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Ron Paul U.S.A.: Ron Paul Op-Ed - Stop Taxing Tips

2012-02-01T12:10:00.000-06:00

Ron Paul U.S.A.: Ron Paul Op-Ed - Stop Taxing Tips: LAS VEGAS SUN Ron Paul January 31, 2012 During any presidential election year, taxes are sure to be a large part of the debate. That’...

Augh...TITS AND ASS...

2011-10-29T23:42:00.000-05:00

I made crap tonight...actually let me re-phrase that. I made CRRRRAAAAAAAAPPPP tonight. Its got to be because it's Halloween. If I can remember past the laryngitis I had last year I think I vaguely remember making shit then too. Or maybe I'm just projecting this year on to last.

On a side note though, if your costume is just a tutu and a see through tank top with jeggings and a hippie head-band...this does not constitute a costume...just several ideas of what could potentially be decent costumes.

Balls yeah!!!

2011-10-11T19:53:00.001-05:00

So I have a new job, no, I don't plan on quitting the Italian Place for awhile I just wanted to get ahead of some bills. But for the foreseeable future I will only work weekends in the restaurant biz. I did find this article though that I wish corporate would consider.

The new place I work at is a psychiatric hospital. So far it has been interesting and I think I will really enjoy it once I learn what I am doing. I have come up with a couple of rules for anyone else who goes through this transtion:
1. Just because you have to "always" smile in the restaurant industry doesn't mean that you should do so in a psychiatric hospital...odds are a patient who is waiting to be committed will call you out on it.
2. Just because you are the super energetic type in the restaurant (as in: that's fantastic! super wonderful! I'm super-fantastic(in response to how are you)! etc) doesn't mean that you should be this enthusiastic when speaking to others at a psychiatric hospital.

I'm sure I will come up with others but for now I just have these two.

And now it's in my dreams

2011-09-27T00:46:00.000-05:00

So here lately all my GM does is bitch at me. I can't say she is yelling because she doesn't raise her voice but her tone is just that. If I am doing something that she doesn't like I get called out on it in front of my team members. Apparently everyone else can stand around and BS with each other but if I stop for a minute then she is all up on me about why am I not working and how guests are suffering because I'm just BS with people. I tried sit in on a alley rally Sunday morning and she jumped my case because "the alley still needs put together". So I went back into the kitchen and put the cheese graters together (took maybe five minutes) and viola the line was put together. I go back out and she was half done with the alley rally. I would try and say that maybe she has a point about me standing around too much if, you know, any of the other four managers said any of the same thing. They, however, actually compliment me on how much work I do while I am there. I have also had a couple of team member note how she is riding my ass but will ignore others doing (or not doing) the same thing as me. Last night I had this crappy dream:

cue dream music and the wavy cut scene

I'm working behind the bar on a super busy shift. People are stuffed in the lobby like four fat people in a booth and our bar is not the cafe setting but a steak house setting (high wooden tables on a wooden floor as opposed to a little metal round table) and is extremely busy. This is great though because I'm rocking the shit out of this bar. cut across the restaurant...I watch as a table of six walk in, ignore the host stand and all the people in the lobby, and seat themselves. I think I relay this event to the MOD and get a shrug from them. So I go out to the table (not happy at all, mind you) and start to greet them when I get the look. Bitch 1 says to me in her nasally, whiny, hag voice "we have no menus and this table is a mess" I roll my eyes and tell her that's what happens when you seat yourself in a restaurant that doesn't follow that procedure. She tries to out bitch me only to realize that I am the top bitch in this war and plays the final "get me your manager" card. I say "gladly" and walk away only to start freaking out because I know GM will be all over me and I rolled my eyes at the guest to their face...

end dream

I wake up to see that it is now ten am and time for me to start my day.

New View

2011-09-08T12:58:00.000-05:00

I've been looking for another job and it's made me stop and think about why the hell I still work in a restaurant. Here lately when a guest gets something comped I don't see it as customer service and making sure that they want to come back. I have been seeing, "oh here's another jack ass getting a comp so that they can come in next time and get the same comp and the next time and the next time etc." Which ends up with me just being an uber bitch and ridiculously unhappy for no reason.

So the new glasses I will look at guests through will make them all out to be people who need to be medicated...or zombies...

Hm...zombies...

