Woman Tells Co-Worker Why Customers Don’t Like Her to Help Improve Her Tips, Gets Unexpected Response
The woman says the co-worker chats with customers even when 'it's kind of obvious' that they don't want to talk
The woman says the co-worker chats with customers even when 'it's kind of obvious' that they don't want to talk Olga Pankova/Getty Two women talking (stock image):max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Two-women-sitting-in-armchairs-122724-tout-e07807a686d045e0be76109884fcc79b.jpg "Two women sitting in armchairs and talking.")
A woman told a co-worker a harsh truth — and she’s now wondering if honesty isn’t always the best policy.
One waitress recently took to the popular Reddit forum “Am I the A------’ to detail the situation, explaining that she’s a server in a restaurant and that the co-worker in question joined the restaurant staff a couple of months back.
The Redditor shared that the co-worker — who she says recently relocated from Georgia for college — lays on the “southern charm” to customers.
“She calls everyone ‘honey’ and ‘sweetie’ and all of that,” the woman wrote, adding that the co-worker chats with customers even when it’s “kind of obvious” that a customer isn’t in the mood to talk. The Reddit user says that restaurant management has even spoken to her colleague about this on multiple occasions. Maria Korneeva/Getty Waitress (stock image)
When the co-worker apparently came to the original poster (OP) for advice. The OP says her co-worker complained that she’s “not getting as many tips as the other servers,” and that she even thinks customers “think she’s stupid” because of her Southern accent.
“I said it’s because she takes so long to bring things out and wastes time trying to make small talk,” the OP shared. “I also said that the excessive pet names sound kind of condescending, and they aren’t really something you would call a stranger here.”
However, according to the Redditor, the co-worker did not take this information particularly well.
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
“She told me that she wasn’t going to start being rude to customers because she would make even less money,” the woman shared. “I told her it’s not being rude, it’s just how things work here, and it’s rude to other customers she’s supposed to be serving when she spends all her time trying to make small talk instead of doing her job and calling them weird things.” Kobus Louw/Getty Waitress (stock image)
“Now she’s mad and has been avoiding me,” the Reddit user concluded. She then asked others on the forum if she should have been “gentler” with her approach to her co-worker.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Reddit users were largely in agreement that the woman didn’t do anything wrong by sharing her honest opinion on the situation when asked.
“NTA [not the a------],” wrote one commenter. “Bit of a culture clash going on here. You've tried to help her fit in better with the locals and your boss has done the same. But she isn't listening to either of you.”
“Read the room,” wrote another. “And major differences between the Southeast and elsewhere for this. [She] needs to adapt instead of expecting her customers to adapt. NTA and her problem if she can't take the constructive criticism she asked for.”
