Were the pancakes really that worth it?

Thought I posted this yesterday...my apologies!

Tuesday...oh, Tuesday.  It was National Pancake Day, and thus IHOP served free shortstacks until 10pm.  (PS.  An unnamed source told me Pancake Day was the same day as Fat Tuesday.  Made sense in MY head!  Sorry for all those people I mistakenly announced it to!)

Husband and I decided to make a date of it, because who doesn't love mid-week dates?  We went around 6:30ish pm.  It was a ZOO.  We had expected as much, so we just sat back patiently and watched the chaos unfold around us.  I have to say, kindness tends to fly right out the window in large crowds.  I understand we were crammed into a small, enclosed area with hundreds of other hungry people wanting a free meal.  But if we willingly choose to put ourselves in that situation, do we have a right to complain and verbally attack others?  Just a thought.

I was saddened by the number of inconsiderate acts I witnessed in the hour or so that I was in the restaurant.  People were pushing in front of other people to get their name on the wait list; customers just getting the free shortstacks and water weren't leaving tips for their overworked, overwhelmed servers; they also were begrudging the paying customers who were taking awhile to eat because they had more food than just three little pancakes.

I was impressed by how gracefully the hostess and seater were handling all of this.  I also couldn't believe how quickly they were seating customers!  We had at least 6 other parties ahead of us, and were still called back within 15 minutes.  But when a party of 7 came in asking about the wait time, the hostess informed them it was a 20-25 minute wait.  A girl in the party scoffed, "Wow, are you serious?  I GUESS we'll wait."  When my husband and I were told we had a 20 minute wait, we almost celebrated because of the size of the crowd.  I didn't understand why everyone was being so impatient.

When we sat down at our table, we heard loud complaints from other customers about how long the food was taking, and how bad the service was.  I glanced at the kitchen area...here's an idea of what it looked like:

There were SO many cooks and servers juggling plates for the dozens of hungry, unsatisfied customers, doing everything they could to do get orders right.  I agree, service was not up to it's normal standards that night.  My glass never got refilled, and our server didn't stop by once to see how everything was going.  But considering the circumstances, I'd say service was pretty fantastic; our order was correct, and the food was delicious.

Recognizing the poor servers probably would not get anywhere NEAR the amount of tips they normally would, since free food apparently means free service as well to some of the customers, my husband and I decided to double our tip.  It still wasn't a big tip at all, since we didn't order much food.  But I still hope it made some sort of difference to that exhausted IHOP employee who had the bad fortune to be stuck working on free pancake night in a city full of starving, penniless college kids.

My challenge is simple today, but I believe it will make a major difference in everyone's attitudes.  And I also encourage everyone to make this a routine part of our lives, myself included:

Challenge for the Day:

When you feel impatient toward someone, stop to consider their perspective for a minute.