Reply #28: But the tips are better [View All]

[TalkingDog]

As I was working my way through school, one of the many jobs I had was that of wait staff. Usually local Mom and Pop places. And as I became more experienced and better able to read my customers and correlate action with reward, I figured out a very simple trick to increase the amount I was tipped: Look busy.

Not necessarily BE BUSY, although sometimes that just came with the territory. But you had to LOOK busy. Even if there was no fire in the kitchen, if you walked purposefully, and filled napkin holders purposefully, and filled tea purposefully, and blew the stray hair out of your eyes and stopped and smiled like you were taking time out of saving the entire restaurant from collapse, but knew your customers needed you... the tips were much better.

When you made your way into the kitchen or out of sight of your customers, you could stand around for a decent stretch doing absolutely nothing as long as you walked back out like you had just washed every dish and cooked every meal yourself.

Manipulative? Yes. But at 2.30 per hour, I would've huckstered the Pope if he had walked in.

The people in charge of these crises have obviously learned that people will think they are actually accomplishing something if they just keep looking busy.