Ive known this guy for probably like a year, hes a guest of a member. He cant even come in here by himself but that doesnt stop him from asking for free drinks.

Today im on the patio 5 feet from the bar resetting some furniture we moved for an event about an hour prior, hes watching me waiting for me to turn. His girlfriend tells him to stop but he proceeds to lean over the bar, put his cup under the tap, and pour.

Dummy picked the wrong tap that had a stopper in it and sprayed beer all over the place. I heard the commotion and came back in, he claims he spilled his drink and she says the same. They leave shortly after I start cleaning, but the spray is everywhere, no way he just spilled, claimed he "spit" but its like 360 degrees.

I check the camera and see exactly what he did, theyre still on property so I go out and confront them, tell them its on camera and i know they lied about it and they have to leave. They leave then he comes back in alone to argue with me about it saying "i wasnt getting a drink i was just squirting it!" Whatever the hell that means. I had to tell him to leave 10+ times before he did. Whole times hes stressing "its not that serious"

It's something like this every week here, our drinks are free they just have a limit, and people still try to steal more.

I get this 4 top, 2 sets of older couples, and the server card indicates there’s a birthday. Everything’s going mostly alright, the wives had something to say about their food but the husbands are being jovial. When I clear their entree plates, I ring in a birthday dessert. Put a candle on there, yada yada.

I leave to go do something on the POS, husband approaches me and says he told the host he wanted a different Bday dessert instead of our standard one (“But I guess the host didn’t tell you…”). I give him a quick “Yeah alright I’ll get that started for you”.

While that’s working, the husband approaches the hostess he talked to in order to berate her. She’s on the phone but he starts yelling at our manager. And then a supervisor tries to offer him a free meal card and he throws it on the floor and says he’s not spending any more money here.

They were fine with me, I even gave them a third free Bday dessert while all this was going on. But yeah, old man irrationally angry at a 19 year old for causing one dessert to come out before another.

I work at a comedy club and we have prepaid food and drink packages. This couples package has 2 drinks each on it, she orders two Hennessy lemon drops (that itself should be illegal) and decides to make them doubles for 5 dollars extra each.

At last call she asks me for a double Henny shot which is extra because they used their drink tickets. I charge her card and after giving back the check she complains it’s rang in as a double Henny not a single plus 5 bucks. I explain I can’t do that because she used her tickets so I charged her a double and they are the same price.

After the show she complains to my manager for over 10 minutes about how I misled her and she made him reserve the order and charge her the way she wanted. It’s the same price down to the penny, a single plus 5 is the exact same price as a double.

People are insane.

A guy ordered a vegan pizza to-go, seemed chill just ordered, waited on his phone, said thank you etc and left. He called screaming down the phone that there was sausage on his pizza.. I honestly thought it was a joke, i laughed a little before he got crazy aggressive “do you think i’m laughing, i’m coming down there with a hammer and we’ll see who’s laughing” I hung up the phone and let my manager know. I didn’t even have time to offer him a remake or even time to apologise because he was breaking my eardrum (i’m not paid enough to deal with that)

Not even 5 minutes later he runs in, swinging a hammer, I pressed the silent alarm and let the police deal with it.

I get being upset because your order was wrong but really? I don’t feel bad about calling the police because he obviously has major problems, imagine if something worse happened him in his day to day life like someone beeped at him in traffic, would he yield a hammer around and get aggressive? Be gone Vegan Man

I was about a month into working as a server when I experienced this and I sometimes still think about it. So it had been a super busy night, I was just recovering from a rush and bussing a whole bunch of tables. I got told that I had a group of four waiting to order. They were young adults (maybe late teens, early twenties), diverse, two men and two women and each attractive in their own way. After taking their order, I reiterated it back to them in my usual chirpy way that I was to customers. (Back then I was very high energy with all my tables. I loved meeting and talking to new people, I didn’t care that I had braces with rubber bands on and glasses, I just gave them the biggest smiles.)

