Extremely Rude Hostess at Applebee's

did you tell the manager?

My name is penney i work for applebees on raeford rd in fayetteville
in front of harris teeter.

this was mortifying..........especially if you dont tell the manager
on duty. We train our hostesses to be polite. but again most people do
not tell the manager on duty and quite frankly you cannot fix what is
not broken.

if you did tell the manager and you go again to that same store and
that same hostess is still there.......then you need to go to the
district manager.

look.......complaining here just stops people from going to applebees
but you tell the manager and she is stopped from working at applebees.


I am a good waitress and i love my job.......but my tip is blown by
insensitive hostesses and if a tip suffers because of it and i dont
know why as your server i just assume i did something wrong.

Wow, i cant believe she said that! Who is she to judge people???

Smoking sections are a thing of the past here (Ontario Canada). You
can't smoke in a bar either. Also, you cant smoke on a patio when tow
patio umbrellas touch (its seen as a roof). Enjoy the smoking sections
now while you still can.
Regardless of what the hostess thinks about smoking she shouldn't have
said what she did, or treated you that way either.

Good letter Nick. Please let us know if corporate gets back to you.

As somebody who has watched 7 courageous women (4 survived and 3 died)
battle breast cancer in my immediate family, this letter really has me
infuriated.
This teen has a lot to learn about keeping her thoughts to herself
while working for the public. When she hits the real world, she will
have a rude awakening. Maybe somebody will really slap her, to the
ER.
I hope others brought this situation straight to the immediate
management and had her fired, she deserves it.

Well I am glad Georgia banned smoking in any "family" restaurant. As
someone who works in public safety (EMS), I spend my fair share amount
of time dealing with drug addicts (smokers) and the consequences of
their choice to suck in chemicals and pollute the air around them with
carcinogens and coat everything with urine yellow colored film. Also
having lost my mother to lung cancer last year further makes me
despise this drug addiction which is more deadly and costly than
cocaine, crack and other "illicit" drugs combined. Needless to say...

This hostess was way out of line. Even though I despise smoking, the
tobacco industry, and those who choose to puff around those who don't-
when I'm on the job, I keep my personal feelings, opinions and
comments to myself. And the Applebee's hostess should have done the
same.

She was way, way out of line. You should have spoken with a manager
immediately.

I'm a smoker and I'm fine with banning smoking indoors, at the
discretion of the owner/manager. I'm fine with an establishment being
smoking OR non-smoking. Then it's entirely up to the patrons, as is
the act of smoking itself. Some of my favorite places are non-smoking
and I go there anyway. It's really not a big deal to get through a
meal without lighting up. If it's that difficult, go outside or better
yet, choose a place that does allow smoking. Problem solved. I do
think that city-wide bans on smoking are pretty ridiculous, as well as
bans on sidewalk or park smoking. There should be some places smokers
can actually smoke at, especially outside.

I agree with the letter writer here. I am not a smoker, but I can see
wanting to sit away from the section with all the noisy children.

The letter writer doesn't even mention being a smoker.

What if letter writer chose to sit in the other section and the
hostess said "Screaming Brat section this way"? Either way, the
hostess was very unprofessional.

In Ohio where I live, we just passed a law banning smoking in all
public places, including restaurants. I voted for that law because I
can't stand being around people who smoke.

This is something that needed to be brought to the Managers attention
as soon as it happened, not a couple of months later because its still
fresh in your memory.
Perhaps this woman isnt even working there anymore because of someone
else actually speaking up.

As others have said before me, this was really out of line. I don't
really like smoke or smoking sections, but that doesn't give me the
right to make a 'joke' like that if someone asked to be seated in the
smoking section.

Well good thing you have control, otherwise you would be writing this
letter from jail. If you did not have exquisite control then I would
request you get councelling and stay at home till you do get exquisite
control.

The last couple of comments are getting off the topic here. No matter
how you feel about people smoking in restaurants, if the
establishment's policy is to provide a smoking section for their
diners, the wait staff has no right to belittle the customer for
wishing to sit in the smoking section. If the waitress doesn't like
it, she can seek employment elsewhere. There are plenty of
non-smoking restaurants available for her to work at.

Nick, I'm going to assume you were being facetious when you alluded to
wanting to slap her across the face. As a smoker, I know the
frustration all too well. Non-smokers need to allow some tolerance
for smokers. I work for a major University, and while I don't have a
problem with them prohibiting me from smoking indoors, I do have a
problem with their latest proposal: Banning smoking on campus
altogether, including outside areas. Someone needs to explain to me
how me smoking a cig in the middle of a parking lot is going to affect
anyone's health, other than my own.

Ok, sorry, now I got off topic.

