Should Restaurant Servers Ditch the Pen and Pad?

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In a quest to connect with customers—and up the tipping potential, NewsFeed surmises—the new craze for restaurant servers has them ditching their trusty pens and pads of paper.

Instead, servers are showing off their keen memory—and, in essence, displaying their connection to their job and to you—to set themselves apart from the competition.

According to servers interviewed by the New York Post, New York’s small restaurants can create cozy experiences without the cumbersome and anti-relational nature of a pen and pad. You see, the eye contact per interaction skyrockets when servers don’t continually look down to write, as per teachings at French restaurant schools. This, apparently, helps everyone feel at ease about what they order.

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Other servers claim they can transform from subordinate to trained professional by ditching the recording devices, giving them an air of importance and expertise.

But this new trend doesn’t have New Yorkers too jazzed. Do restaurant goers really care if the server memorizes their order or writes it down? Wouldn’t they rather the order is right? Of course, anyone who has eaten at a few restaurants knows that writing down an order doesn’t signify a sure bet either.

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