Being happy at work
One of the best ways to up your tips is to up your attitude. For once I was actually happy at work and it bled into my service. I will admit, that even if you know me slightly, you know im not all quite there. So I went around being a giant dork. I did my usual little curse at the hostesses when they sat me a table of two adults and three children. They were actually fairly nice.
One of the little boys wanted a big, adult sized chicken ceasar salad. His mother argued with him and told him that he didnt like chicken and she didnt want to waste her money on something he wasnt going to eat. I suggested that I could get the chicken on the side so they could take it home and use a dinner sized ceasar salad instead of the full meal sized one. I also picked a smaller piece of chicken so it wouldnt cost them as much. :) it helps to know little things that save people money. The little kid got his food and complained it was too small. I told him that it was the adult size but if he finished it and he wanted more, I could easily get it for him. Just as predicted, he ate half of the salad and didnt even touch the chicken. They got that and their appetizer togo. Seeing as our regular appetizer is free refills, I just got the usual togo package instead of just boxing up what they had. I also did not charge them for drinks or the appetizer like I was supposed to.
Doing things like that are as close as a regular waiter can get to giving a discount. This also has reprocussions. Sometimes you get a bad tip, sometimes you get a good tip, sometimes they dont care. The lady was really night though. When her husband went to the bathroom, she thanked me and gave me a really really big tip. I thanked her and invited her back. I was happy, she was happy. Happiness was spread for all that day.
If I do get caught giving my little discounts though, I could easily get fired. But I figure its $2.09 to get a regular softdrink at my restaurant. When I first started working there about 3 years ago, it was $1.80. How can the price of a single soft drink go up that much in 3 years? It doesnt. The corporation tries to squeeze out as much of a profit as possible. To produce about a 2 liter equivalent out of our machines would probably cost 2 cents, if that. This means that Peppers makes a several thousand percent profit on this. What about the cost of running the machines you ask? Water is relatively cheap and one carbination tank can last us a few months. The syrup itself costs about $5 a box, which can make probably 100 gallons of soda. Dont quote me on that amount tho. Pepsi also takes care of our equipment for free as long as we dont stock coke. Easy enough? I think so. Soda's are the biggest rip off in the restaurant world.
Moral: Happiness is infectious. And a $2, 2 liter coke, from 7/11, probably cost less than a penny to make.
One of the little boys wanted a big, adult sized chicken ceasar salad. His mother argued with him and told him that he didnt like chicken and she didnt want to waste her money on something he wasnt going to eat. I suggested that I could get the chicken on the side so they could take it home and use a dinner sized ceasar salad instead of the full meal sized one. I also picked a smaller piece of chicken so it wouldnt cost them as much. :) it helps to know little things that save people money. The little kid got his food and complained it was too small. I told him that it was the adult size but if he finished it and he wanted more, I could easily get it for him. Just as predicted, he ate half of the salad and didnt even touch the chicken. They got that and their appetizer togo. Seeing as our regular appetizer is free refills, I just got the usual togo package instead of just boxing up what they had. I also did not charge them for drinks or the appetizer like I was supposed to.
Doing things like that are as close as a regular waiter can get to giving a discount. This also has reprocussions. Sometimes you get a bad tip, sometimes you get a good tip, sometimes they dont care. The lady was really night though. When her husband went to the bathroom, she thanked me and gave me a really really big tip. I thanked her and invited her back. I was happy, she was happy. Happiness was spread for all that day.
If I do get caught giving my little discounts though, I could easily get fired. But I figure its $2.09 to get a regular softdrink at my restaurant. When I first started working there about 3 years ago, it was $1.80. How can the price of a single soft drink go up that much in 3 years? It doesnt. The corporation tries to squeeze out as much of a profit as possible. To produce about a 2 liter equivalent out of our machines would probably cost 2 cents, if that. This means that Peppers makes a several thousand percent profit on this. What about the cost of running the machines you ask? Water is relatively cheap and one carbination tank can last us a few months. The syrup itself costs about $5 a box, which can make probably 100 gallons of soda. Dont quote me on that amount tho. Pepsi also takes care of our equipment for free as long as we dont stock coke. Easy enough? I think so. Soda's are the biggest rip off in the restaurant world.
Moral: Happiness is infectious. And a $2, 2 liter coke, from 7/11, probably cost less than a penny to make.
posted by Peppers waiter at 6:17 PM
4 Comments:
That's such a rip off on sodas. But why risk being fired? Do you get a much better tip?
you gave away the name of your franchise in the entry. writing just in case it was accidental.
You saw NOTHING!
Also, its really not that hard to tell which restaurant I work at anyway :-p
The funny thing is, I thought you really worked at a place named Peppers! LOL!!
I do enjoy reading your blog and know how much the job sucks and how rude people can be. I always tip 20% or more because I have been there! Good luck!
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