food servers

Ryan L said:

Now would you like it if you worked in, lets say France and someone laughed at you and or made fun of you because you could not speak the language?

I did not know thats how things have become lately.

Before I would even consider working in France or any other country for that matter I would learn the local language and currency. I don't think that is asking too much.

While yes, alot of the international employees lie about knowing the language and money (they are REQUIRED to know this when recruited!), they try hard to understand as much as possible. The best thing about internationals is they actually are at Cedar Point to work. That's something that comes hard to some!

Chris, what an awful story. IMO- 13 year olds should not be on their own. When I chaperoned a middle school trip 3 years ago, some of the other parent chaperones let their group of kids go off on their own. I stayed with mine the whole time. That age group is just not always able to make mature decisions yet. While waiting in line for TTD a few weeks ago, a group of younger kids behaved very badly in line. I remember doing stupid stuff as well at that age, but I had sense enough to be embarrassed about it when I got called on it. The kids today so often just are full of attitude, & have no remorse for their bad behavior, mistakingly thinking they look "cooler" for their effort. I pretty much blame parents for most of it though. You have to raise them to know better.

John, I think the thread creator jumped ship. I get the impression he/she might be in the questionable age bracket? ;)

As far as foreign based food service workers, I have no problem at all with working with someone to help them understand my order if they have limited English skills. I DO, however, have a problem with my AOL service calls getting rerouted to India & the rep not understanding me after numerous explanations. I got so fed up with it, I am cancelling my service & getting Road Runner put in tomorrow!
*** Edited 7/11/2007 1:22:25 AM UTC by Good Grief...***

I did not have a single problem with food servers today or any day. My only beef is that I can't use a credit card at an express stand...

^^After seeing what obnoxious and spoiled brats these kids were, I doubt the parents would have been much better. After all, the have to learn that behavior from someone.

They're probably the same kind of kids who would scream and complain about getting the wrong color convertible as a birthday present.

As someone who has worked with kids in school systems, I see one problem. Fear. If I acted bad, my Dad would spank me and I'd never do it again. However, today if you spank a kid you can be arrested for child abuse. So, parents are afraid to punish their kids because the kids are becoming smarter about calling child services and getting their parents into trouble or getting their way with threats of such.

In terms of the language barrier, I agree do not go to a foreign country without learning the language first. For example, I went to Mexico (Mayan Riviera) a couple of months ago. And while Cancun is so Americanized, they all speak English, many of them have limited English skills (even some of them who work at the airport and on the resorts). But I had three semesters of Spanish in College. And while I haven't spoken it in years, I did use it and I tried to speak enough of it to help those with limited English. And I have to say, many of them were impressed that I even tried. It did make my trip much smoother.

That video was funny!

Ralph Wiggum said:
Sometimes the foreign workers can be really awesome, and usually they're very hard workers too. However, some of them have a much better grasp of the English language than others, and I admit it's a little annoying to try to speak with someone when you can't understand each other.

That said, the walk up food service at CP has been a mess for years, with a few exceptions. I've never really had a bad experience at a sit down restaurant. I do feel bad for the servers though. When you have an idiot guest, most employees only have to deal with them for a couple of minutes, but the servers get the joy of dealing with them for 30 minutes or more.

I was at Game Day Grille last year, and had the nicest waiter. However, he was also waiting on a table of the most obnoxious 13 year olds I had ever seen. No parents in sight of course. They were screaming demands at him non-stop from across the restaurant, throwing stuff at him, purposely knocking cups over and making him clean it up, etc. One girl kept screaming at him to go get her some ketchup while he was trying to take our order. It was everything I could do to not go smack the hell out of every single one of them. However, after my table urged him to do so, the waiter's TL/manager (whatever it is in the restaurants) stuck the gratuity on the bill for those kids, because it was obvious they weren't going to leave a tip. The kids were ticked, but it made me very happy. :)

So the next time your waiter seems grumpy, just think about having to put up with that several times a day.... People truly cut out for the job will rise above it, but not everyone can.

