Wait For It

by Mandy Seley
Mandy\'s avatar

 In all fairness, I don’t have proof this is why they’re called “wait” staff, but I have my suspicions…

(Edited to add: It’s a joke, please don’t be rude to waitstaff even if you think they’re being annoying…)

47 comments on “Wait For It”

  1. This is an incredible amount of detail and action poses. What species is the waiter? This seems like a unique restaurant where standing booths are available.

    1. Waiter doing the sprinting looks like a colourpoint cat, tail’s too fluffy for a siamese.

      1. Maybe a mixed breed since it looks different than one of Mandy Seley’s previous siamese characters.

    2. I was also wondering about the “standing booth” as you call it. Never seen anything like it before!

      1. They’re in some restaurants near the bar, in the parlor area – typically with bar-height stools or chairs, which Fox and I end up putting aside. He likes to stand!

        1. I’d like to joke and say this is the same restaurant from the Rematch comic, given the dark shirts for the staff, type of booths, and foliage.

      1. I might buy that, Fox, except the waiter’s muzzle is too short, it’s more feline than vulpine.

    2. He did look similar to Fox Keegan. Plus I would say he looks part feline.

    1. I’ve always wondered how they seem to appear at just the most inappropriate time for me to respond to their questions. LOL.

  4. I dislike it when waiters suddenly appear beside your table to ask how everything is, every 2 minutes or so.

    Though… There was that time that Mike (my boyfriend) and our other friends didn’t manage to stop me responding in a blunt manner to a particularly irksome waiter.

    Waiter “Is everything to your satisfaction?”
    *friends nod as they eat or drink as a gesture to have him leave*
    Me “Actually… No.” *friends look up in horror as they realise I’m clear of food or drink to stop me talking*
    Waiter: “Miss? Is there something wrong with the food? The coffee?”
    Me “No, the food is excellent and the coffee is nice. It’s just this complete twatbiscuit keeps interrupting our meal every minute or so to ask how everything is. Like it’s going to change in the last 60-120 seconds! If I was the manager, I’d have a word with him about harrassing the customers and making their meal out into a chore rather than a pleasure. Wouldn’t you agree, sir?”
    My friends and Mike are trying not to choke from giggles at this point.

    2. I’m not sure if it a good idea to insult people just kinda annoying.

    3. They’re just doing what they’re supposed to do. Some people complain if they DON’T come by often enough. There wasn’t any need to be nasty. You could have just told them politely that you won’t need anything more until you’re done with your meal.

    4. What bugs me is when I get my iced tea just right and they appear and “refresh” my tea so I have to start all over again. LOL.

    5. In the future I would take it up with whoever makes the policy or tactic you have an issue with instead of being incredibly rude the person just doing their job, for all you know they could hate the policy as much as you. Or just politely inform the waiter you don’t wish to be “bothered.”

    6. I have to say, that while funny, that would be the definition of the “bitchy customer” archetype. New waiters are required to go around and ask how their customers are doing… and yes that twatbiscuit was being as such… but a nicer way (and a way to ensure you not get your food or drink spat into) would have been to ask the waiter to not come by your table quite as much as it was agitating you a bit. Bluntness can be good… but I think prescribing to the “3-strikes method” would have been better here… if you had asked him nicely to not do it once, and he did it again, that’s 2 strikes… he did it the first time and it got annoying that’s strike one, strike 2 is after you asked him politely not to do it anymore and he does it again. When strike 2 occurs, hold back and be nice still but be more forceful and make sure you have his undivided attention when you let him know he is doing the thing that is annoying you again. (This system works in other situations too btw.) Strike three is when you call his manager over and have them address his behavior and he will be properly retrained and they will get you a new waiter or the manager will wait on you personally. In this situation these things need to be addressed either to the wait person so that they are aware they are being annoying, but at the same time you have to ensure you are not getting your food tampered with by pissing off the staff. Anger one waiter, and he has the entire restaurant on his side… and you automatically look like a half-dead zebra to a pack of lions… they undoubtedly WILL abuse and misuse your food if you fuck with one of their people… even if the waiter is the new guy and it is his first day… unless he is a douche and the rest of the staff hates him… they WILL jump behind him/her and they WILL mess with your food. Ever see the movie waiting? That is NOT an exaggeration. Well, not a total exaggeration. Being calm and addressing the situation nicely and directly with the server in a calm, low, firm tone will fix the issue 9 times out of 10. Try to remember… they are trying to do a good job… they get paid like crap because the “waiter wage” is like $2.50 in most states… they LITERALLY live off your tips… YOU and YOUR TIPS pay for the food on their table and the clothes on their back and the gas in their vehicle. If they don’t get tipped here in the US… they either get fired or starve. Tipping in this country of course is the cause of that problem, but that is a different conversation all together. Point is… TL;DR… Don’t treat them like crap just because they are being annoying… help them correct their mistake FIRST… then if they do it again, more forcefully help them un-chuck themselves… then fix the problem yourself by calling over their boss if they screw it up again. 😉