Umm...You are no better than I am, honey, so slow your roll

2011-08-26T22:11:00.000-05:00

I had a job interview for a sales/teller position today. The first interview I had with this company I completely rocked. The guy loved me and my personality (which is not a code for the girls since they were completely covered up). So this interview I show up and am told that the girl is in a meeting. I'm a little put off but the meeting is with her boss so I don't get too concerned. About 15-20 minutes later I'm still waiting and boss and chica have gone into shootin-the-shit mode of their "meeting". One of the workers (both of which were super nice btw) asked what time my interview was for and when I told them she interrupted the bosses for me. So I go in and chica is all sorry and I'm all no worries things come up it's cool. We chit-chat for about 30 seconds and then get to the interview.

Then it happens..."I know as a server (sneer) you don't have quotas or anything like that so how do you think you will handle it." and, "what about customer service, how will you handle that?"

Because, you know, working in a restaurant is not about customer service at all...and there may not be quotas per se but some companies do throw conniptions if you don't hit the sales goal they set....don't sneer at me because I work in the restaurant biz when you only work in a bank (and not even that high up). And mostly, don't waste my time when you already have a preconceived notion of who I am. You weren't going to hire my so why even go through the interview?

THAT person

2011-08-24T22:56:00.000-05:00

So you know that person you work with who nothing ever seems to be good enough for them. You know the garlic is too garlicky, this person walk too fast but that one walks too slow, etc. Yesterday, that person was me. I was freaking out over stuff that normally wouldn't faze me (or that I studiously ignore). I don't know what my deal was but the stop light in my head was not working so everything got verbalized last night.

Needin a break

2011-08-21T21:55:00.000-05:00

I'm so tired of people right now. All week it has been ringring...ringring...yes what time do you close? in 5 minutes, so if i come in right now you can still serve me? fantastic i will be there in three minutes...click...

Twats. Every single one of them.

As a result I have been finagling my way out of the FOH to work in the kitchen. Yes, I would much rather work in the heat for less pay than keep taking care of the fuck-staches that come in.

On a side note for those not in the biz, you have the luxury of getting off work at a specific time. You get off at 5, well at 4:55 if someone were trying to get you to do something you could, in fact, put it off until the next day (unless it's from your boss then...whatever) As a peon in a restaurant I don't get to tell you that we're closed, or to not come in, I have to let you come in. Even if we close at 10 and you walk in at 9:59 I have to sit your ass at a table. However, when coming in this late I will lock the doors precisely when we close and I will refuse to let any extra people in the building or let you leave and come back in. Also don't expect super fresh soup or bread and you have no right to get pissy when your salad comes out on the same tray as the entree.

♫♪♫♪ Meltdown...fuck yeah...meltdown...fuck yeah! ♪♫♪♫

2011-07-17T18:00:00.001-05:00

This post goes out to the lady who Flipped-the-Shiz-Out today. Thank you ma'am for being such an asshole to the extent that ALL of us working got a laugh. The melt down over our salad bowls not being from the freezer cold was hilarious. We had run out but you didn't care; which lead to more laughing and snickering when you discovered that we touch the rims of the bowls with our hands (OH MY GOD!! THE HORROR). A sincere and heartfelt thanks goes out to the table next to this one that told them to get the hell out...and imagine our surprise when flip-out lady did in fact leave. She made it to the host stand before screaming at the hosts and manager about how horrible this visit was and how she is never coming back (we can only hope). Of course, this gave us another 15 minutes to all find a reason to go to the bar and watch all the drama. I only wish someone had taken a video of it so we could watch it but, alas, she was lucky that no one had their phone out.

Hippie Chick has struck again

2011-07-05T17:30:00.000-05:00

So as if throwing Cherokee under the bus wasn't enough for her, Hippie Chick, has struck a-friggin-gain. One of the new managers Shanaynay is the newest notch on HC's bitchy belt of velour (or hemp...really I don't know what hippies make their clothes from). And this time it is strictly a vengeful/bitch move. A mutual friend, Cher, is getting promoted to a management spot and had a going away/congrats party. Cher was dating Shanaynay's cousin (a story for another day perhaps) and he ended up at the after party at Cher's place. Drunk does not compare to the adjective for some of the people at the party but at some point Shanaynay was invited and showed up as that same adjective. From what I was told by one of the few sober people there is that basically she walked in and went upstairs to pass out (so people saw her a few minutes tops) but this amount of time was all HC needed to be able to tell the GM...oh I'm sorry I mean let it slip and just not know how it got taken out of context....that Shanaynay was hanging with 15-ish employees.

And now that GM knows she has to call corporate and conduct an investigation. HC is portraying herself as the victim in all of this (because of course she is) at the same time she is going around and telling every team member she sees that she will be the newest addition to the bar staff. I just hope that HC remembers that Karma is a hardcore bitch.

funtime...

