The waitpersons, or waiter and waitress, as we used to call them, take their job just as seriously as you and I take ours. Perhaps for differing reasons, but nevertheless, they want to please their customers just as much as you and I want to please those who come to us for help.

Beyond that generality, there are several concepts and suggestions to consider that may help to improve the quality of the food as chosen and served as well as the pride the waitperson feels about what they are doing to satisfy your every gustatory wish.

Visibility

Once you have been taken to your table and seated, given a menu and told that Nancy will be your waitperson, it is important for you to understand that your waitperson can see you just as clearly as you can see them, even from the far side of the dining hall or the entrance to the kitchen area.

Readiness

Your waitperson assumes that you will examine the menu carefully and decide what you want to order, and then put the menu down, perhaps even putting a finger on the item in the menu, lest you forget what it is you decided on when the time comes to place an order.

That is, continuing to hold the menu up in front of your face will cause the waitperson to think you have not yet found what you want to order, or, perhaps are hopelessly torn between ordering the fish and chips, the poutine, or the Marco Polo. So, make up your mind and put the menu down. This will be taken as a sign of readiness to place an order.

Reliability

You cannot count on the reliability of your waitperson to advise you on the quality, flavor, or preparation of the food they will bring you. Your waitperson does not eat the food they serve and are not encouraged by the chef or kitchen staff to watch carefully what goes on in the kitchen area. Your waitperson is of no help here.

If you ask, “Well, what would you recommend?” you are apt to get, “I really like fried liver strips with grandmother’s sweet bell pepper relish, but they don’t make that here.” Which is no help at all, so don’t ask.

Conversation

Do not engage your waitperson in conversation about the weather, the food, the war in Vietnam, or wherever the war happens to be this year. Waitpersons are chosen for their ability to take your order and bring it quickly, safely and pleasantly to your table, all the while making sure you have everything you need to enjoy the meal, to do this for a large number of people at widely scattered tables, while working long hours for small pay.

Just say, “thank you,” whenever they do something nice for you, and add a tip to the reckoning when it comes time to pay the bill. They will be glad to see you when you come back again, and your meal will taste better, too.

Orrin Frink is a Kennebunkport resident. He can be reached at ofrink@gmail.com.