Just that little extra

I got around to seeing the movie 'Waiting' over the weekend... My short take on that movie is that it managed to hit on a lot of universal server experiences without being all that funny. As a matter of fact, I kind of wanted to title this blog 'Waiting... for laughs!'. I was hoping for something that would be like an 'Office Space' for servers, or at least sort of an exposé on uncool things that customers do. That's what I really wanted: an extended PSA on how much people suck. They did throw in a scene that every server has at least fantisized about where a server chases down a rude customer and gives him back his crappy tip and says 'aparently you need this more than I do'. In the movie the customer complains and ends up getting a bunch of free stuff from the manager, which is exactly what would happen in real life, and the server gets a verbal reprimand, which I'd say is not the extent of what would have happened to him in real life.

There's another scene in the movie where the manager gives his servers this trite 'go-get-em ' speech at the beginning of the shift ("The difference between 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary'... is just that little extra!") . So yesterday was my first day back on the job after having seen the movie, and right before I clock in, my manager Matt unintentionally hits me with a little 'life imitating art imitating life': "How ya doin', buddy. Great. It's a great day. It's all about attitude. I'm passionate about attitude. You know what my one-word definition of 'attitude' is? Life.' I don't remember any of what he said after this because every bit of my conscious thought went into supressing the urge to start laughing.