I realize that the following piece will remove any doubt from the minds of many that I’m a complete jerk. But I cannot be silenced as I insist on discussing the important topics of the day.
Today’s burning issue: The education and training of Denny’s waitresses.
When I am teaching a room of lawyers how to create a legal brief in Microsoft Word, it’s not enough that I know how to explain the mechanics of the template and macros to them. I actually need to understand some of the context of their work. Of course, it’s not necessary for me to have attended law school, but it helps if I can say things like, “As you know, the only three fonts allowed by California courts for pleadings are Times Roman, Arial and Courier.”
In other words, it’s not enough for me to know how to teach the thing, I need some broader knowledge relevant to my customers (lawyers, paralegals, legal secretaries).
That’s true for every job. You need the base skill set along with an understanding of your customer’s needs.
Even if you are a waitress at Denny’s.
Now I certainly understand that my waitress at Denny’s isn’t a nutritionist, or a dietitian, or a food scientist. But it’s not enough that she knows how to take my order and bring me my food, no matter how ravishingly well she does those two things. She should know what, in terms of the products she’s providing me, a “carbohydrate” is. Seriously.
Particularly if she is a waitress at a Denny’s in California. Particularly if she’s a waitress at a Denny’s in Los Angeles.
Why? Because her customers are vegans. And raw fooders. And lacto-ovo-vegetarians. And kosher. And on low-fat diets. And on low-carb diets.
Perhaps nowhere in the known universe are food and diet more Balkanized than in sunny LA. And yes, it’s your JOB to understand that at least a tiny little bit, Denny’s Waitress.
So when I say, “I’m on a low-carb diet . . . could I have the fajita vegetable mix instead of the pancakes and hash browns with my omelet, ” you really shouldn’t say, “Oh, so you’d like egg whites?”
No, mi chica tierna. That’s low-fat.
On my last trip to I-Hop the waitress offered me corn as a substitute for rice.
Corn. Instead of rice.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what a carbohydrate is, ” she said sheepishly.
“YOU SELL FOOD FOR A LIVING!!” I screamed in my inner monologue.
I know it sounds cranky, but for a waitress to not know what a carbohydrate is would be like a gardener not knowing what a flower is. Or a carnival pitchman not knowing what a mooch was. Or a porno actress not knowing what — but you get my point.
Last week when I asked for my omelet order to be low carb – specifically, vegetables instead of the bread and hash browns, she responded by proudly depositing an omelet in front of me which had no meat.
On a “Meat Lovers’” omelet.
Okay. Let me put it to you this way, honey. You work mostly for tips. It would be in your professional self-interest to learn what a low-fat diet is. And what a carbohydrate is. And what on your menu is kosher. And which soups have no beef or chicken stock in them. Yes, these are things you should know for your job.
Learn these things, and I bet your tips would improve. At least they would from me.
OMG! YES!
And what it means when someone ask for DAIRY free!
My daughter brought me a treat from a local smoothie joint and before drinking I asked her if she remembered to ask for dairy free. Yes, she said she had. Halfway through the drink and I’m on the floor twisted in knots with cramps and pain. When my daughter brought this to their attention and ask why they basically lied to her she was told they had done what she asked. It had no milk. Further inquiry determined that it did have ice cream though. A store that specializes in SMOOTHIES and has Vegan and Dairy Free options on their menu. Hello? WTF?
Usually if you ask for one of their standard fruit smoothies they can sub ice cream with sorbet. But I suppose you have to tell them that specifically. Asking for Non Dairy isn’t enough. duh.
Ray, we’re talking about Denny’s and IHOP. Perhaps you should lower the expectation bar a bit. I mean it’s not The Palm or Café La Boheme.
And, as long as you brought it up -or she did actually – given your prior medical history a low fat diet wouldn’t hurt, right? I mean I’ll bet you were wearing a short sleeve shirt. If so, she could have seen your scar and deduced that you’ve had by-pass surgery.
Perhaps she’s a bit brighter than you give her credit! 🙂
Gee Ray, I think you might want to lower the bar a bit. I mean IHOP and Denny’s aren’t exactly Ortolan and Patina! And you’d have to admit, those who are on a diet generally don’t have Denny’s or IHOP at the top of their list of favorite dining establishments. Same thing goes for lacto-ovo-vegetarians. Accordingly, the wait staff is more likely to be used to a customer base for whom grease, fat, and carbohydrates are desired rather than to be avoided.
Additionally, you paint them all with the same broad brush! Your waitress who suggested egg whites may be a little quicker than you think. I’d bet that you were wearing a short sleeved shirt. Perhaps she noticed the scar on your arm and recognized it as one resulting from a heart bypass surgery. A scar, by the way, which you should wave around often just so people can know you actually HAVE a heart, but I digress. Seeing your scar, deducing you to be a person who suffers from cardiovascular disease, perhaps she was suggesting that you should have a low cholesterol serving to go along with your low carb order. She could have been a part time law student who thought, “hmmm, could this guy hold me liable for providing him with food I know to be harmful to his condition? Maybe I will suggest egg whites so that should he try to sue me, I can demonstrate that I did all I could to prevent him from harming himself.”
So come on Ray, give the lady a break. I mean it’s just Denny’s!
Try explaining Celiac disease and gluten to them!
In a place like Denny’s or IHOP I just order a salad and pray it won’t make me sick. Most better places have someone who knows what celiac disease is and can tell me what I can eat. Although, I did have a meal at Carrabba’s off of their GF menu and got sick anyway. Go figure.
I’m with you. But I think many people should know alot of things that they dont know. And if you know you don’t know something, look it up! I mean, we have Google now and Wikis and while the net is not a bastion of accuracy, you can at least get a definition of something. How does a person not know what a carb is? I know low carb is not the fashion it used to be but it is still bandied about in the media. I love the story about the dairy free smoothie – unbelievable!
I know its just Denny’s but seriously, it’s the information age. There is just no excuse. Like there is no excuse for typos in an article THAT IS ONLINE!