They confirmed the orders and I went on my way. I wasn’t even that far away when I suddenly heard loud laughter. There was some words I couldn’t make out but I heard a fragment of “-and the hair!” amongst the laughter. I had this terrible gut feeling that they were making fun of me but I just couldn’t understand why they would be doing that. I put in their order and prepared for their table all the whilst dreading going back to their table. When the kitchen rang for their order I was so tempted to ask someone else if they could deliver the food to them, but I told myself that I had nothing to be afraid of, that God didn’t give me a spirit of fear. They were cordial when I gave them their food. The restaurant had cleared out a lot since we were pretty close to closing, there was only a couple other tables. Even above the music, we could hear their loud conversations about kpop, especially one dude’s voice. I could hear his opinions from literally across the restaurant.

I did still keep an eye on the table while doing side work, ensuring that their water pitcher was filled and just seeing if they needed anything. one of the men kept glancing at me so I went back to the table and asked if they needed anything. Literal crickets. None of them even responded and one lady just gave me an awkward smile so I left. At that point I was just so done with them. I left them alone until one guy came to ask for the check. I went back to their table to give them the receipt and was bussing tables when I heard laughter and someone saying “damnn.”

After a while they filed out of the restaurant, and just as I suspected they had left no tip. They even wrote $0.00 where the tip was supposed to go. That event haunted me for the like 48 hours. I couldn’t think straight or prepare right for the final exam I had the next day. It just completely baffled me how they had made me feel so shitty AND made it a point that they tipped me nothing. What’s messed up was that I kept on wondering if I had done something weird, if I had offended them in some way. Why would they treat me like that otherwise? I started analyzing my appearance, maybe I look like a stereotypical nerd but I need braces and my eyes were drying up from contacts so I resorted back to glasses. My hair was probably not looking the best because it had just been a crazy rush and I had barely survived it. Had my appearance been that offensive to them? I couldn’t make sense of their behavior no matter how much I thought about it and I highkey drove myself crazy and was completely distracted from studying for a final. It’s sad to think about but I’ve begun to think that some people are just cruel, no matter if they’re younger or older, attractive or not. Maybe they wanted to demean somebody , like they felt like they had the power to do that, which honestly makes me sick to think… now I’m just so guarded with all the customers. I only let it down a little bit with regulars.

Edit: thank you all so much for your empathy, insight, perspective, wisdom, encouragement and advice. Your comments have provided a learning moment for me and an opportunity for growth. This has really been the closure that I needed. Thank you guys so much 😭😭😭

I was cleaning tables as requested by costumers. Because out of all tables available, they had to sit by the ones with dirty dishes on them.

I have my system of arranging the dishes in the "tray" to make it more efficient for filling and then cleaning. I say tray because idk what the actual word is in English. The box you collect the dishes in. Please let me know what the actual word is!

Anyway. I'm holding the tray in one hand and filling it with the other. Some guy sneaks up from behind, trying to load a bunch of dishes in the tray. I explain physically and verbally that I'll take it for him, just give me a moment. He continues to get up in my face. I've just picked up a glass and automatically use that hand to make distance from the guy. Of course, some of the drink in the glass spills on the lap of the guy whose table I'm cleaning. I had already had a stressful shift. This didn't help one bit.

I was serving tonight and a woman came in covered in blood asking for a towel. She sat at a table near by and we got her a towel and asked what happened. I work next to a donation drop off center and they have a metal box that shuts close that you put your donations in. Well, she said it slammed shut and cut her fingertip off. She had to open it up and find her fingertip. We got her ice and a ziplock bag and another coworker wrapped her finger before her son picked her up to go to the ER. It’s several hours later and I can’t stop thinking about her. I hope she’s okay, she must have been running on pure adrenaline. Fingers crossed that they’re able to attach it back (pun unintended). Luckily it was about an hour before closing so we weren’t really busy and could help her.

I lost my job today (or I guess yesterday since it’s 1 AM now). I served a sushi bar party of 5 dudes and their order didn’t go through the ticket system on Toast. Totally my fault for not noticing for 20 minutes that the order didn’t go through. However, how these guys reacted by taking it out on the sushi chef and management instead of me was not okay. I was the one who fucked up, not my manager and not our sushi chef. Then they split their check 9 ways…between 5 of them.

Anywho, I just feel so guilty that I let management down and that them and our chefs got a verbal beating for my fuckup. I deserved to get fired. I guess I’m just venting for being a shitty employee.

Does this seem suspicious? Most of the reviews are positive and every positive review includes a nice shoutout to the employee.

