Thursday, June 20, 2019

How to Get Good Service

Bad service at restaurants often happens when there’s a large table of diners. Perhaps the restaurant should have a big table specialist, but that wouldn’t be fair to all the other servers unless tips are pooled.
 
I always remember going out for a big meal. Pretty sure there were nine of us. The waitress went around and the first eight people all had special orders, substituting this and adding that, extra fries or dressing on the side or extra dressing or no salt on the meat, or no olives in the salad but extra cheese, and drinks with no ice or extra ice or water with lemon no ice or Coke with just a little ice. Extra rolls , etc. When I ordered I asked for something simple with no deviations.
 
To make it worse, despite the server’s wishes, the food order was placed at the same time as the drink order. I’ve found that if you order drinks first and let them get that in, then order the food later, everything works out smoother.
 
Then when the drinks and food came out the other eight people in my party were surprised when their order wasn’t perfect. They had placed their special order then didn’t pay attention when seven other people also ordered something special. Hard to get sixteen special orders correct all at once. Perhaps dining in a big group isn’t the best time to make a bunch of special requests.
 
Also consider how nice the restaurant is. A professional waiter at Buckhead Diner or Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse is going to handle an overload of special orders better than a busy inexperienced 16 year old waitress at a chain restaurant outside a mall.
 
And for goodness sakes lower your expectations. Give the server a little slack. Remember the golden rule. 
 
 
Bobby Jones: “Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots: and you get good breaks from bad shots-but you have to play the ball from where it lies. The breaks will even themselves out in the long run, if the run is long enough.”
 
 
Too few people address why God allows suffering here on earth. We discussed this in small group a few months ago. Also that we live in a fallen world where pain and suffering do exist. God never promised we would have an easy life free from strife. God never said bad things wouldn’t happen, that people wouldn’t die. Yet so many people get mad and blame God and turn their backs on Him. Also interesting that Denison agrees that Darwinian evolution is erroneous.
 
 
Tuesday for lunch I brought the leftover taco meat – grass fed ground beef with Mexican spices. Brought chips to make nachos. Just meat and chips.
 
Wednesday: ate at Pappasitos. Huge crowd. Always a lot of people but even more so last night. 30 min wait. Mariachi band playing made it louder. Waiter looked like a young Martin Luther King Jr. Melt in your mouth chicken fajitas. Ceil was starving. As usual I ate up my beans and rice and only one chicken fajita. Leftovers for lunch today.
 
Went out the back exit and realized that’s an easier entrance than the Windy Hill entrance, which is always jammed. When we finished we drove down to Howell Mill to pick up something from Will. Just took five minutes to get down there, since we were already at the interstate. Then back home. Ceil had heard about a movie on Netflix. Watched about 30 minutes but there was a lot of bad language. M was camping last night in North Georgia.
 

Saw where the Braves got back on the winning track. Another series win. Culbertson nailed a runner at the plate from right field. In left field Riley is decent defensively, but has trouble with balls right at the wall sometimes. He hustles and has a good arm, which makes up for some bad routes to the ball.

Working on an essay – me and the NFL. I’ll send it to you when I’m finished.    
 
Parking at the Masters is FREE. The Augusta National bought up all the houses in the neighborhood next to the course, knocked down all the houses, kept the streets and trees, and let ticketholders park there for free.
 
Food: there are several dishes I could be three days in a row. Not sure burgers are on that list any more though. Ceil’s been cooking oddball stuff. Most of it I eat without complaint. Lentils. Turkey meatballs in tomato sauce with spaghetti noodles. But really the turkey meatballs weren’t too tasty, even with the sauce. I enjoy the texture. Should’ve added BBQ sauce or ketchup.
 
I was thinking about all my “stuff” I try to keep up with. I don’t admit that my daily blog posts take longer than I’d like. I really need to get outside or do something instead of sitting in front of the TV, but I’m working on my things. Important stuff. Deleting emails. Entering sweepstakes when I feel like it, which is not every night. Not every contest, only the high dollar ones, cars and cash and only certain vacations. I’m part of five “communities” that pay me for my opinion on various topics. Real estate. Shipping. Soup and other food items. Garbage. Packaging. Need to log in at least twice a month and check off all the activities, which seems like a lot. Also need to be selling my bobbleheads and sneakers on eBay. Have you heard all this before?

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