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The customer is not always right, or, How to treat service workers fairly Alexis Arnone THE MIX EDITOR Working through college is hafd. Sometimes, it flat out sucks. Especially in the service industry, which is where students are most likely to find work. For those of you who are blessed with very giving parents or relatives or perhaps have a money growing tree in your backyard, you still have a job to do. You’re now under pressure to be the best customer you can be. Please. When you’re out in public and you decide to stop at a restaurant to grab a bite to eat, your attitude should brighten the moment you walk in the 'door. When the host/hostess greets you, it is impolite to cut him/her off with “Two, non-smoking,” when you were simply asked, “Hey! How are you guys doing today?” Let hosts/hoste-sses do their little spiel whether you know what you want or not; it strokes their egos. And, they’re getting paid to do it. When you arrive at the table and your server comes up to take care of you, let him. Let servers cater to you — it’s their job; they live for it. A few other things to remember when eating at a restaurant: Waiters normally have no control over the timing of the food once they have submitted your order. If it comes out wrong, remember that servers are human, too. Accept their humble apology, let them fix it and move on with your life. Don’t let it out on the poor servers by screaming obscenities and calling them incompetent. Without going into too much detail, generally a good tip is now 20 to 25 percent. And, unless your server was rude and obviously sabotaged your meal, tip well. This job is their means of income. If you can’t tip well, don’t go out to eat. End of story. In other service industries there are traps customers always fall into. Never call up a business and ask, “Are you.guys open?” when a real human voice answers the phone. You may get the witty response, “No, we’re closed. They’re just paying me to answer the phone and tell people.” Even if you have to make up some random question or hang up, it’s better than “Are you guys open?” If you’re calling up a movie theatre and don’t know what’s playing, it is safe to ask specific questions, like “What time is ‘Doogal’ playing?” rather than “What movies do y’all have?” Also, when being a good customer, it’s nice to remember that the employees of the movie theatres have no control over the high ticket and concession prices. Don’t complain to them when you paid $7.50 for your Twizzlers and small Diet Cherry Coke. If you want the snack, you’ll pay the money. If you’re still upset, now would be a good time to write your congressman a letter to get him to lower the prices. For all the poor retail folks out there, we’re going to try to make their lives easier. When entering a store, look around for what you want first before asking “Where are the red shirts?” because chances are they’re directly behind you. If the salesperson tells you that they’re out of something, and they have double-checked, believe them. It’s not a conspiracy ^ theory; they are more than ^ likely really out of the item. This is not to say that you should never ask for help, because that’s what employees are there for! Just make sure you ask intelligent questions like what the specials of a restaurant are, or how long the running time of a movie is. You’ll decrease your own stress level by eliminating those nasty responses and deer-in-headlights looks, and you’ll also allow the a employees a great deal of ^ satisfaction knowing you’re an excellent consumer. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu PARROT • conTinuEDFRomi maracas for one song when Buffetuand his band, The Coral Reefer Band, played in Columbia. The band played an original song about Bowen, called “Stan the Man,” as well. The presence of the parrotheads gave the subcommittee meeting a more festive mood, than . is typical. Among those lobbying for the parrotheads were on a bespectacled mother-daughter team who talked about paying over $100 to see Buffett. Bowen told them he didn’t want to pay that much and said he had a feeling Buffett would come through Columbia. Another parrothead at the meeting was a quiet man with long white hair, a large beard and a red Hawaiian shirt. Many representatives couldn’t resist the party atmosphere either, telling the man in the Hawaiian shirt that they wished they could dress like that. One particularly rosie cheeked congressman was patting reporters he’d never met on the back and enjoying jolly belly laughs as he talked with other statesmen. Perry wore a blue bow tie with spots of different colors. After presenting the bill, Perry joked about making margaritas for his next subcommittee meeting on workers’ compensation. The parrothead bill passed unanimously and will go to full committee. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc. edu 1 HELLO • COnTinUEDFROim WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL? I really love dogs, but I also really love tigers and elephants. Labs are my favorite dogs. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE use? I was offered a research position here as an incoming freshman. IF YOU COULD MEET ANY AUTHOR DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD IT BE? Lord Byron, because I love foreign accents and he was pretty cool. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CLASS? The psychology of judgement and decision making because it’s a small class, and I feel like I’m getting a lot more individual attention. IF YOU COULD BE A SUPERHERO, WHAT WOULD YOUR NAME BE, AND WHAT POWERS WOULD YOU HAVE? I would be Brisite and I would have teleporpathesis. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE FOR SPRING BREAK, WHERE WOULD IT BE AND WHY? I think I would just go to some quiet place in the mountains and just relax. WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? Being left alone, because I’m scared of myself... gahhh. WHAT DO YOU WANT birthday was on the same EVERYONE WHO’S day as the nuclear meltdown READING THIS TO KNOW in chemobyl. ABOUT YOU? - rr „ . T . — Jaren Hayes One day 1 want to date a guy J that wears eye liner and my Solutions * I « I Rutledge Chapel 5pm Today Everyone is welcome to attend B University Committees ||l Have a safe HH Spring U Break U 777-2554 • stgov@gwra.sc.edu