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Restaurant servers read academic studies of customer behavior with the enthusiasm of graduate students (which, of course, they often are.) That's because we're always eager to adopt a new technique that's guaranteed to produce bigger tips, whether it's putting a flower in our hair or using our guests' names.
But a new study out of three universities in the U.S. and Canada is unlikely to provoke much response from even the most scientifically-minded servers. According to the research, restaurant goers who are monitoring their waistlines will order more food from fat waitresses. The study suggests the best way to up a check total – and accompanying tip – is to put on weight.
Experts speculate a hefty server can help dieters feel better about their own extra pounds. But the effect apparently doesn't extend to non-dieters, who ordered less food when their server was wrapped in a fat suit. That makes sense to me, since it's hard to enjoy a bowl of pasta bathed in alfredo sauce while staring down the inevitable result.
I haven't worked with too many plus-sized servers. The few I've known have struggled mightily to make it through long evenings spent on their feet, and complained about having to squeeze between tables arranged to maximize seating. While all servers sweat, obese servers seem to have a harder time maintaining the clean, fresh scent that guests at high-end restaurants expect. I'm glad to know they're at least receiving better tips for their trouble.
| Yes, but it doesn't make any difference to me. | |
|---|---|
| Yes, and it makes me self-conscious about what I order. | |
| Never. Who has time to worry about the size of their server? |
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5-04-2010 @2:38PM Melissa said... "While all servers sweat, obese servers seem to have a harder time maintaining the clean, fresh scent that guests at high-end restaurants expect."
Jeez, Ms. Raskin, between this posting and your earlier post about people who split servings, you sound like one of the meanest people on the planet!
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5-04-2010 @2:59PM Gary said... Thats cause apparently, she is!
5-04-2010 @3:03PM Leigh said... Hanna, please tell me your snark is intentionally meant as irony or wit, because you come off as one of the most insensitive, rude, thoughtless people I care never to meet.
I mean, this has to be some form of "satire," right? Why else would your posts get shorter and meaner in this series and you never reply to comments? You've bashed pretty much every stereotype out there, without playing the race card, which I can only assume is verboten.
Your approach and intent has confounded and irritated me for months. Fess up, will ya?
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5-04-2010 @3:06PM Ann said... "That makes sense to me, since it's hard to enjoy a bowl of pasta bathed in alfredo sauce while staring down the inevitable result. "
This column is a part of a school of thought that larger people are like a whole 'nother species, or in this case, a whole different class of server. Like they're on display as exemplars of bad behavior or recklessness. I knew I would be annoyed when I saw the title of the post, and here we are.
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5-04-2010 @7:42PM Greyhoundgrrl said... If you are half as rude in person as you come off in these posts, it's a wonder you ever get any tips at all.
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5-04-2010 @9:18PM Julie said... This will be my last reading of anything published my Hanna Raskin. You, Hanna sound like a horrid person and one whose opinions I no longer care to read.
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5-04-2010 @10:41PM Bean Reel said... Wow. Another low this week.
I have never once allowed the size of a server to influence my dining choices. You simply aren't that important to me.
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5-05-2010 @6:41AM Cameron said... it is for diners at restaurants, not Taco Bell.
5-05-2010 @2:36AM Samme said... I think your study is completely wrong. I doubt it controls for the possibility that the 'plus size' servers are also very personable people who make well-considered suggestions from the menu and work hard for their tips? Maybe, just maybe attitude counts more than appearance when it comes to ordering out.
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5-07-2010 @12:58AM indiandairy said... good job......
http://www.indiandairy.co.in
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5-05-2010 @9:42AM Sherry said... I just wished people would just quit sterotyping people. If their fat, thin, short, tall, or whatever. No one is perfect, and just except people for what's good in them, and maybe just maybe the world would be a better place. Enough said!
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5-06-2010 @10:31AM Rob S said... Excuse me but I'm rather surprised at the reaction this article is getting. Where is meanness and snark that you are referring to? Raskin describes a study (a study that she clearly had no part in conducting), and then describes some observations made about the study. These were not her opinions but those of "experts" (some links might help here Raskin).
When she addresses her opinion, it is to say that she thinks the study's results, which were raw data gathered through observation, not a collection of fat jokes, she states that she can understand non-dieters looking at pasta covered with cream sauce and making a spurious connection between the weight of their server. She then describes her direct (albeit anecdotal) observations of overweight servers in her industry. Keep in mind, her profession is the topic of this column so she has some slight authority here with which to discuss it.
And what she described is very much in line with the symptoms of people who are overweight; they are more prone to being winded, having foot problems, and not being able to stand for long periods of time. They also tend to sweat more because fat is insulating and raises your body temp. These aren't stereotypes, just probable medical consequences of high body weight. A stereotype would be assuming your overweight server is jolly and personable simply because she is fat.
You're being too sensitive. Being fat doesn't get you special protection from being described in an article discussing the topic of overweight servers. I'm over 250 and was well over the 320 mark some years ago until I started to exercise a few times a week and eat less/more healthy food. If you're offended by anything in this article, take a look and try to figure out why. People aren't born fat. They could choose to not be, or at least be healthier. It's just a lot more work then complaining on a blog commentary.
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