Customer Reviews
New Journalism Memoir of Waiting on Tables Spiced Up to Read Like a Reality Television Show's Script - By: Donald Mitchell, 27 Sep 2008 
Drama: Without it we are soon bored. With too much drama, we are soon looking for peace & quiet. Waiters usually have no drama as they routinely do their jobs, so naturally the dramatic moments stand out. The Waiter who writes for the Waiter Rant Web site entertains usin this self-revealing memoir by sharing his highest & lowest moments serving the publicin the New York City area.
Now, life for waitersin New York tends to be more dramatic than elsewherein the United States: New York diners are demanding, loud, & aggressive. I well remember my first mealin a nice restaurant with people from New York. It wasin Boston. If our waiter didn't sprint to our table within five seconds of these people wanting something, they headed offin a jog to find him. If this meant pushing into the kitchen or pounding on the men's room door, so be it. I wanted to crawl under the table & dig a hole.
Since then, I gotten used to dining with people from New York: There has to be a 30-minute heated discussion with the hostess over which table we will sit at while they threaten to take the whole party elsewhere (and often they do!). They usually don't even start thinking about what to order until after the waiter has returned six times to ask if everyone is ready. Everyone wants to order some item that's not on the menu & bitter complaints follow if that's not permitted. When the food arrives, they automatically send the entrees back to the kitchen to be redone while saying spiteful things about incompetence. The main table conversation is about how bad the restaurant is (led by those who picked the restaurant). Argh!
I hesitate to imagine what it must be like to be a waiterin these places. It might make a person a little cynical; n'est-ce pas?
The Waiter is one of those serving warriors who has done for this a long time. No, he doesn't plan to act on Broadway. No, it isn't a second job to support his family (he's unmarried & unattached). No, he isn't going to grad school. He does it to earn a living.
How did he get there? The Waiter started outin seminary, wanting to be a Catholic priest. He got angry about the way things were runin the church (and didn't realize that Catholics don't have a monopoly on inappropriate behavior) & quit. He earned a college degreein psychology & workedin a series of forgettable health care environments run by very sleazy people.
After losing a mental health job, he realized that he needed work to tide him over & avoid depression while he looked for a "good" job. Since his brother was working as a waiter part-time while he wasin school, his brother suggested that The Waiter join him at Amici's, a suburban New York Italian restaurant. In the process, he learned that he had jumped out of the frying pan into the fire because Amici's was a very emotionally toxic environment, one where the survival of the fittest would have impressed Darwin.
I won't tell more of the story, but you'll get your share of ugly customer behavior, callousness, poor management, bad hygiene, & ripping off the customer. These are portrayedin calendar order, interspaced with the seasonal challenges of various holidays (Mother's Day is the worst for servers & customers) illustrated by horror stories.
The writing is extremely slickin the beginning, so much so that it seems like the stories are likely to have been "improved" as new journalism stories often are to be a "better" story. Amici's isn't quite to be believed, but you can make up your mind for yourself on that point.
The bulk of the book is sited at The Bistro where The Waiter doubles as the restaurant's manager whenever Fluvio, the owner, is away (which seems to be all of the time). The squabbles between The Waiter & the rest of the staff & with Fluvio are straight from sit-com heaven. When Ken Blanchard is looking for his next coauthor to write a parable about what not to doin business, he should look up The Waiter.
The craziness moves on nicely from episode to episode, but eventually focusesin on The Waiter's desire to escape waiting by becoming a writer. He begins to pay more & more attention to the Waiter Rant blog & dreams of writing a book. Well, you know how that turned out.
I thought the most interesting parts of the book camein how he came to understand himself better through being a waiter. Think of that part of the book as "Confessions of a Snippy Waiter."
Because of his psychology training, he's very good at explaining why waiting appeals to some people . . . despite the horrible drawbacks.
You'll probably cut back on your fine dining after you read this book. There's a tendency to make all customers seem like infants who lack motherly love & are willing to spend ridiculous sums to get a little attention from someone who is willing to pander to get tips.
Some (especially those from New York City) will be offended by the various guidelines for being a customer.
I was shocked to learn that I was demeaning servers whenever I gave them a tip over 25 percent. Who knew?
I would wish you bon appetit, but this book will probably spoil your appetite with its various stories about hygiene & getting revenge on customers.
If you have ever waited on tables you will love this - By: Andrew D. Scobie, 12 Aug 2008 Written by 'The Waiter' who set up the popular website of the same name, Waiter's Rant is an account of the waiter's experiences workingin a busy New York restaurant.
The Waiter leaves no stone unturned as he insightfully & comically describes the ups & downs of the server's lifestyle ranging from difficult customers, irate chefs, anti social work schedules to tipping & waiting on celebrities. I can guarantee that all those who currently wait & have waited on tables at some pointin the their lives will have experienced these ups & downs at least once & will not fail to appreciate the waiter's to the point sense of humour. Personally I was most taken by the parallels between the waiter's experiences & my own, I'm sure many other readers will feel the same.
A well earned 5 stars.
Own now... Or destroy your own true Karma - By: J. Saunders, 11 Aug 2008 Update the list of books you must own... You must now add `Waiter Rant' (Regardless of international edition - the UK cover is far better). Break down the rules you possess regarding fiction & non fiction & look at your reasons for reading:
Is it because you want to be enlightened? Is it because you want to be informed? Is it because you want to be entertained? Is it because you want to escape your current situation?
The `Waiter' (now unmasked as... Nah, you do the Google work to find his name out; just the same as I was forced to... suffice to say he's honestin the epilogue) has a huge talent.
And I need to quantify that. It's not his skills as a waiter... It's not the fact he trained to be a Catholic Priest. It's not the fact he workedin the nasty parts of mental health... it's not even the fact he's damned-fine wordsmith... It's because this man has a unique way of explaining the human psyche... And that's not with scientific `parts of the male human form which dangle between their legs when they are standing' definition of `psyche''. I mean a man, or as I would rather address him: `Gentleman' (and as a true Brit I could not use this as a compliment to most Yanks I've encountered - & YES there are a couple of exceptions!) who possesses a skill most authors have yet to acquire.
What's that? In my humble opinion [with 3 contracted theatre performances under my belt] the ability to disclose the thoughts/beliefs of certain sections of our population (regardless of nation) who are devoid of any form of true human compassion which enables them to falsely determine others they encounter as subordinate / secondary / minor / insignificant to them. Yet he, the target for this abuse, accomplishes thisin his prosein a poetic & gentle manner the enables the reader to hate the bad customers whilst hating the flawsin ourselves when `presented' or `faced' or `dealing' with the dreaded unclean the self entitled call `The Wait Staff'.
While this is categorised as a `Memoir' (by the publishersin the UK; I can't speak for the rest of the globe!) I feel this book is a `Self Help Manual'in disguise... During reading, I've identified some of the worst parts of myself (and want to change them for the better) & realised I'm right at finding others' actions not only unattractive, but almost `biblically' inexcusable (such things as a lack of: manners; humility; selflessness; compassion & patience).
I could now discuss his popularity of as a blogger... I could now discuss the links he has developed (without asking) across the net...
But why?
Even as a fan of his blog for 3+ years, this work stands on its own.
More to the point: My nearest & dearest, who has never read the blog, desperately wants me to let her read this book...
But I won't let her...
Why...
As this is a first book for this author... Lend it to a friend & you deny him his reward (orin the context of this book - his tip).
Don't buy one copy, (I didn't) but buy at least 2, so you have one to pass on as a gift.
In summary: A book that makes you realise why you enjoy reading!
