My Dear Sir,
To the anorexic man in the short sleeve shirt (accentuating the bones in your upper arms), who walked away before taking my order, then came back and watched and played with the key-ring on your bony hip instead of looking me in the eye at lunch yesterday:
Oh never mind. I think you get my point.
Watch what kind of impression your staff is making.
Carefully.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
P.S. The table you sat us at was dirty.
If you enjoyed this post, please Subscribe (it's free!) 
Comment 
Share
Trackback 
15 May 2009, 5:48 am
Doesn’t he like the food enough at the restaurant? Not a good message to send, eh?
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post…How Your Style Affects Your Dreams
15 May 2009, 6:43 am
Alex,
Did you ever see the old Rankin Bass Christmas special Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Mrs. Claus keeps looking at skinny pre-Christmas Santa and telling him, “Eat, Papa, EAT!”
I swear that’s all I could think of. Somebody tell him to EAT!
(back on planet Earth…) Yes. It was a terrible advertisement. Luckily I already like the place, but even so I found it tough to deal with. His people “skills” made it a lot worse.
A long sleeve shirt and looking folks in the eye would have gone a long, long way.
Ah, well, another idea for MCE hiding in it!
Regards,
Kelly
15 May 2009, 7:56 am
@Kelly
That part of the cartoon always bothered me.
If you check the dates they show on the calendar in Sanata’s workshop, it’s like December 23 or something. Santa is skinny. Mama tells him to “EAT, Papa, EAT!” By December 24th, he’s a huge fat-ass again.
Just WHAT was she feeding him?
Friar’s last blog post…Fifteen examples of why we have things WAY too easy.
15 May 2009, 8:11 am
Friar,
I don’t know, but I think I’ve eaten it once or twice, too.
Not yesterday, though!
Until later,
Kelly
15 May 2009, 9:04 am
Ugh, I have a feeling I’m eating whatever it is that Mrs Claus is feeding Santa. Restaurant lunch today, 40th Birthday dinner tonight, another 40th tomorrow night… A six day holiday and I’m likely to end up with a figure like Santa on the 24th!
I actually asked a waiter once to “Please look me in the eyes when you’re talking to me” He was looking everywhere but… Been in cafe’s where you can see that waiters and waitresses are just waiting for thier shift to end. Then I go to a restaurant where the waiter (ok, he was the owner) couldn’t do enough for us.
Anorexic huh, that’s an interesting first impression for a restaurant!
Melinda’s last blog post…Value Based Coaching Fees? Thinking Out Loud
15 May 2009, 9:25 am
Kelly, this sounds like an anti-customer experience!Ick! Train employees, engage them in your vision, monitor compliance, train early to avoid issues, and align incentives with desired behavior. You will have happy employees and happy customers.
Karen Swim’s last blog post…Writing 911
15 May 2009, 3:14 pm
Melinda,
If you want to get right back to that pre-Christmas weight, I know where there’s a waiter who can help you out.
When you asked the guy to look at you, did he respond positively (“oops, sorry, distracted today”), or was that the cue for him to start being surly?
I was with a friend and wouldn’t have made waves yesterday, but there have been times… and I’ve seen it go both ways. If you’re lucky it brings humanity back to the interaction.
Karen,
Goodness yes. Like I said—it’s a place I already like for a dozen reasons, but their inconsistent staff is NOT one of them. One day they’re fab and I think they’re finally getting it; the next time, anorexic people-phobic server. That’s a sure sign that it’s not a Customer Experience oriented policy, but seat-of-the-pants, guiding their hiring and training. Ugh!
Until later,
Kelly