Retired FBI Convention

Old people: slow moving, hard of hearing, confused, little to zero appetite, potentially a bit crazy and almost always are low tippers.  Not the most superlative group of people to wait on.  However, I’ve realized with a little extra special attention, the elders can be very appreciative and quite kind. 

There was a convention in town and suddenly the restaurant was full of senor citizens who were FBI veterans.  Some of them were firecrackers and some were just barely hanging on.  Of course my first reaction to seeing the restaurant filled with old-timers was not a good one.  Everyone likes his or her jobs to be effortless; challenging, yet non-stressful.  When the restaurant fills with a group of potentially high maintenance (and/or time consuming) guests, we immediately tend to get stressed. 

I tried to change my attitude and embrace this old school group.  I knew I had to approach them differently.  I had to speak slower, clearer and keep it professional. 

As fate would have it, one of the first tables I greeted that day made me see things differently.  I asked where they were from.  Oddly enough, they were from Tustin, CA, where I was born and raised and where my grandparents have lived since the sixties.  I immediately asked if they knew them, but unfortunately they did not.  Regardless, we started talking about shopping centers and high schools in the area and they seemed to appreciate the connection I made.   After I slowly told them the special, took their drink orders of two hot teas, a decaf and a low fat milk, I walked away with a strange familiarity.  I was thinking of my grandparents. 

Then it hit me, albeit obvious.  These FBI vets are all someone’s grandparents.  So I decided to treat them like my own.  Luckily I wasn’t slammed so I was able to give all of my vets the extra TLC they deserved.  I approached them with much more patience, over-the-top kindness and tried my best to give them stellar service even though I knew my tips would most likely only be 10% (or 15% if I was lucky), because let’s face it, that’s how the old folks grew up tipping.

My day was much more personally satisfying after this approach.  After hearing other servers complain about typical older crowd issues like repeating the special several times at the same table, lots of split orders, low check averages and poor tips, I just simply smiled; because my day was much more meaningful than those trivial annoyances.

I didn’t make that much money those few days, but my soul felt a bit wealthier.  All right that was a bit cheesy I’ll admit.  But I honestly felt better about myself by taking this approach and treating them like my own family.   

Because that's how I'd want my grandparents to be treated when they go out.  ~ HK ~