      2. Before you lecture me, check certain facts.
        One: I’m in Britain. Not America.
        Two: The wait staff in British restaurants get between £7.20-10 per hour so they actually get better paid than some High profile jobs. And a lot of serving staff in Britain are told NOT to accept tips.
        Three: If a wait staff or kitchen staff fucks or taints your food in Britain, the entire restaurant will be hit by a Health and Safety inspection and the guilty parties fired and/or fined heavily.
        Four: We’d all told him that we didn’t need anything politely, it didn’t seem to register with him. So the blunt approach was all that was left.

        And to Seley and Fox, sorry for bringing this drama to your comic. I’ll keep my mouth shut from now on.

  5. Something about that waiter looks like me…

    Usually, it’s hard for me to get a waiter/waitress’ attention. My backup plan is take like, four straws, insert the tips into each other making a three foot pole, and attach a napkin with the phrase “WAITER!!!! HALP!!!!” written on it.

    The longer they ignore me, the more straws I add.

    1. I’ve found that hitting a waiter in the back of the head with a thrown utensil usually gets their attention pretty quickly.

      Of course, you go through a lot of restaurants that way.

      1. I think waiters who don’t get around to me promptly should be taken out back and beaten. Same goes for any other low-wage employees too busy to notice how important I am.

  6. I have reached the same conclusion abut this phenomenon. A good cure for this is to spit the mouthful of food at the waiter while replying.

    I do have to agree that the stand-up tables are unique. Maybe it facilitates doing the Heimlich on people when they choke.

  7. Well, these guys seem to be going overboard in ensuring your pleasure.

  8. While I agree with this subjective evaluation, I suspect the real reason is that we spend so much proportional time at the table with something in our mouth that it’s difficult for anyone (server or manager) to time their approach for when our mouths are clear.

  9. Were I a waiter, and I had a group being a real pain in the arse, I’d do this just so I didn’t have to listen to them.
    Seriously though, it would make things more efficient.
    “Need a refill?” Nod, or shake of the head. The End.
    In this economy you’re already doing the work of 3 people–having some annoying customer tell you their life story isn’t going to help that.

  10. It happens every single meal, so it must be something like this. Often on the first forkful when it’s too soon to tell anyway!

    1. Right?
      “How is everything?”
      “I dunno. I haven’t tried everything.”
      I’ve been running my mouth, but it wasn’t chewing!

  11. Yep, familiar.
    Don’t think its deliberate though… Just timing.

    Makes for a funny joke though. 🙂

    -Badger-

  13. This happens to me quite a lot. I also noticed that when I eat at a Japanese restaurant the waitresses tend to hover near me. I’d be at the sushi bar and they would be against the wall just close enough that I can see them at the corner of my eye. I pop a tuna roll in my mouth and immediately they pounce on me asking if I am done and/or want a refill on my drink. XD

  14. And a young Padawan Fox in the Force has joined the forces of the Snark side.

  15. I might want to visit these restaurants with such fast service. Mandy, is the waiter a domestic cat? This comic has even more detail than the previous two, does this mean your schedule is less hectic?

    1. Well, it was. And then the heat shield fell off the Scion’s muffler.
      I don’t even care, but it’s half on and rattling like crazy. Just need time to climb under there, but without a garage and it raining all week…I guess I’m gonna get wet.

      We’re getting there. Stuff just needs to stop breaking. It’s counterproductive to chilling the fawk out.

      1. Glad to hear you are getting there. Like I learned from my father, a lot of little things can go wrong when working on a goal. I really look up to your and Mandy’s work ethics such as your dedication and seeking what is most important and fulfilling.

        I can wait for the second season of your Twitch show, go make the most of things.

          1. Even though the last episode took place in an open-air Olde Englishe cobblestone path?

  16. I’ve noticed waiters doing that, back when I sometimes went out to eat. It’s a funny comic.

    I figured they were doing that because somebody had told them to, just like the sales staff at any shopping mall, who either ask you if you need help every few minutes, or who disappear and can’t be found anywhere. Strange are the ways of the service industry.

  17. I’ve never appreciated this joke, no matter how many variations people use.
    You’re freaking EATING. The whole point of your being there is to shove food in your mouth. Exactly when are you thinking the waiter can manage to ask you if you need anything other than when you are eating?

    1. When you just finished eating. When you’re currently doing so, you might choke, spit it out, or look stupid.

  18. I bet this comic ends up pinned to the wall of a lot of restaurant breakrooms after this.
    …At least I hope so. ^_^

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