I was the opener for dinner which means I get there an hour before everyone else and relieve the lunch closer. I had four tables, one of which were the biggest bunch of assholes I've ever had the pleasure of waiting on, very demanding, a new request every time I came to the table with their previous request, making up their own drinks (dude, margarita mixed with strawberry, blue curacao and swirled with pina colada? BARF!), special requests on everything, you know the type. 8% tip, fucking assholes.
Baby Manager (hereafter referred to as BM), kitchen manager, and head server were sitting in the dining room as well. One of my tables had a small kid, and we were out of lids for our kid cups. Who the hell runs out of lids on father's day?? Surely there won't hardly be any kids on father's day, right? Ugh. So anyway, of course the kid spilled his drink while I was running my ass off for the table of jerkoffs.
Did BM, kitchen manager or head server do anything? Nope, none of them got up off their asses. Just sat and watched it. The customers moved themselves to another booth before I even saw what happened. When I asked kitchen manager where the mop bucket was so I could clean it up (since no one else was), he finally asked BM to do it. BM doesn't like to do anything so he wasn't happy about that. He was also irritated with me because I had asked him if he was going to make more house dressing (we were completely out). BM thinks he's above it all and we should all bow down and defer to his greatness. How dare we lowly servers suggest that we need something only he can provide?!
The night progresses. I have the busiest section plus I'm taking tables in the pickup section. Other servers do things that piss me off like moving one of their tables to my booth because the table was wobbly. Then when I am slammed and get sat again I asked the guy whose section was on the patio (which was empty - he had nothing to do) if he could please pick it up for me. He said sure, then glanced into the dining room and said, "Oh, never mind. I've had them before, and they're bitches." Ice is empty and I ask the closest server standing around with his thumb up his ass if he could refill it, only to hear "That isn't MY sidework." Kitchen was pissing me off, fucking orders up left and right, and of course the Queen Bitch cook (who was expediting) was arguing with me about it because she is NEVER wrong.
Ok, so there is a rule at our place that no one is allowed to take a smoke break till 8:00. There seems to be no reason for this rule, it's just How We've Always Done It, and it's strictly enforced. Also only one person can go at a time. So 8:00 comes and I ask BM if I can go. He says "No." I said, "Really? Why not?" He said, "Because I said so, now do your job!" WTF? Ok, that was the straw that broke the camel's back after the shift I'd had. I told him to just check me out because I was done. He wouldn't even do that. He told me to go ask head server to do it.
So I did, and he followed me. She, of course, asked me what happened, and I told her that I wasn't going to be treated like a child when I have more years of experience than BM has out of kindergarten. He interjected at this point and said, "There was already someone out there. You just had to wait your turn," as if he was perfectly fucking reasonable. I reminded him that he said nothing about that, and if he had, I would have been cool with it. Did my checkout and left.
Called my bestie on the way home and she and another good friend met me at a bar, where I proceeded to get fucked up.
I'm honestly expecting a call from the real FOH manager today. She's really shorthanded and I'm one of the few non-dumbfuck servers she has. I will not work another Sunday with BM as the closing manager if I do go back, so help me FSM.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wish me luck
I'm going to apply for a new job today. We went to eat there last night so I could scope it out, and I think it will be much better.
The reasons are many, but the main reason is that my current place is just too slow and usually overstaffed for any money to be made. The patrons are cheap, and eat there because it's cheap, and they aren't looking for a dining experience like I'd like to provide; they are just looking for someone to slap a hot plate in front of them and get the fuck out of their way. I can't tell you how awkward and embarrassing it is for me when I try to engage people in conversation or suggest items and they just scowl at me like "What the fuck are you doing? I know what I want. Get out of my fucking face."
Not to mention, the last Wednesday that I worked, I went home with eight fucking dollars. Fuck. That.
The place we went last night was pretty busy for a Wednesday. Our server's section was filled up by us and at least one other table while we were there. Our bill for two people was about what a six-top's would be at my current place.
And the best part? The new place doesn't have tortillas, so there is no tortilla grill for me to slave over cleaning at the end of the night. Hopefully the sidework required wherever I end up will be appropriate and not give the appearance of what I suspect is going on where I work now: the kitchen manager realized that waitstaff is CHEAP labor, so we do all the stuff that kitchen staff does in a normal not-trying-to-fuck-waitstaff-in-the-ass restaurant.
The reasons are many, but the main reason is that my current place is just too slow and usually overstaffed for any money to be made. The patrons are cheap, and eat there because it's cheap, and they aren't looking for a dining experience like I'd like to provide; they are just looking for someone to slap a hot plate in front of them and get the fuck out of their way. I can't tell you how awkward and embarrassing it is for me when I try to engage people in conversation or suggest items and they just scowl at me like "What the fuck are you doing? I know what I want. Get out of my fucking face."
Not to mention, the last Wednesday that I worked, I went home with eight fucking dollars. Fuck. That.
The place we went last night was pretty busy for a Wednesday. Our server's section was filled up by us and at least one other table while we were there. Our bill for two people was about what a six-top's would be at my current place.
And the best part? The new place doesn't have tortillas, so there is no tortilla grill for me to slave over cleaning at the end of the night. Hopefully the sidework required wherever I end up will be appropriate and not give the appearance of what I suspect is going on where I work now: the kitchen manager realized that waitstaff is CHEAP labor, so we do all the stuff that kitchen staff does in a normal not-trying-to-fuck-waitstaff-in-the-ass restaurant.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
New hostess
We had a brand spanking new hostess tonight. She follows the "hostesses are fucking idiots" rule and takes it beyond ridiculous.