2011-06-29T11:10:00.000-05:00

a collaborative ode to our guests (may eventually be set to a beat but for now...):

My name is Sammy and I work at the I.P.
I don't make any money cause yalls always stiffin me
So order the herb grilled salmon not the soup and salad please
cuz they might just take my car if yall don't start tippin me.

This is Melissa, she's my service partner
Yall should stay home and watch Judge Wopner
cuz I know your gold toothed ass aint got a job;
and that gift card you've got? It's off someone that you robbed.

Dear Mr. Redneck take off your Nascar hat,
no you can't have a booth cause your ass is way too fat.
So please go to Mcdonalds and get it supersized
'cause we don't sell sweet tea and we're all outta fries

Hey you stupid gringo, we've got a party of twenty
here's your $1.72, now bring out the chicken alfredo.
Why hello Mr. Gomez, would you like limonada?
No, I'm sorry hombre we don't sell enchiladas
maybe you should try El Chico's down the street,
but while your here could you fix my car for cheap?

that's all we have got so far we are working on the rest of the stereotypes and I'll post them when we get them.

What have we done?!?

2011-06-22T00:22:00.000-05:00

So I have always wanted to be the one to start some sort of panic amongst the masses so here it goes...What have we in the industry done to piss you off oh mighty restaurant gods??? We the faithful give you our blood, sweat, tears, and many layers of finger prints all for what? You have deemed it necessary to send out the assholes and douche baggerists en masse. Why? Are we not faithful to nights of drinking and other debaucheries? What must we do to make this right, oh mighty lords of the faithful attendees in the biz? Please show some mercy on us. Please allow us a glimmer of hope to get us through these dark times that will now and forever be known as the "June of perturbation"...

hmm...I don't think it will make any group of people panic......eh maybe next time

Dumbness

2011-06-07T23:37:00.000-05:00

1. "Do you have a dress code?"
      My response: "Just don't show up in your underwear"
2. "I would like to order a salad and breadsticks. Does any pasta dish come with that?"
     My response: "Not unless you decide to order some"
3. "Is this Chicken Parmesan?"
   My response: "Well let's see, Fried Chicken breasts...check, spaghetti...check, marinara sauce on all of it...check, topped with cheese...check. By George, I think it is, yep sure looks like the menu description to me"....ok so that one was way bitchy but this server is retarded and needs to stick with her day job at the tanning salon.
4. "...well why can't I have all I want...when I come in I can get all I want, what's the difference?"
   My response: "You're ordering to-go. If you were to go to a buffet you can eat all you want but if you did a take out they would give you one box to fill and you can only take what you can fit"
5. "the server let me/didn't charge me/or other way to get freebies last time"
   My response: "That server was fired for insert whatever will correlate to their obnoxious request so no I can't follow their lead."

Karma, you bitch...

2011-05-31T00:28:00.000-05:00

Three of our managers have been suspended. One of which I feel really bad for and I hope he doesn't become deceased from our restaurant. The other two, Miagi and Cherokee, played a part in the termination of the former GM so really this is just comeuppance. Wednesday night the new GM saw the newest bartender and two servers "sampling" wine. Now, I do believe that this bartender just believed that we could do this when the wines were going out of date but the other two should have know better. All three of them got suspended which just started their vacation to Sin City a few days sooner. The new GM was livid when she caught them. Hippie Chick was one of the two servers and when her and the GM were talking about this incident she promptly threw Cherokee under the bus because she "always let's us". Complete B.S. Have there been a couple of instances in the past where we were allowed to try a sample of wine? Yes. Is it something that happens every night or even once a week? No. It was a couple of rare instances that happened months ago, but that fact was conveniently left out of Hippie Chicks statement (of course). I don't know why Miagi and the other manager were suspended, especially since neither one of them will let an employee have a free bowl of soup (let alone alcohol).

So DM had been in the restaurant collecting statements from various people. I don't know if any of the managers will end up having a job but it sounds like most statements are in the managers' favor--not that that means anything.

You just asked what?!

2011-04-26T00:21:00.000-05:00

This particular guest tonight wasn't even mine but still the audacity of them pisses me off. A girl I work with who we will just call Copenhagen had a table toward the end of the night that when it came time to sign his credit card asked if she voted for Obama....um WTMFF!! seriously jackass? Does your boss cut two checks and then asks who you voted for or what faith you are apart of before he gives you one of them...no, I bet he doesn't because guess what, that would get his ass sued or fired. How dare you ask that and then tip her less because she responds with "well, um...that's a hard question to answer..." (she then walked away).

I am so fricking glad I wasn't there when he asked her that because I would have willingly taken a writeup for making him look like the total douche he is.

