does anyone else hate ordering

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You could get them to pass the slices through the letter box

My issue isnt with ordering, it is with asking for special requests, or complaining about something. I get so nervous in telling the wait staff my food is wrong, or asking for my potato to be on a separate plate than my meat dish, etc.

Yeah, I hate complaining, it makes me feel like I am being difficult so I normally just accept that they have given me the wrong thing and buy another if neccesary.

One time it was quite embarrasing because the barmaid gave me the wrong pint but I didn't want to make a fuss so I just thought 'what the heck, I might as well just drink it' but then she turned around and said 'Oh sorry, you asked for Guinness didn't you?' so I just said 'Oh never mind, this will be fine' and she was making a big fuss of replacing the drink or giving me the difference in price back (about 32p. LOL)

Yes. I can see how that can be a problem. What I don't realise sometimes (until it's too late) that my pint is flat, particularly if I'm thirsty (or inebriated!). So someone usually has to point it out to me.

Yes, but I can do it. I feel worse if I don't order or if I respond in some wierd way to the server. So for me it is a balance of do I deal with the imediate anxiety of ordering, or feel like an idiot for possibly the rest of the day because I acted in some strange way (which I would end up obsessing over for a long time after).

I don't mind ordering. I have gotten over that fear in my teens. My mother used to make me order my own food when I was in my teens.

I think the only time I ever complained in a pub was when I was served a pint of lager that was actually OFF! It tasted like vinegar, it was the only time I have ever tasted beer from a tap that had actually gone past its sell buy date. Even then I complained fairly gingerly, I just passed it to the barman and said 'I think something is wrong with the beer' so he tasted it, agreed and let me have a brandy and coke instead to wash away the bad taste.

I never like to complain. Unless there is something completely wrong, I just live with it. I also don't like getting mad at people, when it really wasn't their fault. Like yelling at a waitress that you food is wrong...

It usually isn't worth the effort to correct it.

One time I did complain though, I orderd a BLT and it didn't even have any tomatoes... When the name of the sandwhich isn't even fufilled... there is something wrong with that.

Yes, I agree and if something was really that wrong that I wanted to complain I would try and be as polite as possible and just ask that they replace it/give me a refund etc.

There is a tendency in the UK to treat waiting, customer service and other people in jobs like that really badly and to shout and scream at them with the slightest provocation. That is why I hate the word 'ordering' and all the servile connotations it brings with it. Having worked in many of those types of jobs and been shouted at and abused by customers for things completely out of control, I always try and make sure to treat staff in cafes, shops and call centres how I like to be treated. I mean, I remember one time when I was working in McDonalds and a bloke was getting really aggressive and angry with me because his burger was cold so I just said to him 'Look mate, its only a £1 burger, it isn't like I have run over your dog or something, if you want to speak to me calmly I'll sort it out for you but if you are going to shout and swear at me you'll have to step outside the store'

I always cringe when I see people treating waiting staff badly. In the coffee shop near my university that I sometimes go to, I saw a man being really aggressive with a young waitress and when it was my turn at the counter she looked quite upset so I aksed if she was ok and she started crying; I mean is a 70p coffee really worth making a young girl cry about?

I used to have trouble with it in the past, but I don't now. I still rehearse in my head like hell before I order though.

Embarassingly, I work at a Starbucks! But I still can get confused by the really savy customers. When they come up and say "I want a red eye" And I have no idea what that is becaues that isn't an offered drink. Just jargon for a certain custom drink. And when I ask these people what do they mean, they just get annoyed and say "I want a red eye, just a red eye." Thanks for defining the word with itself. Luckily there is this guy who knows pretty much everything and helps me when I am confused. I think he has a sense that I am not completely normal in certain ways, so it is nice to not have to ask for help and he knows when I am confused about a certain thing and he just automatically gives me the answer. Unlike the other girls who think I am always confused and stupid and don't think I can manage to pour the stupid milk into a the stupid pitcher.

But yeah, Starbucks is really complicated and so are the drinks. From the perspective of someone working at starbucks, there are alot of subtle differences between alot of the drinks, and if you aren't clear with what someone wants they can go crazy in their need for a caffine fix. People can get so freakin picky and if like an extra cube of ice is in their drink they go insane. The difference between milk would change the whole name of the drink. A regular latte with half and half milk becomes a breve. A just wanting two shots of expresso with water becomes an Americano. But at least at my starbucks which is relatively new, we get alot of people that come in and don't know what things are so we all know how to explain drinks with less jargon.

But if you know exactly what you want. To just shut up all the questions just say in detail exactly what you want, as in like "Two expresso shots in a sixteen ounce cup with hot regular milk." and their response should be "A grande latte, ok." And at least for me, hearing a customer with so many specifics would make me not want to make their upgrade their cup size or ask them if they want anything added. So I just write up the cup and not ask any questions, but that is me. But its a suggestion. I get that alot of the times, some people only get certain drinks when certain people are working and it is interesting when they come in and say "Um.. I don't know the drink but the girl with the weird socks always gives it to me." And when I ask them to describe the drink they are like "Um... its cold and has chocolate" And at first it is really puzzling because it could be sooo many things. An iced mocha, a mocha frappuccino, a java chip frappuccino, an iced marble mocha, a double chocolate chip frappuccino. a marble mocha frappuccino. But after getting that question alot I have learned that they always mean a marble mocha frappuccino. So I just make that when they ask that question and they always thank me for knowing. So just describe the drink and it will be made regardless of the name.