A customer came in and ordered for to go. He ordered one of our most popular items but wanted to take a certain topping off, scallions, which is no problem. I live in the Midwest, and I feel like this might be important context because we do tend to make small talk with anyone and anywhere. So, he does. As I’m putting in his order he goes, “Yeah, my wife can’t have scallions. She’s doing chemo.” I did not hear chemo. I heard keto. So me, being in my customer service friendly mode, just smiled and laughed because I thought he was being that husband that kind of makes a joke that his wife is doing some diet. (Which I wouldn’t even like if a customer did that, just saying.) You know what I mean? But I didn’t realize he said chemo until he went on saying, “She can’t have anything raw. She has a weak immune system.” Of course, in my head, I was immediately like “oh.”

He didn’t seem offended when I laughed or said anything to me about it, just kept talking to me. I finished the conversation with a shift in how I spoke that I hoped conveyed “I am not laughing at your wife going through chemo” kind of way. Much more understanding and compassionate. I got off work three hours ago but I feel terrible. He was such a nice guy and I really hope he didn’t think I was laughing at his wife. Looking back now, I can’t help but wish I backtracked and been like “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you said keto. I didn’t mean to laugh.”

Anyways, this is now added onto the list of things that keep me up at night.

Me: “Hey I just got double sat and all my other tables are trying to pay up at once, can you run cards for table 63?”

Him: Yeah, you got some pens I can borrow?

Me: Here ya go.

Him: “Oh huh, these aren’t the restaurant pens.”

Me: “Yeah, I go out and get the really cheap pens that are prone to breaking on you. Because black ink on a black apron is no bother. If someone takes it and puts it into their purse though? Well that’s just karma.”

“So… you intentionally go out of your way to buy pens instead of using the ones we provide for free? Just for the chance of ruining someone’s day?”

“That is correct.”

“. . . . . well alright then.”

i am MISERABLE at my job. the last few weeks have been tough. my health is going down hill & my grandmother had emergency surgery. a good portion of my managers suck. my GM got pissed at me that i was on break & couldn’t run food, i was so incredibly sick at work & my manager just went “yeah something is going around,” another manager keeps blaming things on me that he knows are actually things his friends did, when it comes to uniform my boss is a self described “nazi,” i haven’t been able to make minimum wage based on the sections they give me, i have to hide my water bottle from my manager or else he will take it, my manager doesn’t answer his texts even in an emergency situation but will still text me, etc.

going to work is talking a toll on everything in my life. i go in at 4pm & come home at midnight with $75 dollars (i live in a really expensive area). i can’t take breaks, i am barely allowed to eat, our manager wants us to basically pay full price for anything we eat unless it is rice & beans (which is free for any customer). i asked for wednesdays off & they won’t even respect that request. i have a thyroid condition. i work more than anyone & make the least amount of money.

here’s my dilemma: i am TERRIFIED of quitting because of the intense guilt tripping. i can’t just change my availability because my GM gets pissed. i know i shouldn’t care what a job thinks of me, but i hate being seen as weak. i don’t think i am being lazy? please help y’all, i have never had to quit a job before.

UPDATE: i sent my GM a message plainly saying I quit for health reasons & to care for my grandmother (both of which are true, but not the whole story). yes, i could have called the restaurant. i technically could have put two weeks notice, except for the fact that this job is damaging me in every way possible. i’m sad to leave my coworkers. a lot of them were really sweet & supportive, but i have to do what is best for me. lowkey couldn’t have done it without this post. i still don’t feel good about. i’m hoping my manager just sends a quick “ok” & i will be able to start the next chapter of my life. any way, here’s to trying to believe i deserve better & telling myself to trust my instincts.

Edit 2: I QUIT! Yay! And so did a coworker who joined right after I did. Thanks so much for your insight everyone :)

TL;DR should I get out of a restaurant that pays $11/hour and a tipping tier system of 50%, 75%, 90% and 100% where it takes months to move up in tiers? (also the first 8 shifts were minimum wage only with no tip)

I know why they have this system so that people “continue to work hard and earn their tip” but it feeeeels unfair / slightly illegal. Any thoughts? Has anyone seen a tipping tier system before and what has been your experience?

Edit 1: they recently fired 8 people before I got there because I guess they were making 100% tip but weren’t doing any work. I don’t know what is going on but it still feels shady to me they’re being so hard on people who are working really hard and I think deserve to get tipped well for their efforts!