*** Edited 7/10/2007 2:18:20 PM UTC by Ralph Wiggum***

I hate kids like that. I dont know why they act like that. Im 14 and would never do that to somebody. Stupid Parents

^^^Wow. How sad. Princess is upset, mom retreats in the house in her fur coat to likely lose herself in a drink, daddy consoles & implores princess to give his 20,000 gift a spin, then concedes he will get it painted, while brother continues filming & subsequently posts the video (I'm assuming it was him) on the internet. When princess gets her car painted the correct color, she'll throw down her golden ticket & say, "daa-dee, I want another pony".

Daddy is likely a CEO, or physician, or rocket scientist, but flunked parenting 101. Bad parenting is one of the biggest problems of this country. We have a generation of self centered, everyones indebted to me attitudes, that gave us the "ugly American" name. What's in it for me is the prevailing mentality in our country. I am so blessed when I see kids & adults that have sensitivity to others & a grateful spirit because unfortunatly, is the exception rather than the rule. Sorry to sound so negative...it's just a pet peeve of mine.

There was an episode of Super Sweet 16 (I was channel surfing during a commercial, sue me) where a girl was screaming at her mom and dropping F-bombs on her because she had the car (a Lexus)delivered a day early.

I'm surprised that episode even aired. If I was her parent not only would she not be sitting for a week, but any contract with MTV would have been immediately ended and she would have been lucky to get a new bicycle for her birthday. You just don't talk to my wife that way, whether you are my daughter or not. I told my wife as much right there, and she agreed.

If they were my kids, and IF they were fortunate enough to be given a car, it would be an old clunker with the stipulation that they get a job and save up to buy something nicer, because it would be the only handout.

Yeah, my first car was a clunker. My Dad used to borrow it because it had a bigger trunk. One day, when he was driving it, the brakes started smoking. From then on I was banned from driving it which meant that my Dad has to drop me off at college every day until I found a new car. Now I had just started my first job and had like no money. So he did buy me a better car which lasted for years until I bought my first newer car three years ago. But it lasted because I took care of it and realized that that car was a gift not a handout but a gift. Yet, when I look at the cars kids are given these days I can't believe it. If you give then the nicer cars they will never learn to appreciate it and will probably be as spoiled as the girl on that video.

I agree with the poster who said kids shouldn't be allowed to run around on their own, however...I think it really depends on the age and maturity level. Clearly the maturity level of those 13 year olds was very low, and as a bystander, I don't think I could sit there and watch them abuse a server (partly because I am a server). I think I would have walked over to them and politely asked if there was something wrong and why they were behaving as they were.

My daughter just turned 14, and I think I would let her and her friends go off by themselves and dine in a restaurant by themselves. They are a good group of kids that have manners. Sure, they would laugh and giggle like all teens do, but they know better than to disrespect adults and act up in a restaurant. I have already taught my daughter standards on tipping so she is good in that area, too.

i HATE the trend now of GIVING a kid a CAR just because they lived to be 16!!

if you can/need to drive to school, if you have/need to drive to a job...OK. but just because you "make 16" does NOT entitle you to a car!!

my cousin turned 16 in December, was GIVEN a car and totaled it 3 months later with a DUI. he was given the car to ostensibly "drive his brother and sisters around". guess what? his BROTHER WAS IN THE CAR!!

now he has ANOTHER CAR!!

and i dont think that *I* was allowed to go to a restaurant or even to an amusement park without my parents until i was in HIGH SCHOOL.

i swear, if i have kids, they will NOT be doing any of those things alone until High School and they will NOT be getting a car until they can pay for gas/insurance/the car itself.

these stories make me sick at the state of our youth. too entitled, too spoiled. too everything. except well-behaved and respctful.

I wasn't allowed to do anythig without my parents until I graduated high school and I was 18 1/2 by that time. That was when I was given a POS of a car that my Dad totalled three weeks later before he replaced it a month later. Guess what? I never took that car for granted and took care of it so it lasted over 5 years and by that time I had saved up for a newer car.