Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Discrimination in Restaurants
What I am about to say is going to sound horrible and I am not saying it is a true statement. I work at a restaurant as a hostess and it is a known fact at the hostess stand that a few select servers do not want certain ethnic groups sat in their section.These select servers sometimes even come up to the hostess stand and get angry with us if it occurs. I am not saying these servers are bad people because they are honestly not but they definitely tend to prejudge some tables as to what tip they are going to get, based simply upon the person’s appearance and race. In some cases these prejudgment and racial prejudices cause some servers to treat a table differently and not put as much effort into it. I feel that is what causes them to receive a smaller tip. When someone prejudges someone and then acts differently and treats him or her differently then no wonder they tip you poorly. Anyone can sense when people are not happy and I feel that a lot of times the table senses a servers prejudices. The thing is that you cannot always tell who is going to be a good tipper based upon their outward appearance. For example a couple weeks ago I sat two gentlemen at a table, and they were Caucasian, polite, dressed in suits, and carrying briefcases, clearly they were business men. These two men ordered their food as they talked about some cases in court they had recently taken care of, indicating they were lawyers. After they got their bill they waited until their server was gone and then left with out paying. This is an outcome that no one would have guessed, and it happened. The point I am trying to make is that your judgments of people are not always correct and sometimes when people prejudge then they act different or look for the bad, and in doing this their prejudgment is usually made a reality, but only because in a way they wanted it to be.
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I agree with you one hundred percent. I have worked as a server before, and although I did not discriminate against race I did about age. I never took any extremes as to ask a hostess not to sit certain groups in my section, nor was I aware of any other server doing it but we would complain amongst ourselves. I never wanted young teenage kids because frankly they barely have enough money to eat let a lone tip. I think we build these stereotypes as almost of survival skill. We learn what works best for us. I always treated my guest with respect no matter what their age or race was, but I would do things out of my way in order to please some more than others. It did kick my in the butt one time though. I got a party of twenty, who were all there for a business meeting. They just wanted appetizers and margaritas. I thought I should still get a huge amount of a tip assuming each would give at least two dollars, well the boss was the one to pay and he was beyond cheap and I think left something like a fifteen dollar tip, after I devoted a whole shift just tending to this one party.
ReplyDeleteWhile I know that it happens, I can't believe that people go to such extremes to discriminate. The biggest problem is the stereotypes that our society has on certain races, ages, etc. Everyone just assumes that the businessmen will pay their bill and not cause any problems. However, in your case, that was not what happened. I don't think it is right that servers treat people differently because the color of someone's skin. I mean would they want to be treated like that? I wish people who knew this was going on would speak up, because in my mind, people who do this don't deserve to work with people.
ReplyDeleteI'm not even going to ask where you work at. I understand that people judge others because of the way that they look. I get that all the time with my daughter because she is albino and people think her father is african american when he is white just like me. I also get judged because i look very young when Im 30 years old. Sometimes I get mad about it but than I think that when Im older, I'll still look young! lol. People just needs to stop judgeing people because of their outter apperence
ReplyDeleteLike I said I dont agree with these select people but they are not bad people either. A lot of people have prejudgments they make but they are not vocal about them or sometime they dont even think they are judging. It is just something that is embedded into our heads and take a great deal to change that setting. I think that when they make judgments and when they act as though those judgments are true then they usually help it become a fact. It is a vicious cycle.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really good point about you never know who is going to do what. I was a waitress too many years ago and was sometimes surprised at who tipped good and who tipped bad. It is really sad to see that predudice is still that dominent. I'd have never thought that especially in waitressing. Although I do get the point about knowing whether teenagers are going to tip good cause they don't have much money. I agree with Eric that somehting should be done to stop the people that are doing this. I guess I am kinda curious to know where you work. I think it is sad that this could even be permitted by the hotesses or the management
ReplyDeletei have seen this at resturants all the time. When i siting down at the table with my date and i look over at a different table with a older couple and they are geting more attention because they don't want to make them mad. I think any person can/ act different at any time. When you said that the two guys left without paying theier bill. If two guys came in and they looked like they were poor and then when they left they left a good tip and paid with a hundred dollar bill that means you never now how people are going to act. Everyone should get the same quality service that everyone deserves.
ReplyDeleteI agree everyone deserves good service... this post was not to say those servers are horrible people it was just to point out that people have prejudices. Honestly the servers still take care of the tables they just are as enthused about it. =) Once again I am not saying I agree, it is just an example of discrimination that I have seen.
ReplyDeleteGreat point about not being able to judge people from apperiances. The fact that it was two white buisnessmen who left without paying their bill shows that you cant judge a book by its cover. Of course that works both was. I myself have experienced bad service while out to dinner in all kinds of resturants. My ex wife was black and we both belived that on many but not all of the occasions it was due to us being an mixed couple.
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to what you are saying Amanda. I too have worked in the restaraunt business for several years. Most of the time you can tell if it is going to be a good or bad tip, but there are times when you are surprised either way. I always treat everyone the same way. I figure the good tippers will make up for the bad ones and I never discuss tips around work. I try to put myself in the place of the customer. Unfortunately customers are prejudiced as well. When I worked at RedLobster in Mobile I was constantly accused of skipping over African-American tables to wait on Caucasion tables. Sometimes I would be called "white Boy" and I surely let a manager know when that happenned. It just goes to show that some people who seem to be over-bearing are actually simply relating what they have learned fromthe past. It's too bad we can't get past these crazy ignorances. It seems you can't win no matter how hard you try.
ReplyDeleteI do understand where the servers are coming from because they want to make as much money as possible. But if I were you, and they came up to me mad because I sat people they didnt want at one of their tables, I would simply tell them, its your job, do it with a smile and you will get what you deserve( tips). Some people really do surprise you with large amounts of tips, because some young people just spend their parents money and will tip well. Other people have been in the business of serving and know what its like, so they tip well. Its like if you work in a fast food place (drive thru), you know that you cant always be as fast as the customers want you to be. Then you have the angry customers yelling at you because they didnt get their food quick enough. But when you work in places like that, when you go thru drive thrus or order food at resturants, you most likely have more patience with them then people who havent worked as a server.
ReplyDeletebrhamm: Your ex wife was black and you felt like you had bad service because you were a mixed couple. I date a black guy and alot of the times I feel the same. And if its not bad service, its alot of stares.... those kind of people are ignorant and even though it does get annoying, I cant help but laugh sometimes at how rude people can be.