Dining Experience

Was going over my RSS feeds and read the headline for a Wired News article. “Atari Founder’s Bistro Swaps Touchscreens for Waiters (Sort Of)“. Can’t resist that title, right?

It’s a funny article.

Every table in the joint has a built-in monitor, and all ordering is done via touchscreen, making waiters obsolete. Oddly, a waiterlike person appears at my table. “Welcome to uWink,” he says brightly. “Can I explain how things work here?” I look at the screen. It beckons me to swipe my credit card or driver’s license. Seems pretty straightforward. “So what you want to do is swipe your credit card or driver’s license,” he says. Do I have to tip this guy ? Or maybe I’m supposed to tip the computer. What if I don’t? Maybe it’s coded with a cheapskate-detecting algorithm that will mess up my order next time. The rules to this game are more slippery than I bargained for.

Comments

  1. I’ve heard of these. I see pros and cons. Pros is that the computer will not order something you did not enter and the cons is that it takes away the easy human factor of special ordering like you wanting a specific item in your order which then the wait staff can then suggest something to take it’s place like “No olives in my salad” “OK, then how about if I add extra tomatoes?” Ya know, something like that.
    There is NO way I will tip with something like this setup. I REFUSE to tip cooks and cleanup staff. That’s the experience I came away with during my Pizza Hut days. The wait staff make below minimum wage while the cooks and cleanup staff get regular pay. I’ve had cooks come to me and ask why can’t the waitress give me a part of her tips? I make the food, so I deserve to get a piece of the tips! I tell them fine, OK I’ll set you up for below minimum wage and then I will allow them to give you part of their tips. It’s only fair. You each have a freakin job to do but they have to DEPEND on those tips due to the below minimum wage they have to take. Man, you should see how fast a cook will retract his request! HA!
    So, if they are going to remove the wait staff then I WILL remove my tips.

  2. Yes, I agree. We tip 20% standard. If really impressed, we do more. 20 is easier to figure out that 15% ’cause multiplication is always better than division.

  3. HA! Yea, I usually do 20%. It was much easier to teach Colleen than the 15% (Take the 10% number and add that to half of the 10% number and there you have 15%). For the 20% numner just take the 10% number and double it. There! Well, first I had to teach her how to GET the 10% number…. oh boy…

  4. See, it’s the division followed by division followed by adding. If we get lousy service, I’ll certainly take the brain cell power to go down to 15 or just leave it at 10.

  5. It’s not hard at all! You don’t even HAVE to to division. Take the total number and move the decimal point over 1 to the left and BOOM there’s your 10%. From there just double that number and you get your 20%. Easy pezy…

    Oh yea, I did get beat up by Colleen for that wise crack about her math.. HA! She can’t take a math joke… She doesn’t understand the percentage of how funny it is…. HA!! (oh no…. here comes another smack…) OUCH!!!

  6. I know how to do percentages, bro. I just don’t want to do halfsies.

    As for getting smacked, you set yourself up for it all the time. I’m thinkin’ you like it. Make sure you have a safeword and remember: Safe, Sane, and Consensual.

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