Let’s be honest for a moment. I am about to make a statement that is often acknowledged as truth, but seldom spoke aloud. No one in the industry will really doubt this statement. It is too controversial for most people to acknowledge on the record. Today, I am going to go into uncharted territory by […]
Tag Archives | complaint
Avoiding The Write-Up
 Today, I want to share a feat that I quite frankly feel is remarkable. I don’t want to sound as if I am bragging, but this is something that might be worth it. I work for a corporately owned restaurant and have for nearly four years. This means that I have an employee file […]
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.