Sierra Mountain Times

What to Do

I did not want to leave my readers with a list of things not to do without giving everyone an alternative, “What to Do.” As in the afore mentioned column, on the television show, What Not to Wear, the hosts always give the badly dressed people advice on what to wear, so I am going to give the readers advice on what to do while being a guest at a restaurant. Again, I have asked some of my friends who work in restaurants to help compile the list. I give to you the “should list.”

 You should take your children out to eat. This is a good learning experience for them and they can watch you interact with people and learn good “going out” manners.

You should make eye contact with the server when they come up to the table and say, “Hi, how is everyone doing?” We like to be treated like we are people and if you were in a meeting, or work situation, you would make eye contact with people, and respond when they spoke to you.

You should wear pants. If all you have is red pants I will live with it. I had to throw that one in because someone tried to tell me he only had red pants and wanted to come in with no pants…that would have really creeped me out.

You should chew your food. I am a little rusty on the C.P.R. and I don’t know what is worse watching someone chew with their mouth open or watch someone gulp food.

You should tip well. Twenty percent should be standard. Some of my friends wanted me to say fifty, but in the end we all agreed on twenty. Just so you know, we all keep track of how much you tip, though we would never say anything to you.

You should encourage your children to say please and thank you. I was having a particularly bad day a few months ago and took my children out to dinner. My children were so polite they got free desert, and I got in a really good mood because I was proud of them.

You should try something new when you go out to eat. It is a perfect opportunity to eat or drink something you would never have at home.

You should ask your server what is good to eat. Trust me, when you work in a restaurant you eat there a lot.

You should get mad at a server who smacks gum in your face, ignores you, talks down to you when you ask questions, doesn’t refill your drinks, and acts like you are a bother. Just remember that we are still people and we can only control how we treat you – prices of menu items, charging for extras, the décor, and what is on the menu are out of our control.

You should always tell the bar tender she is the most beautiful woman in the world. Just kidding, I was just checking to see if anyone was paying attention.

You should enjoy going out to eat. Relax, and let yourself be our guest. Most of us know how to do our job, so let us. We are here to serve you, not to chase you all over the restaurant and watch you get your own drinks napkins etc… 

You should turn off your cell phone when you are out to eat!!! Not only is having a conversation on the phone rude to the people serving you, it is also rude to the people eating with you. I do not know how many times I have seen couples sitting together texting, tweeting, talking, or whatever on their phones, and I often wonder if they are talking to each other on their phones because they don’t know how to communicate normally, or if they just don’t like each other that much.

I hope this was helpful and I may have another, “not to do” soon. I have gotten a really good response from the first one.

Please contact me with questions or comments at :

cj@sierramountaintimes.com.