Longer story:

Now that I finished my training shifts, I start at $11/hour + 50% tip. I didn’t realize just how long it takes to move up in tiers until I met the other coworkers. I learned that the people who have been here from 4 to 6 months are still at 75%, somewhere between 6 months to a year you get to 90%, and once you are a captain server / sub manager you are at 100%. Going up in tier is determined by manager approval and factors like passing food and allergy questions on an exam (which you can only take once the manager gives you permission), learning to bartend, and basically you have to be able to manage the restaurant yourself to get to 100%.

This is a very busy and popular Japanese restaurant in NYC. I just had my feedback the other day after finishing my training sessions and I was told I needed to improve my speed and be able to carry more things at once. I am currently only one of two females working at the restaurant. They asked what I’d do if I couldn’t take away the dirty dishes of a table of 8 in one trip — I told them I would take two trips. They told me that this is a disservice to my other teammates because I would be slowing them down and I need to learn how to carry everything at once. Granted I am a 115lbs woman and everyone else who works there is a man…I personally did not enjoy this comment since I felt that it wasn’t very understanding on their part.

Of my pro con list the cons are currently longer, and I don’t love the feeling that I’m going to have to feel like I’m proving my worth for months at a time to get the tip that I can’t help but feel like I deserve to be making. I know I’m not as trained as everyone else but I feel like I’m still working very hard. My current pro is that I only have to work two weekdays.

Obviously no wrong opinions here. Just can’t decide what to do (since I do need to make money lol) but deciding between working somewhere where I’m not making full tip for a very long time but I think the restaurant makes decent money, or if I should start new and find a place that is paying me full tip (like I believe most places do…?) Thanks for letting me vent Reddit fam!

Hi, I have been working at a restaurant part time while applying for jobs and taking some exams. I just landed a great job and finished all my testing this career is in the finance sector. So I noticed some discrepancy on my pay stubs also very vague as to where they are getting this number they pay me. The restaurant I work at takes cash tips at the end of each day we staple the cash to the receipt and they “pay it back” on our checks or direct deposits.

I added up my last paycheck shift pay+debit and credit tips and that was the amount they paid me not a single cent from cash tips. They also make us move orders paid in cash so they can void them and never report that money for a tax break but that’s not the point. Last paycheck (a week agos pay) I vividly remember getting many people giving me cash tips. But since we don’t log them and can only see the debit and credit tips owed to us on the computer I have no way of actually seeing how much they are skimming me by.

Does anyone have any tips or ideas or actions I can take? This is horrible me and my coworkers bust our asses and upsell the shit out of the mediocre food just for them to keep 100% of our cash tips and get mad when we ask questions about the tip pooling breakdown and the percentages we get.

My last paycheck was $563 18.62 hours worked shift pay $12 an hour (223.44) My tips were “340” and after doing the math just from credit and debit I was owed 352 in tips if anyone wanted the math assuming a 60-40 split with my busboy one day and a 50-50 split with my server another day and 100% take home on the third because I am the only one scheduled

I mean, I always ask about allergies at the table before I ring any food in. Often times we’ll have to modify a dish or have them change what they order. People door dashing though? People won’t know there’s shellfish in their food or such.

I’ve been serving for three years now and my handwriting is progressively getting worse. It used to be average, but it’s so bad now. I really think it’s because I’m constantly scribbling orders down at tables that are barely even legible and it’s made my normal handwriting worse. Has anyone else had this problem?

i started working as a barman/barista in a local cafe - and was told that as part of my job ill be taking orders (food) from customers that sit on the bar. its been only one week, and he says that i need to know the menu, and fully give service and know everything because its my responsibility. the thing i work evening shifts and there are barely any people that come to sit on the bar, so obviously i don't get to even take that many orders to begin to know the food and the specifics of meal. as i said to him i can take orders with the ipad it has pics and all the stuff inside but the stuff i really dont know and is not written on the menu theres no chance im gonna remember when i dont even interact with it in the first place, so i can ask the waiters and slowly ill learn . he hates the idea. and i hate that he think i can learn it in a week when im not even a waiter.

am i in the wrong? what so yall think?

The other day a couple came in for coffee and dessert. When I brought the coffees, I wasn’t too busy, so I was keeping an eye on them and the other tables. The guy takes his cookie, eats it, and you could just see on his face that he loved it. A second later, he grabs his wife’s cookie too.

