I'm just a little disappointed...an open letter to the people of whitby

Years ago, when I grew up in Maple Ridge B.C., two of my best friends moved west from some place called Whitby Ontario. The Zimmermans were confused by the mountains, and lack of all things Ontario, but they adapted. I remember a day that it snow about 3 inches and they were in shock about why the school was closed. Good decent people, who to this day, are my surrogate family. I never felt that they had a sense of entitlement that wasn't deserved. I don't remember them ever expecting that "they" were extra special.

Just over three years ago I moved to the tiny hamlet just north of Whitby. I didn't even know where we were going when we came here to look at the house. There were fields of corn, and it didn't cost money to park you car. I couldn't believe this place. There were no bars for some reason, but there was a cute bakery, Subway Sandwich place and three fish and chips joints. (What the?) My first bartending job was in an area referred to as the AMC theatre complex, and it was a little backwards compared to Toronto. People were always in a rush, annoyed that other people had come to the same place, and thought it was too expensive. Coming from the Big Smoke, I thought it was too cheap!

My new venture is a little bit more in Whitby, family orientated, and popular amongst people that don't want to, or can't spend a lot of money. This is where my eye has been starting to twitch, when I pull into the parking lot.

To the people of Whitby,

 If you and your young family are going out for dinner, or just you and a friend, or you by yourself, please be aware of the following:
1) On Saturday night, other people...not just YOU have decide to go out. The fact that these other people have gotten to the restaurant before you, does not give you grounds to be upset. I'm not going to apologize for being successful.
     1a) Also, if a hostess says it going to be ten minutes, then you wait ten minutes, you can't complain that you had to wait ten minutes.

2) Saying that you "got something" last time isn't precedent for you to get it again. I got a warning for speeding once, but I don't throw that into the face of every other cop

3) Fire code isn't something the 16 yr old hostess created, you can't put a chair there....deal with it.
     3a) if you want to yell at someone don't pick the youngest, most vulnerable person that works there, pick the manager, he drinks for free, he can handle it.

4) When telling me why your job at Future Shop is the same as mine, please remember that we sell alcohol, and you're drinking it. Nobody is smashed buying a TV, except for maybe me.

5) You didn't get that free last time. You're not getting it this time.

6) Complaining that everything happened too fast is you're fault. If you want to take you time you have to tell the server.
   6a) don't be offended that you've been offered something. We don't know that you're a recovering alcoholic, diabetic, hypoglycemic, on medication, old, allergic, or on a diet.
  6b) if you say you're on a diet, then order the shittiest thing on the menu, extra bread, and dessert, but drink a diet Coke, we will make fun of you!

7) When you argue with the manager, and lose in front of your kids, they will lose respect for you.

8) keeping track of every little thing that you think is not right during your dinner makes you a douche bag. Do you do that at movies? Do you keep track of each thing that didn't impress you at the grocery store? (probably)
   8a) If you try and find every reason that you shouldn't have to tip, then you are worse than a douche bag. I can't think of a name yet

9)  If you come to a place where you don't like the food, then you're an idiot. If your Mom makes better lasagna, then go home Mama's Boy! If you order something and don't like it, then order something else, and don't like that, but eat it all, you're paying for it. That doesn't excuse your attitude. Check your surroundings. If you're at Susur's restaurant...okay, but if you're at a cookie cutter restaurant, then shut the f*ck up. You knew where you were going, and you knew what to expect!

10) If you complain to your server, then the manager, and the manager comes to your table, that is your chance to offer advice or say your piece. Once that exchange is complete, DO NOT go home and write a 900 word essay about how crappy everything was. Especially after you had you chance to speak, had your meal taken care of, and slashed a big line through the tip line on the credit card slip!
   10a) if you are one of these chickenheads that wants to show drama but not talk in the restaurant, and  would rather wait until you had the time to type it out(as in a point form blog!! I see the irony) then make sure that you spell check, go over your grammar, and most importantly, do not personally insult anyone that works there. The moment you share your opinion about someone personally, you've lost me. I didn't mention your comb over, or that you haven't quite lost the baby weight, or the fact that your feral child has the demeanor of ill-mannered monkey!
     10b) Also don't mention anything about how much money you spend\spent. It's crass. Yeah, you ended up spending 20$, but it cost us 25$ to serve you. Poor you
    
I could seriously go on forever, but I have stuff to do today, like go to work! So I'm going to leave you with the most important things I've learned over my many years of working in the service industry
- If you start your complaint with I'm never coming back, then I'm not listening...who gives a crap, you're never coming back! And if you do come back, I will ask you to leave.
- if you start your complaint with I hardly ever complain, then you're a liar
- if you are stock piling the things you deem as wrong from the moment you come in, then you want to complain. You're life needs something I can't provide. Take up swimming, skating or yoga.
- if you think that the staff is over in the service area calling you a bitch, they probably are. Your attitude when I come to the table sets the tone. Not mine
- it might not be racism, you might just be an asshole!

I've worked in places across this country and I've never seen the kind of attitude from such a small group of people. This sense of entitlement isn't just in restaurants, it's in Walmart, Tim Hortons, and Dance studios across the Durham region. Of course this isn't everyone, in fact, it's a small part of the population, but it's definitely the loudest. Their kid, their meal, their car, oh and get out of my way, I'm going somewhere. It's the people taking up two parking spots with their trucks, the people wanting the exception for them, it's the person behind me in the grocery line hitting my heals with their cart.

If everyone that had a genuine complaint talked to me with the same respect that they want from me, I would enjoy what I do. But I can pick them out now. I know the people that won't be satisfied regardless of the outcome, they just wanna be the person that complains. They want to be the one that is right. They want to be the guy that proved the big bad company was wrong. All the shit in their own life is crumbling, so who is the easiest person to take it out on, my waitress. If only people could realize the kind of damage they can do to us. We take these moments with us. It bothers us. It's not just about money, we actually like what we do, but now you're trying to break us! No wonder we've become jaded, alcohol swilling lunatics!

A friend of mine is a kindergarten teacher and I tried to imagine what it would be like to deal with children all day long, but I soon realized that children would be easy. You see children don't know how to behave yet, adults are supposed to.

I'm not mad, I'm just a little disappointed.