Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Career Day

Last week was "T for teeth" week at Maddie's school. Every day was filled with tooth related stuff, and the week ended with a dentist coming to her class for further instruction.

This morning, Maddie told me that she was going to ask her teacher if they could have "R for restaurant" week. That way I could go speak to her class about working in a restaurant.

I wanted to explain that being a server in a restaurant isn't quite in the same class as being a dentist, but I didn't. Children going home and telling their parents "I want to wait tables when I grow up!," doesn't have the same ring as, "I want to be a dentist/doctor/vet/astronaut".

But then, I started thinking. All Maddie talked about for 2 days was what the dentist had told her. Maybe I could use this to my advantage. Maybe I will go speak to her class. Maybe I can brainwash them. No- forget I said that.

Here is my outline- just in case I get the invitation.

I. Intro
A.) Positives
1.) Cash
2.) Working with all types of people
B.) Negatives
1.) Some mean, bad people just don't tip no matter how good the service is
2.) Working with all types of people

II. Tips
A.) Percentages
1.) 15% is good, but 20%+ is better
B.) Wages
1.) Servers make $2.13/hour.
2.) Rarely is a check actually given.
3.) Servers depend on tips to pay for groceries.

III. Behavior
A.) Drinks
1.) Slurping your drink is rude. It will not make your server go any faster.
2.) Ordering water with 8 lemons so you can make your own lemonade proves
you will probably not tip. And we don't care if Oprah told you to do it.
B.) Food
1.) If your order is incorrect, by all means let your server know. If your server
corrects the mistake, tip accordingly.
2.) Mistakes happen

IV. Conclusion
A.) Economy
1.) We understand things are tough. But spending $75 on a meal and leaving a $3 tip because things are tight is just wrong.
B.) Most important lesson to go home and tell your parents... 1.) TIP
2.) 20%
3.) Ask for Chelsea if you tip over 25%

What do you think? Should I present my outline to her teacher?

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3 comments:

Terri said...

I think you should bill it as an economics lesson and schlep it around to high schools... hey, they need to understand some harsh realities, ya know?

Anonymous said...

Love that Maddie wanted you to come to her class!! I grew up in a restaurant and later went to work at Applebees until I had my first child. People really don't realize how hard servers work to "please" them. The checks are a litle to none...TIPS matter!!!:) I loved being a waitress and would do it again if we had any decent restaurants here in Oakland!!!lol

Karen said...

I'm actually curious to know your thoughts on kids. I hate the mess and noise we make when we're there and feel for the servers, but tip well to make up for it. Does it make it up, or are you still peeved?

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