Rude Diners

A couple of weeks ago, I arranged to meet friends at a well-known restaurant.  I arrived about 30 minutes early, escorted to a table, and served an appetizer and iced tea.  This gave me time to sit and observe other diners.  I was amazed at the way diners treated their servers.  I watched as the servers greeted the diners cheerfully and saw the diners totally ignore them or look away and mumble a greeting.  When the server returned to take the order, the diners failed to make eye contact and barked their orders.  I thought What must it be like to spend night after night being treated like a second class citizen? 

 

Two of my three children worked as servers when they were in school.  I am sure this has given me a different view of the job.  Also I remember when I was worked in a toy store during Christmas vacation.  It didn't take long for me to figure out that men were always kinder to me than women.  If possible, I would address the man to avoid the 'put-you-in-your-place' look from the woman. 

 

One time my husband and I went out to dinner and I noticed that when the waitress spoke to me, she literally shook with nerves.  My experience at the toy store allowed me to understand her fear.  She walked up to the table during our meal and asked, "Do you need anything?"  I intentionally made eye contact and smiled at her before answering that we had everything we needed.  The smile that lit up her face just about knocked me out of my seat.  I thought, How must she be treated my other diners?

 

Here are a few tips on how to treat your server:

 

Read the menu. Instead of naming lots of meals and then asking the waitress if they have those meals, actually read it and see what the restaurant has.

Clean up after yourself. Eating out at a restaurant is partly fun because the diner doesn't have to take care of the clean up. And that's true, to a point. You will not have to wash the dishes, throw away napkins or clean the floor. That does not mean, however, that you should go out of your way to make the biggest mess that you can.

 

Ask for the different things you need at the same time. Being a waitress is very hard on the feet.

 

Be polite in your speech. Barking orders is no way to treat a waitress. Remember that she is a real person with feelings. Ask for what you need politely and be forgiving if she should forget some small item, particularly if she apologizes and retrieves it.

Leave a decent tip. Leaving very little money for a large meal is not the way to treat a waitress unless the service was indescribably bad.

Read more: How to Treat a Waitress | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2310636_treat-waitress.html#ixzz24mcijeO6

I would like to add:  Make eye contact when speaking to him or her. 

What Is Important To You?

Several years ago, a counselor told a story about an episode he experienced.  The event had taught him a lot about himself; some of which he didn't like seeing.  He said that as a young man he had longed to teach children about the Bible.  An elderly lady in the neighborhood wanted to help him, so she opened her home and invited the neighborhood children to listen to him teach.  The man was very appreciative of her generosity and wanted to be respectful of her and her home.  During the story he noticed one young boy pulling the fiber filling from her well used overstuffed chair.  He stopped the story and reprimanded the young man.  Immediately the elderly lady gave him a look that showed her disagreement.  After the children had gone home the counselor explained his action to the hostess.  She replied, "Well, I have always believed people were more important than things."

 

Now most of us would have done exactly what the counselor had done.  Children should not be allowed to deliberately destroy the possessions of someone else.  But put yourself in the place of the child.  He had come to the house to hear about the love of God, but left remembering being reprimanded in front of his peers.  Did he remember the story?  We'll never know.  Did he ever accept Christ as Savior?  We don't know.  He stopped pulling the fiber filling, but is that important when he faces his maker?

 

If asked what is important to us, most of us would reply something grand like 'people' or 'world peace'.  If someone else were asked what was important to us, what would they answer?  Do others see in you what you say is important or do your actions tell them something else?

 

Recently a pastor friend asked to visit us at the lake.  He was looking forward to fishing with my husband and relaxing.  The stress of the ministry had taken a toll on his spirit.  My husband and I prayed that we would be a blessing to him and minister to his needs.  When he arrived we showed him around our house and instructed him to make himself at home.  He did!!  Over the three days, when he wanted coffee, he opened a cabinet, took down a cup, opened a drawer, took out a spoon, poured his coffee and went into the den.  The cabinet and drawer were left open.  He never closed a door behind himself.  He never picked up after himself.  I became a little frustrated, but remembered the prayer my husband and I had sent up.  Lord, help us be a blessing to him and minister to his spirit.  Immediately I redirected my focus from his behavior to his need.  I quietly closed the door behind him--every time he left the room.  Was it irritating?  Absolutely.  Do I believe it was what the Lord would have me do?  Without a doubt!

 

My husband is not very good about picking up after himself.  It is something I decided long ago was not worth fighting.  A visitor in my home recently complained about his behavior.  Immediately I remembered a couple of weeks after my knee surgery when I was so much pain I was unable to sleep.  I saw my husband sit up in bed and thought He must be going to the bathroom.  I saw him walk away from the bathroom and toward my side of the bed.  He threw back the covers and began massaging my foot and injured leg.  After about 10 minutes, he replaced the cover, walked back to his side of the bed, climbed in and went back to sleep.  During the entire episode, neither of us said a word.  He didn't asked if I wanted a massage.  He didn't asked if I was in pain.  He recognized my need and rushed to meet it.   When I am picking up after this very messy man, I think about the wonderful things he does for me.  I choose to focus on the blessings rather than the irritating behavior.  Do I remind him to pick up his things?  Yes.  Does it do any good?  No.  That's alright.  I want him to know that the blessings are more important to me than the behavior.

 

Do your loved ones know what is important to you?  Do they feel important to you?  Do visitors in your home feel important to you?  Are people more important to you than your personal possessions or routine?  What was important to Christ?  How many times did the disciples ask Him to send the people away?  Did He?????



Preaching Without Preaching

You don't have to be a preacher to preach the word of God.  We have been told that many times.  There are sayings like 'you may be the only Bible some people read' and 'the lost world is watching you'.  They are meant to remind us that we need to live our beliefs on a daily basis. 

Yesterday I had the privilege of witnessing the word of God brought in a different format and the result.  My home church had scheduled a quartet to sing in the morning service.  The service began with the congregation singing and then the regular offering.  The pastor introduced the quartet and handed the service over to them. 

Sitting at the opposite end of the pew where I sat was Brittany, a teenager who regular attends the church and Taylor, a young man I had never seen before.  The quartet sang beautifully and it was obvious the congregation enjoyed the service.  At the end of the service one member of the quartet stepped forward, presented the plan of salvation and began and invitation.  Taylor stepped out into the aisle and walked forward.  The pastor prayed with him and Taylor gave his life to Christ.

Now before you think that's wonderful, but what is so special about it?, listen to the rest of the story.  I told you I had never seen Taylor before.  It was the first time he had visited our church.  This morning Brittany is visiting in my home.  I asked if Taylor was her boyfriend.  She replied, "Yes, ma'am.  That was the first time he had ever been to church."  No only was this the first time Taylor had visited our church, but the first time he had visited any church.  There was no fire and brimstone sermon to convict him.  There was no world renown preacher for Taylor to remember.  There was just one young lady who insisted that her boyfriend attend church with her and the sweet music praising God.  These two things combined to show a young man that he was lost and needed Christ in his heart.  That's preaching without preaching.