As servers, we often must come up with complaint responses when we encounter grievances that are not fully thought out. Whether it is that the dining room is too hot or the prices are too high. In many of these circumstances, we have nothing to do with the cause of the complaint. Usually, these are things […]
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The Murphy Table
A Murphy bed is probably something most of us are unfamiliar with by name. It is the name for a bed that folds down from the wall for sleeping and can be folded up into the wall after the occupant awakes. It was designed originally by the Murphy Bed Company. In 1989 an appellate court […]
How To Make Hostile Guests Love You (Part Three)
(Note: in order to get the most out of this post you should read parts one and two. They create the foundation for this summary post and will be referenced frequently.) My friend Marcy has the innate ability to intimidate people. She is a beautiful 5’8†blonde attending law school. She is aware of having […]
How To Make Hostile Guests Love You (Part Two)
Years ago I had the good fortune of working for a man named John Maria. I have had many bosses over the years, but none had a better fundamental understanding of human nature than John. One day he gave me a book and told me to read it. He said the answer to almost every […]
How To Make Hostile Guests Love You (Part One)
One of the most difficult situations any server faces is the hostile guest. I call them hostile, because they are angry with you long before you have even greeted them. Some people just bring all the hostility of their day in to a restaurant and dump it on their server. From the moment you greet […]
About The Author
David Hayden was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He took his first serving job in 1996. Since that time, he has worked for over a dozen different restaurant companies. He has held both hourly and salaried positions at independent and corporate restaurants. He has waited on over 100,000 guests and trained hundreds of servers. He has been named "Best Server in Kansas City" the last three years by the local weekly paper.