Set of suggestions in place to keep restaurant customers online
By Jamal Al-Bayaa, Staff Writer.
In a press conference on March 22, Ledcor executives announced the release of their new “Server Relations and Etiquette Guide,” a manifesto on what to do and not to do in a restaurant.
The new guidelines aim to effectively educate all Ledcor employees on how to properly interact with servers while at a restaurant.
“Although it is mainly for the use of business meetings and company dinners,” Vice-President Jim Logan said, “we implore our employees to internalize these ideals and bring them into their personal lives as well.”
The guidelines, some speculate, are a reaction to the Dwight Brissette case that finalized a few days ago. In the case, a BC Supreme Court ruling against Mr. Brissette in his claim that he wasn’t legally accountable for touching Katrina Coley’s backside and calling her “Kitty-Kat,” due to the fact that he was drunk.
“Haven’t you seen those Snickers commercials—the ‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry’ campaigns? Yeah… well that’s me,” he said, “I’m not me when I’m drunk!”
It is likely that the guidelines are a part of Ledcor’s attempts to regain some of their lost image after the incident, but nevertheless, it contains some insightful tips on being a decent person that many in the company may not have heard before.
Item #7 on the list states: “Do not bring a bell and ring it every time you want coffee. That may be acceptable at home or in the office, but restaurants are public places and you can’t do that there.”
Item #12 states that employees of Ledcor are never to compliment their servers in a way that they wouldn’t compliment Paul McElligott, Ledcor’s president of resources and transportation. He is described to be a gruff, half-bald white man who gives his wife a stern look when she says “I love you.”
In the guidelines, it says specifically that “Mr. McElligott only talks about efficiency, performance, and occasionally a new haircut if it catches him by surprise. In restaurant dealings, Ledcor employees will be expected to operate under the same principle.”
While the suggestions are teeming with restrictions such as: “Do not sing to your server unless you’re familiar with Disney musicals,” and “Under no circumstances should any Ledcor employee spray a server with perfume on account of her being sweaty from work”, a few positive suggestions have also been incorporated. “Smile” “Say thank you” and “Tip well” are all included in the memo, with a big smiley face next to each one of them. Along with “Tip well” was a note on why that’s important.
It reads: “Although tipping is a cruel system for servers, and they should really be given pay raises to $11.85 instead of just tips, it is not acceptable to neglect to tip as a way to show support for their cause.
More productive forms of encouragement are speaking to MLA’s in the area, many of whom Ledcor already has working relationships with.”
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair expressed his open approval of the guidelines the following Thursday, saying that they were a good first step for all companies to implement if they’re serious about having morally centered, good-hearted employees.
He tweeted: “Justin Trudeau proves time and time again that he isn’t focusing on the issues that matter most to Canadians. While servers experience this kind of pain, he is focusing on racking up a deficit and burdening tomorrow’s youth with it. #NDP #Elections2019”
