Is it just me, or does it seem like way more people just don't give a crap lately? I mean, sometimes it seems like a select group of people (inclding myself, of course) are the only ones who care enough to really try at whatever it is that we're doing.

I realize this isn't true, but it makes me feel like a much better person than I actually am.

However, it really does seem like some people just couldn't care less about whether or not they're doing a good job. Take last night, for instance: My husband and I went out for dinner because we had a gift certificate to a local restaurant and, because of the way business works up here, we wanted to use it ASAP before the restaurant goes under. They almost all go under, which is really sad, but I like to try to do my part by giving them my business.

Anyhow, we went in and saw that the dining area had about five occupied tables, which is decent for earlyish on a Wednesday night on a non-payday week, and went up to the counter to order. No greeting, no offers to answer questions, just a young guy flirting with the young lady working in another part of the restaurant. We ordered and took a table. After sitting, we had a bit of time to kill and were noticing that the unused tables were all filthy, and the floor looked like it hadn't been vacuumed in days. We thought for sure the kid would come start cleaning up, as no new customers were coming in and we could still hear him hanging out and flirting with the woman up at the front.

Nope. He continued to flirt until I almost went up because I had heard the bell going off that meant our food was ready about five minutes before. He then brought us our food, didn't say a word, and left.

Seriously? I have done my time in foodservice, and I know it's a rough job, but this kid wasn't even trying. Not even to be friendly.

If you have a restaurant in a struggling market, maybe you can't afford to lower prices or pay your people huge wages, but you can afford to make darn sure that your employees have the best service possible. Period. There are always new people waiting to fill their shoes, and your employees need to know how important it is, especially in a struggling economy, to make customers feel like they're making the right decision by spending their hard-earned money with you. Whether they've had a bad day or aren't feeling like being there or whatever other reason they may have for being a surly little turd.

There. I've said my piece. I feel better.