An ADHD waiter
Oct. 2nd, 2007 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wwcitizenYesterday I went to lunch with a friend whom I hadn't seen for a good three months. That's how busy the summer's been! We went to Suspenders on Broadway in the Financial District for lunch and the food was pretty decent. However, our waiter was very strange. I couldn't really place what was amiss, but he just rubbed me the wrong way. And it seemed that it was a (politically) cultural thing in the restaurant's regime - the manager was almost as strange, but had a smile on his face.
Our waiter at one point raced by and placed silverware on the table and asked what we wanted to drink, but didn't stop. We had to reach around and tell him what we wanted to drink on his way to get it for us. When he came back to our table, he threw the drinks down on the table and went on his merry way telling us he'd be back for our orders.
Then when he did come back, he asked how things were, halting briefly, and then moving away (almost as if he were on a conveyor belt that wouldn't stop!) toward the service station. I reached around (again) to yell to him that my drink was flat. Then he rushed back to get my drink and asked what I wanted instead. Then before I could answer, he took off again toward the service station. I yelled back, confused, that I wanted an unsweetened ice tea, and he was finishing my sentence for me (which I HATE people to do!)! After he returned with my drink and threw that down on the table walking quickly away, I found another passing waiter and asked him to get me some sweeteners, within earshot of our waiter.
We got to order our food a little while later, and the waiter kept looking around and at other people who were moving around. About the time we were in the middle of giving our order, hands reached over the wall to my left, which startled my friend and me a lot and we kind of jumped! This older lady's voice said loudly, "Give me some menus right now!" Someone passed menus over our heads to the hands reaching over the wall (which I found really rude).
Our waiter took the orders and left the table. Then the salads came, but someone other than our waiter brought them to us. We were done about 15 minutes later, but throughout the meal, the waiter would rush by us and say, "You guys doing ok?" and walk on without hearing our answer, or "You need anything? Good..." without hearing our answer. It was amazingly bad attention to us customers. I don't think that we were the only recipients of this inattention, but I didn't care to focus on that, since I hadn't seen or really talked to this friend for so long - wanted to hear about the summer and their house renovations, etc.
Then we were ready to pay. Our waiter was nowhere to be found. Nowhere. We called over the guy who looked like the manager and asked for our check. He came back announcing our order, and then grabbed the check. My friend had his credit card out, but the guy didn't notice and/or take it with the check to complete the payment. It took us just about as long to pay and leave as it did to get our first order(s) or drinks! And, of course, by the time we were paying, everyone on the wait staff was focusing on the next round of people and not us.
Albeit tasty food and good conversation, it's amazing how badly a lunch can seem with an ADHD waiter!
Our waiter at one point raced by and placed silverware on the table and asked what we wanted to drink, but didn't stop. We had to reach around and tell him what we wanted to drink on his way to get it for us. When he came back to our table, he threw the drinks down on the table and went on his merry way telling us he'd be back for our orders.
Then when he did come back, he asked how things were, halting briefly, and then moving away (almost as if he were on a conveyor belt that wouldn't stop!) toward the service station. I reached around (again) to yell to him that my drink was flat. Then he rushed back to get my drink and asked what I wanted instead. Then before I could answer, he took off again toward the service station. I yelled back, confused, that I wanted an unsweetened ice tea, and he was finishing my sentence for me (which I HATE people to do!)! After he returned with my drink and threw that down on the table walking quickly away, I found another passing waiter and asked him to get me some sweeteners, within earshot of our waiter.
We got to order our food a little while later, and the waiter kept looking around and at other people who were moving around. About the time we were in the middle of giving our order, hands reached over the wall to my left, which startled my friend and me a lot and we kind of jumped! This older lady's voice said loudly, "Give me some menus right now!" Someone passed menus over our heads to the hands reaching over the wall (which I found really rude).
Our waiter took the orders and left the table. Then the salads came, but someone other than our waiter brought them to us. We were done about 15 minutes later, but throughout the meal, the waiter would rush by us and say, "You guys doing ok?" and walk on without hearing our answer, or "You need anything? Good..." without hearing our answer. It was amazingly bad attention to us customers. I don't think that we were the only recipients of this inattention, but I didn't care to focus on that, since I hadn't seen or really talked to this friend for so long - wanted to hear about the summer and their house renovations, etc.
Then we were ready to pay. Our waiter was nowhere to be found. Nowhere. We called over the guy who looked like the manager and asked for our check. He came back announcing our order, and then grabbed the check. My friend had his credit card out, but the guy didn't notice and/or take it with the check to complete the payment. It took us just about as long to pay and leave as it did to get our first order(s) or drinks! And, of course, by the time we were paying, everyone on the wait staff was focusing on the next round of people and not us.
Albeit tasty food and good conversation, it's amazing how badly a lunch can seem with an ADHD waiter!