*WTMFF = what the mother fuckin fuck

Something for my "super-fantastic" guests

2011-04-19T15:20:00.001-05:00

so I was in the liquor store today to make a medicinal purchase...you know something to drown my sorrows and cleanse the stupidity of some people from my mind.
I saw these

I really think that this "tequila" would make some of my fantastic guests (hell it would probably work for my crappy, crabby co-workers) happier...and for the others, well at least there is something legitimate to pull out of their butts.

Damn you, MSN

2011-04-16T21:15:00.001-05:00

really msn do you have to stoop to yahoo's level? to be fair the only part of the article that I have a real issue with is number 2 (the others didn't irritate me as much). It's not like restaurant patrons already don't understand the fact that just because a table is open doesn't necessarily mean they can be sat. Seriously writer, have you EVER worked in a restaurant? In fact the only redeeming part of this article are the comments which have not yet fallen to name calling between people in the biz and bastards who don't tip for dumb reasons. The best one I have seen is from skynluvr "If I go out to eat, Im not on a bargain hunting excursion! I want GOOD food and usually a couple beers! If I have to penny pinch, I shouldnt be there in the first place!"

I don't know if you have been in the biz before or not but I do love the common sense that you show us all.

Trainees

2011-04-03T21:37:00.000-05:00

For your enjoyment, an article about how to not be an annoying customer. Yahoo, you have slightly redeemed yourself.

And now about the rest of this last week. Filled in at another location because they lost all of their bartenders over the new tip share policy. I was training one of the two people and the other one was a brand spanking new bartender two days out of training. Easy night though. We have had issues with trainees at our restaurant. Evidently, us telling them that the menu test is really frickin hard and that they need to study it a little bit every night really doesn't mean anything. We have another class this week...we'll see what happens.

It's all in the details

2011-03-24T00:31:00.000-05:00

Work is so frustrating right now. I almost wish I was back in Arkansas. Almost.

In the past certain members of management let things slide. A bunch of things. I ended up transferring to a restaurant where people would be on their cell phones the whole shift, eating in the middle of volume shifts, swearing (I do like me some swear words but policy is policy) and many other small issues that snowballed into bigger ones.

About a month ago we had our DM come to our store because our numbers are down and...well....lets just say that our managers found out how expendable they are. So after the visit our managers started upholding our different policies and more importantly, being consistent about it. As they start this, our VP starts making a lot of noise about teeny, tiny things (think name badge font).

The thing is, if I were back in Ar. then these little changes that the VP wants would be no big deal because the managers I come from were very consistent. But here, not so much and now it seems to be micromanaging at its best...or worst...And it still wouldn't be so bad but workers are getting their panties in a bunch and pissing and moaning about it.

Sadly, that was what the issue with the GM was. All these "changes" were some how him being a dick. And wouldn't you know it, he gets fired but lo and behold the remaining managers are still micromanaging the restaurant.

And guess what I get to hear all day long..."what?! why can't I get on my cell phone, I have a kid!"..."I'm not changing my nails until the bitter end"...."Ugh...why can't my gauges be see through"...."Corporate is being fascist"...."I don't make any money here"..."I hate this fucking place"....etc...etc.......all friggin night

Yes, it's true

2011-03-16T00:29:00.000-05:00

Found this article, and on page two it talks about server jedi tricks...yes we do use these....ok well, not everybody but a great many people that I work with and have worked with in the past.

♫♪ Closing time...finish your whiskey or beer... ♪♫

2011-03-16T00:15:00.000-05:00

I sometimes wonder where these people come from. Seriously, this city is NOT Vegas (or other 24 hour cities) we're in the MIDWEST. There are only a handful of restaurants that are open after ten/eleven (think like IHOP and one or two pizza places). Tonight from about 9:15 until 10:27 the only phone calls I get are people who ask, "What time do you close?" So while I get to answer these, the best ones were the two that came after we closed.

caller 1: what time do you close
me: we closed fifteen minutes ago, Sun-Thurs we close at 10, Fri and Sat we close at 11.
caller 1: ok thanks

caller 2: when do yall close?
me: we closed 27 minutes ago, Sun-blah blah blah
caller 2: stuttering blah blah thanks...
me: have a great night *click*

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word...

2011-03-12T20:33:00.000-06:00

So evidently something happened at the meeting last Saturday. From what I can tell the GM was speaking about a corporate policy change and flipped the bird. And now he is deceased from our restaurant. It makes me sad. He was a good manager and I liked the fact that he didn't hold back what he thought.
But, with regime changes come new topics right?

P.C.

