Accidents won't be called 'accidents' if we can foresee them. But sometimes with a little care and common sense we can prevent accidents from happening.
If you're running a restaurant and hire waiters and waitresses to serve customers, I'm sure some of the things you train your workers to do or not to do should come as a matter of priority.
Yes, your waiters' and waitresses' job scope is to serve customers. But I would put certain safety procedures as a major requirement. Along with customer service skills, your people should be well trained to safeguard customers as well as themselves while performing their duties, whether or not your restaurant subscribe to the ISO 14000 certification. It could also prevent litigation or compensation costs.
The following episode could have been a potential disaster if my nephew had not been watching his baby. Never mind that an accident didn't happen. Rather, it was prevented from happening. We could all take that as a lesson learnt.
We were having dinner at a club restaurant and nephew requested for some hot water. The waiter came over with a jug and stood behind the baby who was sitting quietly on his baby chair. Someone handed him a glass. Noticing that the waiter was about to pour the hot water into the glass, right over the baby's head, nephew quickly shielded the baby's head with his hands at the same time giving the waiter an earful. That was the first time I saw my nephew lose his cool.
I'm not sure if he took the case to the captain or supervisor. Of course, the argument would have been, 'Well, nothing happened, right?' So, what's the complaint?' That's normal reaction. Nothing went wrong, so no case.
But I certainly hope that waiter learned an important lesson: Never transfer anything from one container to another over someone's head. And a baby is certainly someone important.
Sometimes no amount of training can make the inattentive more mindful, although I must say I have seen naturally mindful people mastering things without much training.
ReplyDeleteVery civic-conscious post. Thanks! I have been a victim of such accidents. The first was at a restaurant and the waiter spilled half a bowl of soup on my lap. Our meal was settled by the management. The second one was last year at a 5 star hotel during my former student's wedding dinner. The waitress tipped the tray and all the wine glasses toppled over and I had an unexpected bath in red wine! The management apologized profusely and the waitress as well. I was more worried that the waitress would lose her job and I kept telling the manager to promise me that she would not lose her job. The management provided a change of clothes for me and sent my evening dress to the laundry and returned it to me before the dinner ended. Since then, I am always very wary when waiters/waitresses serve at my table! I am glad nothing happened to the baby. Take care and God bless you.
ReplyDeleteJohan: Can't say much for the inattentive or those who take forever to learn. I think mindfulness comes from early training as well.
ReplyDeletemasterwordsmith: Thanks for sharing your experiences with dinner and food & beverages that end up in unintended places. Must have felt rich to have experienced a wine bath!!!
i am always very careful in situations like this. natural instinct and a belief that if anything can go wrong, it will
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