About a year ago my wife got mad at me for embarrassing her at a restaurant.
I had just taken a bite of salad and the waiter dude walked and and asked if everything is alright.
I held up an index finger (meaning wait a minute) as I finished chewing, then said : "everything was fine until I was interrupted in the middle of eating by a stupid question".
He apologized as if it had never occurred to him that he was doing anything wrong.
I explained he doesn't need to be sorry, he just needs to take a look to see if a customer is eating before asking them a question because they really don't like that.
If the customer is eating, don't ask them anything. Just tell them how they can let you know if they need anything and then walk away. I said it without sarcasm or attitude, more of a fatherly way as if I cared and wanted to teach him something that would be helpful.
He was cool with it and I left him a very decent tip afterward.
Oh I'm sure he thought I was an A-hole, big deal.
He learned and if that was what it took to get the message across, who cares?
See here's the deal:
if there are enough people like me out there that are willing to deal with an uncomfortable situation, the rest of you won't have to.
Oh sure, we could remain quiet and just stiff them on the tip, but that would be kind of cowardly IMO.
We'll speak up so they'll learn and provide better service. Not only are we helping you, we're helping the waiters.
Same goes with the cable guy, the door to door solicitor, the pushy guy at the car dealer, etc.
You're welcome
