Deaf waitress

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kimg3289

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hello everyone, i currently work as a waitress at a high end place in portland maine. last week had a customer call and complain that i was the rudest server he has ever encountered! i love my customers and often get excellent comments, request for my station. no doubt he asked for something as i turned my back. i wear 2 behind the ear aids. we use server cards on the tables, just small cards with the business name and our name. my dining room manager suggested last night that perhaps and extra message on my card would be helpful, like, please be patient with me, i am deaf....any comments, suggestions would be helpful, thank you, kim
 
I guess you could shrug it off.

There are some people who don't fully understand what we're really like and take it the wrong way at times.

I remember years ago when I worked at a local video rental store. A customer called the store. When I answered the phone, she started talking loudly and too fast that I couldn't understand what she was saying. I calmly asked her to slow down and repeat. She immediately yelled, "What are you... deaf or what!?" Of course, I replied... "Yes, ma'am... I am." I could hear a loud "GULP! Sorry..." and she hung up.
 
I had comments like that once awhile after the fact. Usually most people SEEMS to forget I was deaf since I can talk almost normally so they assume I can hear even though I tell them I am deaf.

My advice to kimg3289 is learn to shrug it off and make sure you remind the boss it must be a miscommunication thing. Being in a world of hearing and being on the frontline with 99% hearing customers, you will ALWAYS encounter this and this proves why we all deaf/hoh have to work harder and smarter then our hearing counterparts to keep the job just to prove ourselves.
 
radioman said:
I had comments like that once awhile after the fact. Usually most people SEEMS to forget I was deaf since I can talk almost normally so they assume I can hear even though I tell them I am deaf.

My advice to kimg3289 is learn to shrug it off and make sure you remind the boss it must be a miscommunication thing. Being in a world of hearing and being on the frontline with 99% hearing customers, you will ALWAYS encounter this and this proves why we all deaf/hoh have to work harder and smarter then our hearing counterparts to keep the job just to prove ourselves.
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That's right.

Nothing you do is 100% good. There will always be at least 1% of the people out there that just don't truly understand what's going on or just want to be mean or negative. :(
 
Hello, when I first wore hearing aids I was a waitress in a sportsbar and I do agree people are rude. Unfortunately the time came when I could no longer do the job. Talk on the phone, or even hear it ring. The restaurant managers were awesome and I loved the work and the restaurant. I asked the managers about cooking and I gotta say I LOVED it way more than waitressing. I wasn't nearly as stressed with not being able to hear the customers and of course with it being a sportsbar loud background music. I loved the challenge of waitressing but cooking is sooo much more challenging and I could still go out front and talk with the regulars that I liked(lol) If you are comfortable waitressing then stick with it! I know alot of people joke about being deaf when they don't hear something and I think that when people see us talk they just assume that we are joking. You know what I mean. Especially since hearing devices have become so small alot of people don't notice them and this is not always a good thing for the HOH. I agree with your manager if you put that on your card I am sure it will help and more people will look at you when they talk or point to the menu but you are still going to get the occasional asshole that even the hearing waitresses have to deal with!
 
I get the same thing, 99% of people are fine, for the other 1% my boss backs me up. So it's not a problem and really there is nothing you can do about it.
 
being deaf serve at restaurant is hard

i dont think i would serve because of communicate situtation
 
Next time that customer stop by, please slap hot apple pie to customer's face. :laugh2:

I used to work with hearing customers for 4 years (50 houses per week), trust me some customers will find a way to get money back by telling company that I didn't met the customer satisfaction. All I do is move on. There is nothing I can do, and let my boss take care of it. Some customers are pain-in-the-ass, some are friendly. That is reality, you work with many people everyday, and you can't expect to work with happy customers all the times.
 
I work at a gas station and a customer was asking me something while I was doing paperwork. and shouted "ARE YOU F***ING DEAF?" and I looked up at her and said "Yes ma'am I am." Needless to say she was incredibly embarrassed, I never saw her again :)
 
ladysolitary85 said:
I work at a gas station and a customer was asking me something while I was doing paperwork. and shouted "ARE YOU F***ING DEAF?" and I looked up at her and said "Yes ma'am I am." Needless to say she was incredibly embarrassed, I never saw her again :)
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Your response was done with class, I have to say. Some people don't know how to behave in a civilized manner. It's disgusting.
 
I agree with all post above.

I remember when i work on supermarket and one of old man came to me and shouting me "DANISH BREAD" And i tried to calm customer and asking to write it but still shouting " DANISH BREAD. DANISH BREAD" I refused to help customer and bring dept manager to dealt with him.

He don't care if im deaf.

What a p****!
 
I remember having to do service at VSDB. The idea was that you were like a waiter and you had to get food for the table you were serving. Some deaf were just plain rude.

I always dreaded the look for cake request because it meant I had to ask others at other tables if they wanted to give up their cake. Some got upset if I was unable to come back with cakle. Nobody wanted to give up cake of course. :P

I still remember one irate deaf student who got mad at me because I didn't bring food back to the table and he bawled me out. The reason why I was late was because the food was not ready and it was still baking in the oven and I had to wait for the cook to finish. I swore to myself I would never be a waiter in a restaurant after my experience in service at VSDB.
 
I agree servers seem to take alot of crap. Some people just don't realize how difficult the job is. It takes a very patient, smart, and organized person to be a waitress and they alomost never get the recognition they deserve. I loved it though I thought it was a challenge and we would have like little races and stuff we had so much fun. I miss it alot but I would never be able to try it being profoundly HOH, That is just asking for it!
 
Restaurant workers are the most "unsung" hard workers that I know of...it's bad on ur legs and the stress of dealing with people and the "unruly" kids!....The pay sucks also, and god forbid (in some restaurants) you get sick or need a day off. Sometimes you get fired for that.....as restaurant workers are a "dime a dozen".

I've never been a waitess, but my mother and some of my sisters were. I had a "cushy" job in Advertising.

So I appreciate waitress and give them tips for good service. I've never encountered a deaf waitress, tho'. If I do, ASL then comes into play! That would make my meal more enjoyable...(and I'd probably get "more attention" than the other customers...HAHA)
 
rockin'robin said:
Restaurant workers are the most "unsung" hard workers that I know of...it's bad on ur legs and the stress of dealing with people and the "unruly" kids!....The pay sucks also, and god forbid (in some restaurants) you get sick or need a day off. Sometimes you get fired for that.....as restaurant workers are a "dime a dozen".

I've never been a waitess, but my mother and some of my sisters were. I had a "cushy" job in Advertising.

So I appreciate waitress and give them tips for good service. I've never encountered a deaf waitress, tho'. If I do, ASL then comes into play! That would make my meal more enjoyable...(and I'd probably get "more attention" than the other customers...HAHA)
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Extra tip for deaf waiter? :p
 
next time this douchebag comes back in your resteraunt, give him a nice steaming cup of AIDS. Maybe think twice next time when about complaining about you doing a decent job.
 
dead money said:
next time this douchebag comes back in your resteraunt, give him a nice steaming cup of AIDS. Maybe think twice next time when about complaining about you doing a decent job.
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Sometimes, HIV serious! because inspector check job reason otherwise prevent to HIV risk dangerous!!
 
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