Are you being served?

If ever there was a misnomer, it’s ‘service industry’ in connection with the words ‘United Kingdom’.

People in the UK just don’t want jobs where they are serving others. In shops, cafes and restaurants all over Britain service personnel are at best discourteous and at worst rude. The jobs, if they are filled, are taken by students, immigrants and those few that would rather work than not. There is credit to be had in that at least they are working, but still they appear to think the work is beneath them and they perform it thus.

It’s not lady of the manor syndrome to wish for good service during a meal: you and I are paying for it. It is part of the experience of going out to eat, though I suspect that the inability to find good serving staff explains the rise and rise of the ghastly canteen meals appearing in more venues throughout the UK. We pay astronomical amounts to eat out and receive surly service in return, so it’s no wonder service tax is routinely added to the bill because I for one wouldn’t add a tip after some of the service I’ve received.

(In Britain you are permitted to remove the service charge if you genuinely believe the service you received is not equal to the amount being added: if the restaurant complains vociferously, you should add to your receipt that you paid it ‘under duress’, should you choose to complain later. To be fair to the restaurant you should not do this at the end of the meal, but during it so that they have the chance to put right whatever it is that you are complaining about).

Originating from a country where good service has all but disappeared, I was delighted to arrive in Bangkok and see that the Thais understood and took pride in their service culture. They wear their uniforms with a sense of dignity and they (mostly) undertake serving people with a strong sense of self respect.

Salaries are relatively cheap here so having doormen, or ‘greeters’ at a restaurant is an affordable commodity. But I maintain the problem in the UK isn’t whether there are enough personnel, but the attitude of the staff and I’m sure, the management. Companies here appear to be thinking about what is really needed. The guards in the sky train, servers in Starbucks and shop assistants have basic English. Can you imagine the myriad serving staff in London, Cardiff or Edinburgh having simple French or German in order to help our foreign visitors?

Although it has a reputation for being dead end employment, service is a difficult job. It requires complex people skills (humility, tolerance and fortitude) as well as specific knowledge (a waiter may need to know about food and wine whereas a doorman may require an acquaintance with the local area). While it may not require the skills of an intellectual giant, the manner in which it is undertaken has a great impact on customers’ experience and whether or not they return.

But still, it’s not all perfection here. I was in a British bar on Sukhumvit one day last year. It was an important date in the British sporting calendar and all tables had been booked. Many staff, all of whom spoke good English, were on duty: one farang woman breezed in, nose in the air, ignoring the staff at the door that had wai-ed a greeting to her. She marched into the bar as though she owned it (she didn’t). Having got to the middle of the dining area she realised she needed assistance. Even at this point she didn’t have the good grace to be civil; instead she pointed at a waitress (surely rude in any culture?) and demanded to know where her table was.

Take a trip to Emporium or Siam Paragon and look at the customers and the way that they (do or don’t) acknowledge the doormen. It’s both interesting and embarrassing to watch the various ways that customers treat these staff. Whatever the doormen do: salute or click their heels, can there be any justifiable reason why people ignore them? It may be their job to open the door for us, but isn’t it possible to nod and smile thanks for that service? After all, we’ve seen in the UK how people undertake a service job without a smile.