Really.. there aren't such things as smoking and non smoking sections.
The smoke just drifts over to the other section anyways. I'm glad they
banned smoking in most restaurants too. Its fine and dandy if you want
to hurt yourself slowly.. but don't expect me to do the same thing.
Also, if you waited a few months to think about writing this, it must
not have been THAT important to you.

I think smoking is the most disqusting thing a person can do to their
body, but this is a free country and people who want to smoke should
be allowed to smoke.

I also believe that those that don't smoke should'nt have to breathe
in the second hand smoke of the smokers. Unfortunately, it is
diffficult to balance the rights of both.

Just my opinion, please don't call me a racist or a pig, but if you
cannot make it through dinner without a cigarette, you might have a
problem with addiction. Smoke, enter the restaraunt, enjoy a meal,
pay, go back outside and resume smoking, just don't do it in the
doorway.

FYI - Not everyone who has lung cancer got it from cigarettes! My
grandfather died from Lung Cancer and he was not a smoker, very
difficult to watch him wither away.

If I were a cancer patient and the waitress said that to me, I'll sock
her in the face.

Wow! I would have been really taken aback.

My teen-aged son is a survivor of cancer and had this waitress made
her comment to us there would have been an immediate negative vocal
reaction from me.

Cancer is NOT a joking matter in any way, shape or form IMHO.

I think that is hysterical.





BTW, having smoking/no smoking sections in a restaurant is like having
pee/no peeing sections in a pool.

If this happened the way it sounds, I would have done what the person
below said. First inform the manager, then take my business
elsewhere. The only thing worse than obnoxious diners nearby is
obnoxious staff. She may have thought she was being cute, but IMO
that type of cute doesn't belong in that position.

I had a black/white opinion on smoking when I was a teenager, but I
would not have let my feelings be known to strangers where I worked.

Of course the obvious questions are why two months delay and what do
you hope to gain at this point, in addition to the usual did you speak
with the manager.

That was really uncalled for and you should have said something to the
management right then and there.

Maybe you can go back and give her some of these alternatives:

Emphezema Section

Ashtray Breath Section

Smelly Clothes Section

Leather Skin Section

Stained Teeth Section

Sometimes, employees of businesses will attempt to be friendly with a
customer and joke. Unfortunately, since the OP doesn't know the
hostess personally, it is possible that he may have misinterpreted her
attempt at levity to be rudeness.

Just playing devil's advocate here. It is really difficult to know
for certain what a person whom we do not know really intends by a
certain demeanor.

She was totally out of line. I would have called a Manager
immediately. As another member stated, she doesn't have to work there
if smoking offends her so much.
I have never smoked a cigarette in my life, but as long as people
keep their smoke away from me, I think they have a right to it.
The waitress needs a big attitude adjustment. I doubt she will get it
because you waited months to write this letter. You could not have
been too upset. If I were the recipient of this letter, I would not be
overly concerned because of the time lapse. Next time you are upset,
have a sense of urgency.

I probably WOULD have slapped her, but I'm a woman so I guess it would
be okay. Is there a reason that a woman can retaliate for such
rudeness from another woman, but a man can't? Call me sexist, but if
the bitch deserved it, the back of a hand doesn't have a gender.

LOL< Nick, you're a weanie. Next time, stop and say 'no thanks, I'll
go to (insert name of nearest competitor) but first I want to commend
you to your manager for making me a loyal customer of (competitor).'
After making it clear to the manager what happened, leave.

I think you're the offensive one for wanting to hit a woman.

You're disgusting.

As a child who was most likely born with a very low weight due to
tobacco use (amoung other things), I have every right to belittle
smokers, but if they're not blowing in my face (and they aren't,
thanks to Canada's laws against smoking inside), I don't care.

Why didn't you speak to a manager? Why did you wait "a few months" to
complain indirectly? Also, if you have the urge to slap a woman, might
I suggest a little anger management?

Nick W.,
Assuminmg you are a guy what you said about wanting to smack her says
volumes.
That being said, of course she should not have said what she did. Bad
choice of words and maybe an attempt at acting silly. No excuse.
A few months after the fact the trail will be absolutley cold. Your
letter will fall on deaf years with no date, time or names of
associates to
corroborate your story.
Next time something happens scout out the manager and share your issue
on the spot.
BillR.

exquisite
adjective 1. of special beauty or charm, or rare and appealing
excellence, as a face, a flower, coloring, music, or poetry.

If it was in North Carolina, you think they would have given you a
pack of smokes.

I agree with Tracy.

If a restaurant offers a smoking section, then that's their policy. If
the hostess doesn't like it, she's free to seek employment elsewhere.

Next time, though, talk to a manager. Now that a few months have gone
by, I doubt this letter will do much good.

That is disgusting. And the sad part is, the 'anti-smoking' crowd here
will probably come around and defend her.

I would have asked for a manager IMMEDIATELY, though. And why wait so
long to complain about it?

Good luck. Let us know if they respond.