Today is National Be Mean to Restaurant Workers Day.

Why else would anyone send four, count 'em, four buses of students from Burke County Schools to the Golden Corral in Hickory ? Were there not any GC in Burke County? Or did the school administrator call up the Golden Corral manager in Burke County, like "Hey man, we would like to bring 80 high school shop class students to your restaurant next week--hello? Hello?" So, they decided to sneak into the one in Hickory unannounced.

This is an added problem for the waitresses who are trying to settle and satisfy Miss Molly's 32 pre-school students who are here for a field trip and just love the tongs that snap when they try to get a potato. Did I mention that they also found that if you abruptly pull your lips off the straw chocolate milk will spatter your friend across the table?

The area where the high-schoolers decide to prop is filled with a study in human regression. One short, rather stocky boy literally had to hold his baggy pants with one hand and his plate with the other. Is it wrong to hope that he trips and falls into his plate so he will learn to wear clothes that fit? Didn't think so.

Apparently, it is now acceptable to come to shop class for field trip day in your pajamas too. Without combing your hair. Or brushing your teeth. What happened to the days when students were representatives not only of their schools, but also of their parents? Many was the time that Dad made me go back into the house and change into something more decent. "You look like a stuffed sausage!" or "Go wash that crap off your face right now, young lady!"

Though I hated it at the time, I now realize that he did, indeed, see me as a 'young lady' and he wanted the rest of the world to see me that way.

Are parents so busy now that they don't even know what their kids look like when they go out the door? Or are they so out of control that the kids just flip them the bird as they walk out the door?

How the waitresses still manage to smile knowing that these teens are not going to leave a tip, but they are going to leave a huge mess complete with lemon wedges squeezed into the salt shakers, is beyond me. I'd be hustling them all to the door.

I guess the saddest part of it all was watching Miss Molly's children. She held up a finger and the little ones lined up in a neat row. As she went along the dessert case the children would quietly point to the dessert  they wanted. They marched back to their assigned tables in a straight row, seeming to take pride in the smile Miss Molly bestowed on them. The little tykes were neat. Their hair was combed and their clothes fit. And
they were happy, unlike the sullen faces of the teenagers.

Perhaps, and this is just me, if the teens had clothes that fit, that didn't fall off or accenuate muffin tops and cleavage, maybe they would be more comfortable. Maybe they would feel more confident. Maybe they would smile and perhaps even be polite. They may even leave a tip for the poor waitress on this day...

National Be Mean to Restaurant Workers Day.


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