Brass in my pockets, chewed food on my shirt.....

These are just my observations. I do not care to back them up with facts. It's just something I've noticed. Thought it would be interesting to get it out of my head. Anyhow....if you had told me 20 years ago that the life skill I would learn in college and use the most would be waiting tables, I would have said you were nuts. Yet here I am, at my advanced age, trying to plow through school and money getting so tight that we were arguing constantly about it, waiting tables once again. For some reason, it is not a very respected profession. You can make a lot of money at it, depending where you work. But let's face it, it is not brain surgery. It is, however, dealing with people on a most basic level. And that can be very difficult. I had a hard time even finding a job. And I have tons of waiting experience. So I am not proud of where I work. It is not an easy place. It wears me out. It is a place where families like to go. They run me ragged, which is fine. They do not tip at even a 15% rate, which is not fine. But here is the thing I have noticed the most. People let their children be rude. This stops me cold everytime it happens. And yet it happens nearly everytime I work. And let me say this. When you allow your child to be rude to a server, it speaks volumes on the type of parents you are. I have see families grasp hands and pray at a table, the n let their children demand things from me while spitting food out of their mouths. I have seen families with religious tracts in their hands let their children rudely order from me. I am picking on the religious here a bit because I expect more, I suppose. The other night I had a family of four. (No religious affliation with this family that I could tell) The children, 2 young boys I guessed to be about 6 and 8, would demand things from me, while bits of biscuit and food are flying out of their full mouths! The parents were looking right at them. No one suggested to wait until they finished chewing. The parents simply indulged the children, then looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to step-n-fetch-it, so to speak. I (both as a server and a patron), have watched children run around restaurants, while waitstaff, with large trays of food or hot beverages dodge them left and right. I cannot help wonder what the kids get out of acting like that. What lessons are learned. Are the parents too lazy to parent? Do they expect others to do it for them so they won't be the proverbial bad guy? I truly do not know. I am the mother of 3 children and the step-mother of one grown child. None of my children are perfect. They are lovely, but they have each had their moments. But I swear, if I ever heard them be rude or demanding of a server or hostess or food-runner, they would be jerked out of the restaurant so fast they would not know what happened! I mean it! I live in the deep south now, where people demand their children to say "yes ma'am, and sir and no ma'am and sir." Yet they allow then to speak rudely or pull on my arm, or say "Hey you" to me. It is a puzzlement. It makes me sad. Oddly enough, it seems more prevalent here than on the East Coast. Not sure why. I am aware that most who read my blog wouldn't allow their children to act in such a manner. But I am interested in what can be done. I am just venting a little. But truly, truly, we need to treat people with kindness. Years ago I was waiting tables in Birmingham Alabama. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and I had the patio. A huge group of teenagers came and sat outside in my section. They were awful. TYhey were rude, disrespectful, and just plain nasty. I one point I heard them talking about their church and telling another customer they were all part of a youth group. I casually asked one of the girls where they went to church. She told me, plus filled me in on what they had planned for the afternoon. (some sort of trip to the zoo.) Anyway, the next day, I called that church and asked to speak to the youth minister. I told him about my experience with the kids that represented his church. (I am not going into great detail, but I will say they were messy and obnoxious). I told him that he might want to mention to them that they were not acting in Christ's image. He was very kind and apologetic. But I never heard anything from them. He didn't suggest they come apologize or make amends, that I could tell. But to this day they stand out in my mind for how they acted. I could go on. I waited tables at a diner at Auburn. They way drunk fraternity brother's would act sometimes was nothing short of horrifying. But I digress.....maybe. Maybe not. Maybe if their parents had insisted that they be polite and kind, and to treat people with respect I wouldn't even be writing this right now. Like I said, just some thoughts. Now I gotta go wait tables. I'll letcha know what happens.