2011-03-09T01:23:00.000-06:00

Yesterday my manager, my co-worker/friend Sheva, and I were having a conversation about the fact that Sheva is Ethiopian. I learned a new word which I used....oh...only about 50 times today. The conversation was sort of like this:

blahblah yackiity blah...
Me: You speak pretty good English for someone who isn't from here. When did yall move?
Manager: A, stop that.
Sheva: *laughing We moved when I was about four.
Me: So how much of your family is in the states?
Sheva: Oh my mom, dad, sister, an aunt and uncle....lists some more
Manager: So have you gotten to visit your family over in Africa?
Sheva: Yes last year
Me: Do they live in cities or out in mud huts while Susan Struthers eats all their food?
Manager: A!
Me: What it's a legitimate question!?! And it's not like I don't know that there is at least one city that has electricity
Manager: A! You're not being P.C.
Sheva: *laughing* blah blah ...paved roads...blah blah out farther dirt roads...blah
Me: So...did you have shoes before you were four or did you get your first pair here?
Manager: A...*whispers* P.C. *turns to co-worker* Does your family speak Ethipiopian? Say something please?
Me: Ew! Oh! hey you should teach me a word *nodding enthusiastically
Manager: No don't...
Sheva: *laughing* ok...teaches me the word then says something else
Me: practicing under my breath
Manager: What did you say...wait what did you teach her?
Sheva: *says what she said but not what she taught me
Me: so it's ****
Sheva: nodding
Manager: What is that A?
Me: Dumbass... *smirk
Manager: A...
Me: What? It's not like the word is technically a bad word...I mean I could just say chingada or chinga su madre...now those are bad words. Plus I could be walking past tables and say **** and they have no clue what I'm saying and if they ask then I can totally deflect them with how I have this awesome co-worker from Ethiopia and how she's teaching it to me. If they do happen to know what I'm really saying then *getting innocent, blank look on my face* Well, jeez, it's no wonder my friend is laughing at me if that is what I'm saying.
Manager: A...*at this point she just shakes her head*...just...P.C....
Me: Boss, I have to get this non-P.C. stuff out before I become a manager...or at least be able to contain it....or own my own restaurant, then I could say whatever...

Where is my training pay?

2011-03-06T18:31:00.000-06:00

I understand that there is a certain amount of knowledge that I'm supposed to have. When my guests ask me about different menu items I should know what the answer is; if, on the off chance I don't know the answer, then I always find it for them. I also understand that by working in the restaurant that I do that some people think that makes me an expert of some sort on all things Italian (olive oil, the difference between olives, the Sopranos, etc. etc.). This stuff I fake pretty well (knowing a lot of useless trivia is very beneficial).

What I don't feel I should have to teach people is the fact that you shouldn't believe everything you see on the internet. Or on the TV. Or in the newspaper.

I got to explain to a guest how just because a site may be legitimate doesn't mean all of the information on it is legit (CNN has had this experience). Or how about even if a television show does a segment on a site does not mean the site or what is offered on the site is legit. I mean how often do you see retractions printed in media? How often do either anchors apologize about mistakes or other broadcasts pick up the fact that there were mistakes and poke fun at them?

So I go through this spiel about how if our restaurant did have an offer on said site then it is a scam and how our restaurant offers several coupons and what-not through facebook and ourrestaurant.com...and at the end of the conversation she says, "it's not that I don't believe what your saying but can I get the number to your XY location because that's where I would actually end up going." No lady, it's ok. You told me at the beginning of the call that you didn't know much about computers and all that "stuff". Just so you know though, there is this lawyer in Zimbahujitsu that need's help. See, his client has died and has no relatives but left a great deal of money......

*I just looked up the site the guest asked me about and the only reference that I can find about my restaurant is under the ad section.

An interesting article...

2011-03-05T20:26:00.000-06:00

I like both of these articles. Both articles are definitely worth the read. One is about being nice to your server (and has a poll at the end) the other is about server smarts.

Out the door?

2011-03-05T13:12:00.000-06:00

So there are some major changes happening at work today. Luckily, I don't work today so I don't have to listen to all the bitching that I'm sure is going on. I didn't have to go to the meeting this morning since I had a one-on-one with the manager yesterday so I got to miss all the outrage that probably went on. It does make me wonder though...how many people are going to quit? I so can't wait to find out.

Yeah like I'm really gonna read that...

2011-02-17T16:15:00.000-06:00

So me first...I didn't get a good look at my schedule this week because if I had I would have known today was my day off and not shown up to work. Not that this is a big deal since I live within a mile of work and I needed to talk to my GM anyway.

Now on to last night...

