Recently I wrote about the topic of tipping. I’ve never worked as a server relying on tips to make a decent wage. I worked as a hostess in a number of restaurants, but we were paid better than the servers because we didn’t get tips.
The server at a restaurant can make or break the entire dining experience. We’ve had servers that have done an adequate job and rightfully earned their 20-percent tip. We’ve had servers who were fun, friendly, and helpful and earned a better tip.
I’m sure there are servers that see two small children and would rather be anywhere but waiting on our table. We try to make the child serving experience as painless as possible, but accidents happen. Babies are messy. It really cannot be helped. As much as we try to contain the chaos, babies are messy. We went out for lunch a couple days ago and Baby E got sick right in the middle of it. Our server could not have been more delightful about the whole thing and the support guy who came with a mop was helpful and kind as well. In order for these dining experiences to work, we have to rely on the human contact factor.
I read in the paper that some restaurants are trying a new way of serving diners. Instead of servers taking orders, the diners text their orders directly to the kitchen from the table. The novelty of the idea sounds intriguing, but I like talking to people too much. I also anticipate that there would be a lot of errors with autocorrect being as helpful as it is.
How much money would a restaurant save by having waitstaff only serve food but not take orders? Wouldn’t texting just make patrons even more rude and impatient?