Restaurants’ Reservations during COVID-19

by Charlotte Peak

Frustration: one of the many ways to describe how restaurant workers feel during the COVID-19 pandemic. This worldwide event has taken a massive toll on those working for the public. Impatient, ignorant customers are to blame for the increase in stress and anxiety among these workers. Now that unemployment is at an all-time high, many restaurants and local businesses have been left understaffed and unprepared. In acknowledging this issue, some of the restaurant workers have come forward to speak on the issue.

Mary Shadbegian, a cashier at Wolfie’s Bakery in Dennis MA, has had her fair share of negative interactions. One interaction left Shadbegian to deal with a costumer who refused to wear a proper face covering that has been recommended by the Board of Health. “Our employee kindly placed a mask on the counter and asked them to wear it, due to certain rules put in place.” The customer, shocked by the request, proceeded to yell, instead of leaving. It is interactions such as these that make business so difficult, she emphasizes. This story, which she still tells, “makes her so upset.”

Natalie Riley, employee at a local bakery, also located in Dennis MA, recounts the time when a customer thought her actions were “absolutely unacceptable.'' After another employee misspelled a word on the customer’s birthday cake the previous day, Natalie was left to handle the heat on her own, for an incident that was no fault of her own. These employees are often blamed for things that are out of their control. Brynn Hutton, a hostess at the local Country Club recalls one of the many times customers got angry because the country club was understaffed. The customers were further inflamed by the visible COVID-19 restrictions, which included “not being able to sit six at a table.”

It is clear that these are some of the many horribly disrespectful stories that workers have shared. More often than not, these situations happen from a lack of understanding and patience. “In reality we were all kind,” said Shadbegian, “and following set guidelines that we, as a business, were required to follow during the pandemic.” This is precisely what restaurants across the board were told to do during these hard times. Some employees sense that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the public's bad behavior or has showcased more of it. There seems to be no black and white answer, but these employees are taking the fall for everyone else.

Categories: People,