It was bad. We have had worse but it was not an easy night for anyone. Big thing that sucked balls was we kept running out of bread. We give unlimited bread sticks to our guests so running out always sucks; especially when the person doing bread isn't doing it right. Now really there is no way to make bread wrong...but really when we're out of bread and you make one pan and bring it out you know we have been out of bread for at least three minutes because servers have kept yelling for "mas pan" you should have started the second pan of bread before you even brought out the other stuff.....is this what our guy did last night? No, he would bring out one pan after having been out and then get upset because it was gone within a minute and would tell us it was our fault that we needed bread. Also I realize that the kitchen staff wants to get out of work as soon as possible, our kitchen staff generally walks out of work with 10-20 minutes of locking the doors so they start cleaning about an hour or two prior to close. Ok, that's all well and good but don't forget that we don't close for another hour, we still have guests walking in that want their soup and salad. If you don't want to make salads for us fine but you really need to have bins of it so that the servers don't have to make the salad bin (which truly isn't all that hard but suck if you also have other stuff to do) and make (although the manager finally grudgingly said to at least call for it) bread, oh and don't forget that servers also have to greet tables, get drinks, run hot food, run refill whatever's, try to sell deserts and wine and alcohol and appetizers and and and...I figure we were all hoping for an easy night since we hadn't had one since last Tuesday (the week before V-day) and it would have been....maybe....ok it had potential to have been an easy one until it went to shit.

Guest Wise it wasn't too bad...they mostly understood what was going on (at least my to go guests did) I had some guests that called at 5 and asked if we had lasagna (in my head "no we're just an italian restaurant but we don't serve lasagna just other stuff...like tacos, and eggrolls...") I told them of course and that our lasagna is scrumdidliumptious...so they decide to place an order and then asked, "do you have buffalo wings?"--now our phone system sucks...it doesn't matter which phone I use but it can be static-y and difficult to understand so while she asked for buffalo wings I heard garble the first time and "special an low dings" the second and third. I repeated what I heard the third time and she chuckled and finally enunciated "buffalo wings" ...(in my head "of course we do! we're an italian restaurant that serves buffalo wings just like pizza places* do!") instead I say "no" she is finally done ordering and I repeat everything back to make sure we are on the same page so far and tell her the order will be done in ten minutes. Three hours later she hasn't picked up her order so I put it in with our food that we donate and then she calls asking if it was ready. close my eyes, deep breath, tell her it was ready within ten minutes of her placing the order and she acts surprised...really?! I don't call you when your order is ready that's why I give you an estimated time range to show up in...she tells me she's on her way so I get the food re-made and bag it all up again and she still doesn't show up for an hour...I hope you enjoyed the hot salad, cold lasagna, mussels and the chewy bread sticks...
Another guest called to ask if we had a certain soup, I explain that we had to take it off the menu because we are testing a new potato and mushroom soup but we would be bringing the other one back in a month. She gets all uppity and asks is it just our location or all of them, I say all of the ones in our region and she snottily replies "well I guess I'll be back in a month!" so as I am a really, very, incredibly nice person I reply "Well, you have an excellent month then. We'll definitely enjoy talking to you again!"...yeah not a great come back as far as come backs go but if you do the tone just right then you know it will piss the person off without them being able to say you were being rude (like smiling and waving at the person driving by who is flipping you off...nothing better)

Another V-Day survived

2011-02-15T13:12:00.000-06:00

Another busy holiday that I survived. It actually wasn't all that bad, there were four of us which was great since we were super busy. Had a few guests worth mentioning:

Guest calls in the middle of the rush twice. What did she want? To know in our professional opinion what type of olive oil is best. I spent probably 10 minutes with this lady telling her to read the back of the oil package and to stay away from trans-fats...gotta love old people

Lady calls at the beginning of our rush for the wait time for a party of 11. When I tell her it's going to be an hour and that we don't take call ahead's or reservations she pop's out this gem, "so we would have to wait in line?" yes lady that is exactly what I mean.

Our take out orders were taking about 30 to 45 minutes and a lady calls in, when I tell her how long it is going to take her angry retort is, "what? you're kidding, it's just an order for soup!" Well ma'am I only have twenty orders being made plus another fifteen that will be going through to the kitchen shortly, but yes I will throw all those aside so you can have your soup....Good luck getting through the door to pick up your order though.

A lady calls and asks about...actually I can't remember if it was for take out or for the dine in wait...I tell her how long it is and she bursts out with, "ugh, why is it so busy it's just Monday!" and I tell her "well it's Valentines Day" her response? "I know that"...oh I'm sorry that was rhetorical...you shouldn't ask those type of questions over the phone because I can get away with smart ass answers as long as I keep my tone pleasant and ever-so-helpful

and the Best Guest Award goes to this lady: "Hi, I was wondering how long your wait was?"...I tell her an hour..."Fabulous! And you guys do have wine right?"...um yes, we have a lot of wine..."Fabulous, thank you so much!"

thank you for the picture http://www.freakingnews.com/Gold-Medal-Winner-Mariel-Zagunis-Pics-53533.asp

Change it up...