So between her and the fucking assholes who think 10% is SUPER (verbal tippers, all of 'em), I had a really shitty Saturday night. Which is great because summer camp and car repairs hardly cost any money at all.
Apparently the host that was training her is her friend, so he was defending her dumbfuckery, which made me want to slap the shit out of both of them.
So between her and the fucking assholes who think 10% is SUPER (verbal tippers, all of 'em), I had a really shitty Saturday night. Which is great because summer camp and car repairs hardly cost any money at all.
Apparently the host that was training her is her friend, so he was defending her dumbfuckery, which made me want to slap the shit out of both of them.
Our owner is pretty awesome
Ever since I worked at hmm, let's call it Schmario's in Schmalveston, Shmexas, I have had an irrational fear of restaurant owners. The owner of Schmario's, who we will call Schmohnny Schmecca, was quite simply a dick. More accurately, he was a gigantic ego with a tiny dick. Employees were not seen as the people who kept his shit going and made him money. We were seen as scum, basically, practically his property. I can't count the number of times he screamed at me over trivial things. Or the times he brought 12 of his family members in to eat and didn't tip me for waiting on them. In fact, once his mom slipped me a 20 and he made me give it back! "I'm already paying you!" he would say. Grr.
The owner of the place I work now is definitely not like that. He is so nice and approachable, and he gets in there and helps when we are slammed. And not just expediting or getting behind the line to just yell and be a dick to compensate for his tiny penis like Schmohnny used to do, he actually does things that Schmohnny would think were beneath him.
Example, last night I was delivering a buttload of things to my tables, which included a to-go order of black beans and rice. Well, I had a clumsy moment and dropped the bag, which caused the little cup of beans to become a bean bomb and explode everywhere. The owner was standing there when it happened. Forgetting myself, I said, "S, could you grab me another to-go order of black beans?" Now, if I had addressed The Almighty Schmecca that way, he would have screamed at me in front of the customers and refused to get it. Or if he did get it, he would have grumbled and bitched at me for wasting $.05 worth of beans or whatever.
S didn't even blink, he ran back to the kitchen and got me what I needed. Then while I was delivering more stuff to my tables he cleaned up the spilled beans. I just thought that was kind of awesome. If you want to instill teamwork in your team, you have to be the example, and S definitely is.
I don't think Schmecca has cleaned anything ever in his entire pampered life. Do I sound bitter? Yeah, I probably am.
The owner of the place I work now is definitely not like that. He is so nice and approachable, and he gets in there and helps when we are slammed. And not just expediting or getting behind the line to just yell and be a dick to compensate for his tiny penis like Schmohnny used to do, he actually does things that Schmohnny would think were beneath him.
Example, last night I was delivering a buttload of things to my tables, which included a to-go order of black beans and rice. Well, I had a clumsy moment and dropped the bag, which caused the little cup of beans to become a bean bomb and explode everywhere. The owner was standing there when it happened. Forgetting myself, I said, "S, could you grab me another to-go order of black beans?" Now, if I had addressed The Almighty Schmecca that way, he would have screamed at me in front of the customers and refused to get it. Or if he did get it, he would have grumbled and bitched at me for wasting $.05 worth of beans or whatever.
S didn't even blink, he ran back to the kitchen and got me what I needed. Then while I was delivering more stuff to my tables he cleaned up the spilled beans. I just thought that was kind of awesome. If you want to instill teamwork in your team, you have to be the example, and S definitely is.
I don't think Schmecca has cleaned anything ever in his entire pampered life. Do I sound bitter? Yeah, I probably am.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Please see the hostess for patio seating
Can you read that?
Congratulations, you are smarter than 90% of my customers tonight.
Congratulations, you are smarter than 90% of my customers tonight.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
How to make your server cry
Not me, I don't cry when I'm mad or frustrated. But another server tonight, a really sweet girl who is normally on the ball, was having a hell of a time with these 10 old ladies that were there for a birthday party. They started out with one server but then they just got up and moved themselves to the bar so they could smoke. They told another server (not theirs) to just pick up the stuff on the table and move it for them as they breezed by. Their first server saw that they were going to be twats, so he had them transferred to our cocktail waitress.
They stayed in there the whole three hours I was there tonight, and by the end of our cocktail waitress was standing in front of a computer terminal sobbing. I looked over her shoulder and saw that they had ordered a bunch of appetizers to share, and they had her split all of them 10 ways. So the screen was full of "1/10 Tableside Guacamole... $.94" and "1/10 chicken fajita nachos.... $.87" etc.
SERIOUSLY?
She said they were so rude to her, and acted like they were the only people in the place. There was a band on the patio tonight, and it was packed, no room at all. The outside hostess said they came and demanded that she find them some place to sit because they were here before the band got here and they should be able to move out to the patio if they want. Pretty sure the outside hostess told them to go get fucked.
They stayed in there the whole three hours I was there tonight, and by the end of our cocktail waitress was standing in front of a computer terminal sobbing. I looked over her shoulder and saw that they had ordered a bunch of appetizers to share, and they had her split all of them 10 ways. So the screen was full of "1/10 Tableside Guacamole... $.94" and "1/10 chicken fajita nachos.... $.87" etc.
SERIOUSLY?
She said they were so rude to her, and acted like they were the only people in the place. There was a band on the patio tonight, and it was packed, no room at all. The outside hostess said they came and demanded that she find them some place to sit because they were here before the band got here and they should be able to move out to the patio if they want. Pretty sure the outside hostess told them to go get fucked.
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