Wow this is a really long post, but at least you have someone in on the inside of the complicated world of Starbucks.

Yes, I understand what you are saying and know that there are a lot of different permutations but sometimes I just feel like saying 'Well explain the options to me, don't get pissed off because I don't know them'

The other thing is that you don't have to resort to using the specific jargon. When I worked in McDonalds, we were told that if someone asked for say, a Big Mac, we were supposed to ask if they wanted the extra value meal featuring that burger but I as I hated using all their jargon terms, I would just say, 'do you want any chips and a drink as well?'. I felt like enough of an idiot standing their in a green McDonalds baseball hat with daft uniform trousers that had the pockets sewn together as we weren't trusted not to dip our fingers in the till.

I mean, when you mention the customers who ask you for strange drinks using jargon words; I hate that too. I used to work in a supermarket and would hate it when people came up to me and asked me where things were and they would ask for something I hadn't heard of and I would say 'I haven't heard of that, what type of thing is it' etc. just so I could point them in the right direction and then they would get annoyed and shout 'Its a f*****g red eye you idiot, just show me where the goddamn red eyes are' (obviously substituting red eye for whatever the obscure product was).

Anyway, Starbucks was just an example, it is actually one of my favourite places to be; I am looking for summer work at the moment and I wouldn't mind working at Starbucks or another coffee shop. My favourite Starbucks is actually in a book store so I enjoy going in grabbing some books and browsing through them at leisure with a nice cup of joe (Or more specifically a grande latte, with regular milk, no cream, no cinnamon and a shot of hazlenut syrup ) Anyway, you have a mathematical forum name so you must be kinda cool

Ordering in a restaurant isn't a problem for me most of the time. I do admit I do get a tiny bit shaky and shy. The issue for me is when I have to order food over the phone. For some reason I still haven't mastered that one. In my house my parents order food over the phone.

I can relate to people when they get nervous about complaining or asking a question. This happens to me too, especially when I have to make a complaint.

Yeah, it is annoying when they don't explain the drink. I try to explain it and stuff. But I know people who don't. Well we have a new flavor of coffee and crap, and to explain the flavor to me this one girl was like "Well have you ever had flan (sp?)" My answer, no. and she said "well. its like that." And I was like is she serious? Once she tried to explain tea to me as some flavor in hot water. Personally I hate that girl. Makes me wish I could express my frusteration with her correctly enough so she would leave me alone.



And thanks, I am an absolute math nerd, I am considering changing my major to math or physics out of Computer Engineering but I really don't to be a math teacher. And engineering will allow me to make enough money to retire early and get some remote place out in the desert to realize my life long dream... to become a hermit. Haha.

Oh but in the topic of ordering. I hate ordering at forgien resturants. I really like this thai place but I only refer to what I want by the number instead of the real name because I am scared to death of butchering that person's language and them being pissed, or them laughing at me. either way.

Nah, enjoying maths doesn't make you a nerd; I enjoy maths and I don't think I am a nerd anyway.

In terms of your major, the best thing is normally to stick with what you prefer doing rather than what you think is the most sensible choice career wise. I could never be a maths teacher (although I wouldn't mind being a lecturer or researcher) but that wouldn't be the only career option available to you as a math graduate; I am sure that there are loads of other jobs out there that you could do (or I hope so anyway, I don't have a clue what I will do once I graduate)

Well I think I am a nerd in general and I love it. It helped me bare high school. I remember how one girl phrased it "In this school if you are a girl, you are either a slut or a nerd." I choose nerd. I did have a few friends I guess maybe they were aquantainces but I had people to talk to. My school was really small, and for me the really cool kids were the nerdy kids that sat around in the halls during lunch just talking about their poignat observations. That is how I empathized for other people in my school. My calculus teacher terrorized everyone, and we could always talk about how weird her tests were or conspire working on take home tests together even though if we actually did we would still probably get a bad grade. That teacher was tough. But being a nerd is a good thing for me and I can never think of it as a bad thing. A geek on the other hand is by definition a carnie who bites of snake and or chicken heads for show. Geek is where I draw the line. Haha. I could always talk to people about science and books, but I can't even imagine going on with a conversation talking like "yeah, and then he was like... and then I was like and then she was like... and it was all like so much drama." I over hear to many conversations like that and know that I could never tolerate myself if I ever talked in that manner. People can talk about much more interesting things, like how there is a crack in the earth's magnetic field or how the bees are disappearing. Alright I kind of have a fasination with the end of the world. I adore my nerdom. And if i say I am a nerd then I am. Haha.

But major wise yeah I know that I probably should stick to it. But I want to take so many more math courses and physics courses and I guess in my head the only way to justify it would be to change my major. But hell, I figure if I get a career first then I would have money to do classes on the side and then in no time I would have three degrees. Mwhaha.