2011-02-14T01:41:00.000-06:00

I'm thinking about going to school...again...I've been in a community college where I took easy course loads because I didn't know what I wanted to do...I still don't actually. Then I signed up for a technical school and got all the way to my last term before I dropped out, mostly because I was behind in my payments to them and couldn't catch up (and by I, I actually mean that I was lucky enough that my dad was paying for it (but his work is only seasonal)) and honestly I don't know if it is the right school for me any more. I have started paying the school myself now and my dad says he will help when his work starts back up but I don't know that I want to go back.
I looked at Devry....they have one that looks fun and I would probably be able to apply some of what I learned (it's environmental computer systems for business)...I went to the other technical place for computer systems...I also looked at the community college in town and I want to take some language courses...I would like to sharpen my spanish and also learn italian, arabic, and american sign language...

Plan

2011-01-30T22:32:00.000-06:00

So it's not that I am necessarily opposed to organized religion and the people that follow it. I mean if it makes you happy to go to a service every weekend, then fine go...especially if you feel that this makes you a better person. However, if you think that those "saving your soul" pamphlets are to be considered a tip then your a rude, pompous cocktard. If you leave these and a tip then I might actually read it, but by leaving these as the tip you are ensuring that I never come to your place of faith and that I talk about how the one person I met from there is in fact a rude, pompous cocktard.

I have decided upon a plan of action for this though. Anytime that I get these pamphlets I will go to a random church and put them in the collection plate as my offerings. I'm still considering whether or not I should staple a note of 'apology' about how since some people feel that these pamphlets constitute a tip that this is all I can give that week....or maybe I'm just concerned with saving the higher power's soul....

Who do you think your calling?

2011-01-29T11:53:00.000-06:00

Since I have moved I am not a full time bartender...Which is great! I like my schedule to be mostly the same day in and day out but I prefer to be doing a different job each day. I was a server at my new restaurant but then they needed someone who could work to-go's so I volunteered to switch over. For the most part I like doing to-go's but it seems here lately that not being face to face with someone gives them free reign to wallow in stupidity.

Caller Yes I woul' like to place an order and then come in an' get it

Me Sure, what would you like this evening?

Caller Weeelllll....firs' I have some questions... Do yall serve any chicken and pasta dishes?...please note that I work in an Italian Food restaurant

Me Yes we have several chicken and pasta dishes

Caller Could you name them? (said slightly impatiently)

Me Sure we have _______, ________, _______, (and I go through several of our dishes)

Caller Well what about shrimps and pasta?

Me (thinking to myself...no we only serve tacos and hamburgers not that my restaurant is even a well known corporate italian place) Yes we have ______, _____, _____, and again I name several of our dishes knowing full well that she won't even remember half of them

Caller Well...hm.....what about spaghetti do yall just serve plain ol' spaghetti?

Me Sure do you want just sauce, or would you like meatballs, sausage, or a mix of the two?

and *facepalm...really? Really? you called an italian place, why waste my time asking what type of pasta dishes we have? just order something, if we don't have it I will let you know and I will even steer you towards something that may be similar to what you're wanting...

other call...

it is two minutes till close...

Caller I wanna place a togo order...

Me I'm sorry but we close at ten and I can't take a to go order over the phone thirty minutes prior to closing, however, if you can get here in the next two minutes I would gladly help you at our bar top.

Caller Really? Dang, no I'm ten minutes away...man I'm hungry, I don't know what I'm gonna eat....dang I just don't know what I'm a do...

Me Well you have a great night ma'am hope you enjoy whatever it is you decide to eat and please don't hesitate to try us again

because you know...McDonald's, Wendy's, or Taco Bell don't all stay open late....I'm just saying...and no I'm not going to offer to stay open just for you...

and then about twenty minutes later someone called trying to place an order...oh what joy I got from saying..."I'm sorry we're closed"

Love these mini-movies

2010-12-19T20:48:00.001-06:00

this is freakin' hilarious!!!! i love these movies

What did I just say?

2010-12-19T20:39:00.000-06:00

I absolutely hate when people call and ask a question but don't listen to the answer.

Caller: "Do you take reservations?"
Me: "No, we are first come first serve."
Caller: "What about call ahead seating?"
Me: "No, that would technically be a reservation and we are only first come first serve."
Caller: " Not even for a large group of people??"
Me: "No, not even for large parties. We are first come first serve for all guests."