I happened to be walking past, so I laughed and asked him if he liked it that much that he stole hers too. He grinned and said “yeah, they’re really good.”

So before the desserts even hit the table, I went back to my station and brought him three more cookies. He laughed, said thank you, and polished them off.

When the bill came, it was €27.10. He ended up leaving a €10 tip.

Literally cost us nothing to throw in a few extra cookies, but it made his day and clearly he appreciated it.

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share a little personal goodbye of sorts. After serving for over 40 years – with 37 of those years spent at the same downtown hotel restaurant – I’ve officially retired. It’s been about two months now, and while I’m not bored yet, I do find myself missing the fast pace, the camaraderie, and yes… even the chaos.

Looking back, I truly enjoyed my time in the industry. There was nothing like the adrenaline of getting slammed, and then those calm moments with my co-workers in between. Over the years I’ve been through it all: convention crowds that left us scrambling, citywide events where guests sometimes couldn’t handle their drinks (including a few who lost it right at the table), the fun guests who made your shift fly by, and of course, the ones who seemed determined to make you miserable or treat you like you weren’t human.

There were plenty of challenges, too many to list, but also a lot of rewards. Most of the time, I was tipped well and appreciated. Other times, I walked away with nothing and wondered what I’d done wrong – even when I knew I hadn’t. That’s the life of a server. At our hotel, we had waves of big cheap groups, and then stretches of solo business travelers who treated us with respect and tipped generously. It was a balance.

The last 15–20 years were the sweetest for me. By then I had been through it all, and the nastiness from some guests no longer got to me. In fact, I often found myself quietly laughing at how miserable some people chose to be.

I also had the privilege of training every new server for the last 25 years or so. That meant I got to know everyone who came through and be someone they could come to when they had issues. I learned how to work with every type of server, every type of manager, and I was fortunate to always have a good relationship with the kitchen staff. I respected them for the hard, thankless work they do, and I always tried to help however I could.

It was a long run, full of ups and downs, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I may be retired, but this old guy will still be here enjoying all of your stories.

Wishing all of you still out there on the floor patience, laughter, and the knowledge that what you do matters.

And hey… if you ever get stiffed on a tip, just remember: somewhere out there a retired old server is raising a glass of iced tea and laughing with you. 🍹😉

— A grateful old male server

TL;DR: 40+ years serving (37 at the same hotel), finally retired. Loved the chaos, loved my coworkers, survived the nasty guests, laughed a lot, tipped my hat to the kitchen crew. Wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Tonight our dishwasher (who doesn’t speak English) was listening to his normal Spanish playlists while doing closing work and the music cut to ads. The narrator instantly started describing this AI assisted vibrator that “touches you right when you are feeling down” in extreme detail and it echoed all the way through the kitchen and out across the line. The dish washer didn’t understand one word, made my whole night.

once a week. once a week it happens.

"I have pink in my chicken wings! it's raw!! I need my money back!!!"

ITS A BLOOD VESSEL. It's not even the right tone of pink? it looks nothing like raw chicken? it is a tiny lil chicken wing that was in scolding hot fryer oil for over 6 minutes it is absolutely cooked through I PROMISE it is NOT RAW.

My GM has worked in this business for over 30 years and always tells customer this! but they never believe him, they still insist that the blood vessel that burst and created a (dark, rosy) pink color is actually raw (light, fleshy) pink.

I was scouring Google to find a legitimate source explaining this and came up short despite the fact this has happened at both restaurants where I've worked, so I was hoping to commiserate with people here.

so how often do you have to refire or comp perfectly good chicken wings or thighs because there was a blood vessel in it and customers think pink = raw even when it's thoroughly cooked?

After 33 years in the industry I have decided to go back to school and classes start today. I’ll be 51 tomorrow and I’m terrified. It’s been decades since I’ve been in a classroom. I’ll still be serving but I have cut my shifts to focus on my studies.

I’m not here to dis on the service industry. It has treated me very well for the last 30+ years. I have always had what I needed and sometimes what I wanted. But I have literally not a damn thing to show for it. Also, I’m not getting any younger and it’s hard on my body and generally weighs on me these days.

