Omelet station observations

Observations of human nature while at the omelet station. 

While having breakfast at a hotel restaurant I was seated at a table facing the omelet station. The station was set up along long tables/s/ that were configured with a curve. Allowing the chef to access both ends with few steps and little reach. There were no signs but it was obvious, to me at least, which end of the table the finished omelets were being dispensed. The starting point had a varied selection of ingredients and the eggs. The middle section had four portable burners. The end had a stack of plates. The chef would greet each guest at the ingredient end and ask how to prepare the omelet. The chef would fill the pan with the guest’s selection and place the pan on the next available burner to coincide with where the guest was in line. The guest, it was assumed, was to follow the pan throughout the process and pick up the finished omelet at the other end.

Throughout my meal I observed the majority of people respond to the process as described above. A very few waited at the end of the line to place their order but were politely pointed in the correct direction by other guests. My observations were not about how efficient the omelet station worked but how people act and react towards others and stimuli in general.

For the most part, everyone was polite to the chef. A few seemed to have problems with the system or were just, simply, rude. The whole process of receiving your omelet took far less than five minutes. Probably a much shorter time than would take someone to create the same meal at home. Yet, people cannot wait that long. They’d place their order and walk off. Some would go to another food station, make some choices and return. Some would wander off and return with nothing else. The problem is that they would reinsert themselves in a line that had passed them by, causing some consternation from those waiting. Additionally, their leaving the area would mess up the chef’s rhythm. He would complete an order and have no one to hand it to. I’m sure he was not supposed to or would rather not have plated an omelet and leave it to set on the table.

For some reason, a choice of cheese was made at the end of the process as the omelet finished. This caused the chef to have questions about the order. If no one were there he would have to make a decision to add or not add cheese. I saw this happen on one occasion causing the guest to complain and the chef to trash the omelet and start over.

One gentleman was on his phone during the ordering phase and then walked away. As his omelet progressed through the line he returned to the area of the station but did not approach, still on his phone. The chef waited for the man to approach, which he did not. Guessing that the chef did not want to call out across the room, he motioned to get the man’s attention and while that did work the man did not approach or pause his call to address the chef. Couldn’t tell if the final decision was cheese or no cheese.  

Some people tend to have an air of superiority when it comes to the service industry. Whether they were raised in privilege or act that way when they are out, they treat food service workers as their personal servants. Few please and thank yous were provided. Personally, I try to be polite to people handling my food. You should expect to be provided with appropriate service, but ticking off the wait staff before you receive your food may not be wise. These situations seem to bring out the rudimentary manners we were all taught or neglected for basic human interaction.

The main observation was the lack of patience society has developed. Granted this was breakfast at what could be described as a business hotel. People aren’t their best in the mornings to start with, let alone while on business travel. There were no sociological breakthroughs. Just curious as I watched people interact with the chef and each other. Some over complicating a simple process. Some just go with the flow. For the most part, it was a congenial process that sent people off with a made to order hot omelet.