Arcadia National Bar In Portland, Maine Strikes A Nerve With Their Sign About Treating Servers Kindly

If you've walked the crowded streets of Portland recently, you know that tourism is back full force in a city that felt like a ghost town at times in 2020. That's great news for local businesses and tipped workers who weathered the storm last year and are ready for the cash flow this year. There's just one thing, those tipped workers, often your bartenders and wait staff, were hoping that people would have gleaned an important lesson from the pandemic. That restaurant work is hard work and kindness and patience can go a long way.

Shared on Instagram by Portland Downtown, apparently that message needed to be reiterated to those who have forgotten. The sign was featured on the marquee at what was Port City Music Hall and soon to become Arcadia National Bar. While so many locals and visitors to Maine aren't required to wear a mask, many restaurants are still asking their staff to do so. Beyond the mask stress, there's the stress of being understaffed. Take a walk around the busiest streets of Portland right now and you'll see dozens of help wanted signs. Normalcy flipped a switch. Unfortunately, staffing busy restaurants and retail shops hasn't caught up yet.

Which has made a flurry of big tippers in Maine a feel-good story and an incredibly kind gesture. Those moments are cool but ask any server in Maine and they'd almost all agree that respect, patience and understanding would make working and dining in any restaurant 100 times better. So enjoy your evening out, treat your server like they're your brother, sister, son or daughter and leave a proper gratuity for their time and effort.