My bf offered to put me through school so I’m gonna try to take him up on it. I don’t want to end up being the lady that greets people at Walmart(no offense to that job. It’s just not for me). And I know if I don’t take him up on it, 10 years from now I’ll be kicking myself in the ass. So here goes nothing.

I wish this industry had a union(I know they do in Vegas). If we had unionized I probably could retire eventually. It’s unfortunate that we don’t have any security in an industry that’s been around forever and has been good to so many people. I always considered that we should unionize but I had no idea where to start.

Young servers, please use this as a cautionary tale and use the service industry as a stepping stone to do something else that will help carry you into your golden years. I know how easy it can suck you in. The money is good and hanging out with friends after work is fun. But unless you are super savvy with your money it really is a dead end. No health insurance at most places. No retirement plans or 401k’s. Social security I guess but it takes much more money than that to retire. And it’s based off of what we claim. So in most cases that not exactly what you made.

Again, no hate. It’s a hard job and very legitimate. And, despite what anyone else says, it takes and incredible amounts of skill and people pleasing. But don’t be me and try to change your life at 50. Do it now. You are still young with your whole life ahead of you. I wish I had done it sooner!

Anyway, that’s all. Wish me luck as I slowly try to transition into another field!! Because I’m shaking like a leaf and almost in tears from fear and anxiety!

Best of luck to all of you!

For me it is Sunday without a doubt. I do not know what it is about that day but it is like every terrible guest trait comes together at once. You get the tables that make you run around for endless substitutions, extra sauces, split checks, and random “can I actually change my order now that the food is already cooking” requests. Then when the bill comes they leave the kind of tip that makes you wonder why you even bothered smiling in the first place.

It is always the same vibe too. People camp out forever, order the cheapest things possible, and treat the staff like we are beneath them. Sundays are the day where you walk away from a shift wondering if humanity is worth it.

I know every server has that one day that makes them question their life choices. What day is it for you and what kind of chaos usually comes with it?

Been working at the same gig for 2 and a half years. I was serving here first. Moved into takeout and eventually became supervisor. While I was a server, I developed a repertoire with my guests. I had many repeats. Many who would come just check on me on my off days. Many who were in my corner when I decided to take the leap and move up. This is about my favorite couple. Tonight(after I was clocked out and waiting on my dinner from one of the restaurants) they both stopped me separately (they were hanging out in different parts of the casino) and she told me she missed me and hugged me and kissed my cheek. I walked around the corner and there he was. He asked me to sit and how I had been. I explained how my grandfather just passed and I was bummed and he asked how work was and I was honest. I told him that I appreciated him and his wife caring about me and still coming to see me no matter what position I held, but that I was planning on taking a demotion and going back to being a cashier (doing takeout). He asked why things were so bad and even tho I was off the clock I was still politically correct. "Staff issues, worrying about everything all the time, my real life is bleeding into work too hard right now, I just want to b responsible for myself and myself only". He said. "Girl I can understand that. I dont know how you managed so long but we are proud of you." I'm just. Thank you Ms ira and Mr bill. Y'all don't understand how much I genuinely care about the two of you. You really really don't.

A good few years ago I worked in a craft beer & burger place in London. The BrewDog bar that just closed down in Camden.

I would do one or two shifts a week in the kitchen & then two or three shifts serving on the bar.

We made our burger patties fresh daily, from minced Aberdeen Angus beef.

All burgers were cooked medium rare every time. We put it on the menu & we told people "they're cooked pink in the middle" when ordering.

Every single day someone would send a burger back. They'd point at a textbook medium rare burger and say "this is not medium rare". I was trained to say OK no problem. Unless the customer was a dick about it.

In the case of an arsehole, I would go to the customer's table and discuss their issue. First I'd ask if they usually enjoyed their beef medium rare. Then when they inevitably said something like "yes but this burger is raw" I'd show them a saved tab on my phone, where I'd googled "medium rare". This would establish that they were wrong. At that point I'd offer to take away their burger and if they wanted a well done burger they could just mention that when they ordered and paid at the bar.

If they sputtered at this point about having to pay, I'd remind them that it's printed on the menu and we told them when they paid at the bar, that all our burgers are cooked medium rare!

Plenty of customers don't know what they're ordering. But it's so annoying when they complain about it rudely.

Be polite! That's how you get what you want.

To any fellow Brewdoggers out there - much love to you! And stuff the upper management.