[greenbean]

Oh boy, tyger, good luck!
All I can say is that if you make a mistake (and you will!) just apologize and make it up to your patron. People really get pissed if something goes wrong and they feel like you dont care. Also, always check on each table even if they look like everything is fine. When I started serving I felt like if my patrons looked content, I didnt want to bother them,...but I was wrong because I would get complaints that once I brought the order I never checked back to make sure they were satisified. I assumed they would just wave to me if they needed something but for the most part, people dont want to have to do that.
People will be jerks to you but you just have to grin and bear it, and save your anger for ranting on this board!

Speaking of rants....! Do you ever get those snobby patrons that like to test you? Last night a patron asked me what "maduros" meant, as he pointed to "platanos maduros" on the menu. I said it meant "sweet", and he said, "no it means ripe, but that was close!" !!! Can you believe that jerk! He was friggin testing me! grrrr.

[greenbean]

I think the fact that tyger is in canada makes a HUUUUGE difference. I mean, the canadian goverment takes care of everyone pretty well, dont they? I mean, in the states we are on our own pretty much, as far as heath care and stuff. I may be wrong but I get the impression that there is a more level middle-class structure in canada, thus, tipping is a bit unnecesary there.
With me, tips are my livelyhood. With just my wage I'd make $40 a night, but with tips its $200. Pretty different. And would it be nice if the restaurant owners gave us a higher wage or bonus, yes. But it aint gonna happen because they can rely on the generous people of San Francisco to leave tips. In San Francisco, there is barely a middle class,..there are insanely rich people and then there are the students/artists/immigrants etc. The well off tip because they know we servers are struggling to live in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Anyway, I'm a bit nervous for this weekend...San Fran is having its annual "Carnaval" weekend and the restaurant is gonna be slammed...my worry is that everyone is going to be coming in already drunk and full from street venders, and will just come in to crash. Plus, the boss wants us to all come early so its gonna be a looong night. I can only hope it'll be high-energy and maybe the boss will hand us some shots!