kitchenmage

playing with design and configuration stuff

I'm going to be making a series of small changes here over the next while and would appreciate hearing from anyone who encounters errors, frustrations, or general wonkiness. First change: no more Captcha because if it frustrates Farmgirl, it must be banished. (except for the word 'flog' which I will continue to use because it works for me and nobody has come up with a better monosyllabic description of what these sites are... evilGrin)

Being irregular...uh, a regular

An article (and posts about the article, whatever they are called..."antePosts" maybe) is making the rounds purporting to hold the secrets to becoming a regular at your local eatery. The theory here is that if you act a certain way you will become a regular and then you will get special treatment. (The writer that lurks in my head wants to know why it's called a being a regular if the goal is to be treated irregularly.)

Sure, it's nice to be a regular at Cheers, I guess, if you want everyone to know your name, but what's really in it for you? 

Urban Monarch lists a few benefits of being a regular thusly (my comments inline):

• Ability to order special items (out of season, non menu) (this strikes me as a pain for the staff and I can't see doing it without calling ahead.)
• Immediate seating (oh, so you are those jerks who like cutting in line? I don't want to be a regular at a place that does this to new customers)
• Complimentary drinks / desserts (As a small business owner, I can see how this works. I comp work for people on occasion.The moment it looks like someone expects it, I am done.)
• Discounts (see above)
• Recognition and social proof (OMG the ego... I had to look up social proof and once I did I decided that it's not something I'd ever claim as a positive...it's got two bullets for common applications: marketing and seduction)
• Dependable location to entertain guests / meet up with friends (I'll give them this, but only to a certain point; get a new waiter or a cook having a bad night and all that dependability goes away)
• Warmly received and well respected by staff (Maybe the first, don't count on the second. I once worked at a place where the biggest tipping regular was greeted with smiles while we tried to hand him off to someone else through our clenched teeth, because he was a self-enitled snob who had very high expecations of what his "big tipping regular" status bought him)
• Having the server bring you the ‘regular’ (how much trouble is it to order something? Besides, the only place I order the same thing often enough for it to be my regular is an espresso place)

Moving on to the "how to" portion...   

This makes me glad I drink tea

If the cast from the 1972 road show of Up With People moved to Pleasantville, died and refused to let George harvest their souls, they might have made this Folger's ad. Well, maybe if they were really, really warm and toasty on the Prozac.