Yahoo! Hates Servers

Please don't tell everyone that all servers go to work commando style. Oh wait, maybe that is just me.

I really do try to avoid being redundant on this blog.  I have a growing list of topics that I want to cover and I feel those of you who read this blog deserve better than to have to hear the same old rant out of me.  Yet, like Al Pacino said in The Godfather, “Everytime I try to get out they pull me back in.”  For the second time in two weeks, Yahoo! decided to sell some advertisements by taking some shots at servers.  This time they didn’t decide to tell their readers we are thieves, but rather that we are out to ruin their meals.

I was innocently checking my email yesterday when Yahoo! flashes across the screen “15 Secrets Your Waiter Will Never Tell You.”  The article was actually published by Reader’s Digest.  This brought to mind two questions.  First, is Reader Digest really the primary channel by which servers pass top secret information to their guests?  Second, Reader’s Digest is still being published?  I received an answer to the second question later in the day, but more on that in the moment.

I generally hate these stories.  This is because the stories of one server are conveyed to the reader as the normal behavior of all servers.  Generally, they are based upon something that happened one time and are portrayed to the reader as standard operating procedure within restaurants nationwide.  Most of the “secrets” disclosed in this article are common sense.  The rest are worthy of rage.  Here are some examples of the “secrets” that are so top secret I didn’t even know them.

—Waitress at a well-known pizza chain

If a guest asks me if I like an item, I tell them the truth.  If I don’t like it, I tell them why and what I like more.  When I say an item is our “most popular” it means that it is the item in a particular category that is most commonly ordered by guests.

We put sugar in our kids’ meals so kids will like them more. Seriously. We even put extra sugar in the dough for the kids’ pizzas.
-Waitress at a well-known pizza chain

Have any of you ever worked for a pizza chain?  Of those who have, have any of you ever seen them make pizza dough in house?  I have worked in a number of restaurants that served pizza, but none of them ever made their own dough.  I spoke with a friend who works at the only “well-known pizza chain” that has waitresses, they don’t make their own dough.  Why would a restaurant go through the trouble of making two separate batches of dough?  More importantly, why would a waitress be the first person to speak to what goes in the pizza dough?  Pizza dough requires sugar to feed the yeast.  Even Jamie Oliver uses sugar in his pizza recipe.

—Waitress at a casual Mexican restaurant in Manhattan

—Waitress at a casual Mexican restaurant in Manhattan

Wow, this may be a legendarily bad server.  Does she make her own drinks or only the ones she charges for?  Maybe next week Reader’s Digest can publish the “15 Things Your Financial Planner Won’t Tell You.” using anonymous quotes from Bernie Madoff and Michael Milken.

—Kathy Kniss

You are too lazy to get a fresh fork or eat before work?  You would eat off of silverware that was in your apron?  As a rule, servers don’t do this.  Kathy Kniss is a dirty person.

Most of the things on this list were common knowledge to anyone who has ever served or known a server.  Don’t order hot tea.  Don’t snap your fingers at your server.  Most of them were actually thoughtful and polite dining tips.  Things that guests should know, but don’t really get people to hit the “share button” and drive traffic.

So how do they come up with stories like this?  I can answer that question.  One other thing stood out to me about the story: a familiar name.  I picked up on the name Charity Ohlund right away.  This name might not be familiar to everyone because she is more widely known in the server blogger world as CJ from FrothyGirlz.  She also is the most famous former server blogger in my hometown.  I sent her an email and asked her for the scoop on how a story like this comes together.

It turns out that the actual interview took place almost two years ago.  This is also when the original version of this article came out.  Number one on the list of things Reader’s Digest won’t tell their readers is that they shamelessly recycle articles for the sake of being able to grab reader’s attention with salacious headlines.  This brings me back to the other surprise I recieved from Reader’s Digest yesterday.

My mailman, who I refer to as “Mr Dyslexia”, delivered the neighbor’s mail to me (again).  In it was the month’s Readers Digest.  I swear I could not make this up.  This month’s cover stories include “NEWS THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE” and “A serial killer stalked or daughter.”  I don’t want to commit mail fraud, but if there is news that can save my life then I want to know it.  So I went to their website to find the story and it is not available.  Apparently, they are a little more concerned with freaking out your great grandparents than providing this information.  Something tells me that it is just more of the same sensationalism, but if I die from not receiving one of these tips I am going to be pissed that they decided bashing servers was a more important article to print.

What are the odds of this coming on the same day?

Either way, journalists need to develop some integrity of their own before questioning ours.

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5 comments on “Yahoo! Hates Servers

  1. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! omg. *crying* soooooo funny. this whole write up had me in stitches “As a rule, servers don’t do this. Kathy Kniss is a dirty person.” lol yes yes she is and no they dont. i WILL say though that if that chain pizza place it who i THINK they are *points accusingly at former employer* that stuff is TRUE! we were not allowed to say we didnt like something becuase “everyones tastes are different and just because you dont like it doesnt mean they wont” they wanted to you to say for example on the fancy meat lovers version “well if you like meat youll love this” instead of “im a veggetarrian so ive never had it but i can tell you it is my husbands FAVORITE pizza (insert description of deliciousness here).”

  2. FuckMyTable on said:

    I saw this and it made my blood boil. I’m going to go to work tonight, and all my guests will have read that article, and I’ll get the shaft. Well, maybe not. I hope not.

    Also, Yahoo! posted about 8 people with whom to NOT trust your credit card. Guess who made the list? Fuck them; if I had time to skim their card during my busy shifts, I’d be a millionaire by now.

    • David Hayden on said:

      I posted about that article last week. It is the first link in the article. Yahoo is really taking too many cheap shots lately

  3. Kid Sister on said:

    Ok, help me out. Why shouldn’t you order hot tea? I never have, but why is it bad?
    Also, the chick who said she doesn’t charge for drinks: Didn’t you write about something similar to that and how it is a scam? Most importantly, it’s almost like stealing.

    • David Hayden on said:

      The answer to the first question will have to be it’s own post. I thought everyone knew that. If you ever ordered hot tea at a restaurant in front of me, I would look up at the server and politely cancel the order/ apologize on your behalf. Seriously, it is incredibly bad form to order hot tea.

      Well the floating soda scam is slightyly different because you charge the guest, have it taken off the check if they pay cash, and pocket the difference. In this case she is talking about not even charging the guest for the drink. Both are theft. I can see hooking up a friend or family member one time with one thing, but I do it sparingly enough that a manager will usually just comp it for me. I am not a big advocate of hooking guests up with free stuff as a server (bartenders are a little different). Most of the time they still tip the same percent, but just on a lower amount. Then you screw the next server who gets them because they are expecting free stuff. When they don’t get it, they will lower their tip.

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