Frasch Ideas—Examine, Inquire, Explore

I read the other day about how smart CEO’s watch the way other people treat waiters to determine character. In my teen years my parents owned a restaurant, so I started bussing and waiting on tables at an early age.  I have to say I agree that the behavior of a person in a restaurant can reveal just about everything you might want to know about their character.

Unguarded behavior says more about you than those moments when you think you’re “on.” If you want to know the real character of someone take them out to dinner. It’s a great way to get a read on how someone sees their status and how they treat people whom they regard as their “lessers.”

After my parents divorced my mom turned to waitressing to support us (five kids). We learned to respect every restaurant worker through my mom. As we grew older my brother, sister and I all took our turns working at Alphy’s with mom. There we experienced first hand the differences in how people treat the help. We learned the importance of treating waitstaff with respect and courtesy, and how important a good tip was.

I think this rule of thumb applies to how people treat hotel staff, people at a help desk, and clerks in a store. It makes me feel good when I make someone else feel good. I make sure I thank whoever I am dealing with for the help they have given me.

I thought this was interesting, too:

“CEOs aren’t the only ones who have discovered the Waiter Rule. A November survey of 2,500 by It’s Just Lunch, a dating service for professionals, found that being rude to waiters ranks No. 1 as the worst in dining etiquette, at 52%, way ahead of blowing your nose at the table, at 35%.”

“A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person.”

Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson

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