don't even have that kind of incentive.



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01 Mar 2015, 4:01 pm

Restaurants sometimes give a good reputation on towns and cities too, attracting tourists. It's nice to eat out. I'm sure most people who eat at restaurants have busy lives of their own, and most people who work at restaurants have busy lives outside of work, which sometimes involves eating out at a restaurant themselves.


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01 Mar 2015, 4:06 pm

RE: not being allowed to order off the kid's menu. Some restaurants offer smaller adult portion sizes that are not listed on the menu. You just have to ask for it.