We are so happy to show our support to Quince's Chef Michael Tusk Wins James Beard Award for Best Chef Pacific.
Don't forget to check out his other restaurant Cotogna for a more casual experience.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Why Don't People Read Signs Anymore?
I don’t know when it happened, but at some point folks stopped reading signage. Maybe it’s just that they choose to ignore the signage or perhaps they think they are special and that the signage doesn’t apply to them. It happens all the time. I always say part of my job as a server is to study human behavior. I talked with some women the other day and I realized that not only is it a study in human behavior, but there is something about food that brings out the best and the worst in people.
In any case, I noticed the other day that people don’t read the signs that are posted. I was looking for ways to improve our signage, but then I realized it’s not exclusive to the signage in our restaurant. I’ve seen people at Blue Bottle’s counter enjoying a whole meal not from Blue Bottle right next to the sign that reads “these seats are for Blue Bottle customers only.” The thing that get’s me is that the people that do that, ignore the fact that they are taking seats away from their customers, but I guess it’s obvious that they feel entitled to sit there anyway. I really wish that people could put themselves in other people’s shoes and imagine if they owned a little coffee place that they paid additional dollars per square foot to provide seating for their customers would they still sit inappropriately?
There are many rhetorical questions that could be avoided as well. This phenomenon is something odd. People will read a sign that says, “please wait to be seated” or more simply, “closed.” After they read the sign they come up and ask “is someone going to seat us outside?” or my personal favorite, “Are you closed?” Why do people do that?
The conversation usually goes like this:
“Is someone going to seat us outside?”
“Yes, if you just wait by the sign that says ‘please wait to be seated,’ someone will be with you in a moment.”
Oh, well there’s no one seating us…
Well, if you wait by the sign, someone will be with you as soon as they have a free moment.
So, we should just wait by the sign?
Yes, just wait by the sign. ………….
Half way through this conversation, I swear, I just want to shoot myself.
The other conversation usually goes like this:
Are you closed? (They always ask this right in front of the Closed sign)
Yes.
Oh, so you aren’t serving anymore?.......
No.
Oh. Not even a drink?
No.
Why do you close so early?
Then I go into why we close at the time we close……
Seriously, are we really having this conversation?
These rhetorical conversations happen constantly. Here’s another one we get all the time:
The menu says, oysters on a half shell. So people ask us are you oysters served raw?
“Yes.” (In my mind however, I’m thinking, that’s what on the half shell means)
OR
“I read on the menu that you charge for bread. Are you really going to charge us 50 cents for bread?”
“Yes, would you like some?”
“No, not at 50 cents per bread.”
Oh, yes and the other response is, “well, what does the bread look like?”
“Oh it’s a roll.”
“Yes. Would you like some?”
Sometimes it’s a “yes” after they examine how much 50 cent bread is worth and sometimes it’s a no “thank you.”
Oh yes, the other question I get around bread is as follows:
“I’d like the Salmon (for example)”
Followed by, “Now does that come with bread?”
“No, you have to order bread. Would you like some?” Then the conversation continues often as I shared above.
I know we get criticism for being “snarky,” “condescending” and or “deliberately trying to make people feel stupid.” The thing is, we don’t make up stories, but we do share with you what we are really thinking and most of all we do it with a sense of humor. I really hope that through our BLOG, people can learn to be a little more aware, a little less self absorbed and most importantly, that they can laugh about how silly we can all be. I guess it’s a good thing that the woman who just sent us a criticism using the above sorted adjectives, regarding our FAQ, didn’t read our BLOG, she would have really gone bonkers.
You know what they say: love to hate us or hate to love us, at least you are talking about us so I guess that means our opinions are still, well, relevant.
Till next time………EAT MORE FISH!
In any case, I noticed the other day that people don’t read the signs that are posted. I was looking for ways to improve our signage, but then I realized it’s not exclusive to the signage in our restaurant. I’ve seen people at Blue Bottle’s counter enjoying a whole meal not from Blue Bottle right next to the sign that reads “these seats are for Blue Bottle customers only.” The thing that get’s me is that the people that do that, ignore the fact that they are taking seats away from their customers, but I guess it’s obvious that they feel entitled to sit there anyway. I really wish that people could put themselves in other people’s shoes and imagine if they owned a little coffee place that they paid additional dollars per square foot to provide seating for their customers would they still sit inappropriately?
There are many rhetorical questions that could be avoided as well. This phenomenon is something odd. People will read a sign that says, “please wait to be seated” or more simply, “closed.” After they read the sign they come up and ask “is someone going to seat us outside?” or my personal favorite, “Are you closed?” Why do people do that?
The conversation usually goes like this:
“Is someone going to seat us outside?”
“Yes, if you just wait by the sign that says ‘please wait to be seated,’ someone will be with you in a moment.”
Oh, well there’s no one seating us…
Well, if you wait by the sign, someone will be with you as soon as they have a free moment.
So, we should just wait by the sign?
Yes, just wait by the sign. ………….
Half way through this conversation, I swear, I just want to shoot myself.
The other conversation usually goes like this:
Are you closed? (They always ask this right in front of the Closed sign)
Yes.
Oh, so you aren’t serving anymore?.......
No.
Oh. Not even a drink?
No.
Why do you close so early?
Then I go into why we close at the time we close……
Seriously, are we really having this conversation?
These rhetorical conversations happen constantly. Here’s another one we get all the time:
The menu says, oysters on a half shell. So people ask us are you oysters served raw?
“Yes.” (In my mind however, I’m thinking, that’s what on the half shell means)
OR
“I read on the menu that you charge for bread. Are you really going to charge us 50 cents for bread?”
“Yes, would you like some?”
“No, not at 50 cents per bread.”
Oh, yes and the other response is, “well, what does the bread look like?”
“Oh it’s a roll.”
“Yes. Would you like some?”
Sometimes it’s a “yes” after they examine how much 50 cent bread is worth and sometimes it’s a no “thank you.”
Oh yes, the other question I get around bread is as follows:
“I’d like the Salmon (for example)”
Followed by, “Now does that come with bread?”
“No, you have to order bread. Would you like some?” Then the conversation continues often as I shared above.
I know we get criticism for being “snarky,” “condescending” and or “deliberately trying to make people feel stupid.” The thing is, we don’t make up stories, but we do share with you what we are really thinking and most of all we do it with a sense of humor. I really hope that through our BLOG, people can learn to be a little more aware, a little less self absorbed and most importantly, that they can laugh about how silly we can all be. I guess it’s a good thing that the woman who just sent us a criticism using the above sorted adjectives, regarding our FAQ, didn’t read our BLOG, she would have really gone bonkers.
You know what they say: love to hate us or hate to love us, at least you are talking about us so I guess that means our opinions are still, well, relevant.
Till next time………EAT MORE FISH!
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