Don't keep questioning me hoping that I will change my mind. I won't. All the repeat questions do is irritate me and make me go into snooty server mode.

FYI

2010-10-22T11:14:00.000-05:00

In case you can't figure this one out I'm going to help. The menu (you know that thing that has pictures and descriptions of what we can and can't make for you to stuff your gullet with) is actually separated into different groups of like items. Such as appetizers, salads, classic recipes, chicken, dessert, alcoholic drinks, etc, etc...if the item that you order is under any heading that is not an appetizer then you get a salad or a soup (no these aren't complementary--part of the reason your entree is $20 is so you can have this option)...now if you want to order an appetizer as you dinner and you want the salad or soup, then fine, but you will have a charge for this. When I tell you about this charge please listen to the noises that are coming out of my mouth I don't make them for my own pleasure they are being made to disperse important information to you.

If you choose to not listen then don't, but you forfeit the right to complain about the additional charge when you receive your check. Telling me "well, I didn't eat salad" when I pulled six plates with salad gooies off your table will just piss me off. It come down to this, I can either charge you (which you get upset about) or I can not charge you (which will get me fired (which you don't care about anyway)). Given these choices I will always tell you that I'm charging you and then I will proceed to do it. STFU and get over it.

The move

2010-09-13T10:50:00.000-05:00

Well I have officially done it. I have moved to the big T. It's so weird being in a new state and such a hassle. The people at this restaurant are a lot nicer than at my old one. They can say something like what I would hear in Rogers but the meanness behind it isn't there. My apartment is tiny :-( but it serves as a good stepping stone until I see how much I will be making. And now I get to be the noob...yay...

Holy Hell Batman!

2010-07-31T02:28:00.000-05:00

Best thing about Catholicism? There is a patron saint for everything. Saint Martha , Saint Notburga, and Saint Zitta are patron saints for servers...guess I will be praying to them from now on :-)

You really want me to notice you? Fuck. You.

2010-07-31T02:22:00.000-05:00

Before I go into vent mode let me just say that Dog Guy came in and I got to take care of him, which made my night (Yay!) Money wise tonight was bueno but once he sat in my section the night was fantastico. :-) Now to the venting...

Evidently there are currently two or three sports tournaments in town. That's great for the old bank account so I'm not going to bitch about that because for the most part I've had decent guests....until tonight anyways. Two ladies sit down at the bar and one of them asked if they could get the spot wiped up...ok not a big deal it was just water from a glass being slid over that I hadn't had time to get to yet...so my partner wipes the spot for them while I grab their menus. Once I hand them the menus Dragon Lady goes to put her's down and rips it back up off the bar and makes the comment, "*snort of disgust* Come on! if you guys can't do better than this then I will just get a manager!"...umm Lady we keep our towel in a sani bucket instead of a pile somewhere on the bar because it's more sanitary. Not only that but we just wiped the spot you sat at (there was a clean and dry spot two chairs down that she could have chosen but whatever) so yes its going to still be a little damp (and damp is the key word, because since you chose to sit there we ring the towel out as good as possible). And lastly, you do not have to threaten to get my manager I would be more than happy to go get him so you can tell him how evil we are for not cleaning up the recently vacated spot immediately and how by using a towel it was still damp--just to let you know lady our busser's towels are absolutely disgusting they only get put in a sani bucket maybe three times during a shift...but if you would like I will get you one of those towels that have been used on multiple tables and highchairs without being rinsed out just so your spot can be nice and dry...............ok now back to the story, at this point I just raise my eyebrows at the threat and tell her that the best I can currently do is give her some napkins. Now I understand that because I am a bartender that somehow means that I'm beneath you. I don't like it, but I can tolerate it. You will be the guest that gets ninja service and every time I go to the kitchen you will be called various animal/body part combos. I let the other bartender take point on her because hey I'm closing and don't have to deal with it. I go back to well and start making all the server drinks that are coming in, once I get caught up I notice two ladies standing in the space next to Dragon Lady. I greet them and one tells me it's the others birthday. I tell her happy birthday and said, "since it's you b-day that means you want a lemon drop shot right?" she grins real big because that was evidently her drink of choice back in the day (score for me) they also order various other drinks. I am in the process of making the order when the guest talking to her friend says something about how she wishes she had a different voice--now there really isn't anything wrong with her voice, it's just kinda on the loud side--and then Dragon Lady decides to open her mouth and comments, "yeah I agree. It is really annoying"---fuckin bitch I was thinking, on my face was pure shock; because why the fuck do you have to be so rude to someone who is obviously not staying at the bar just ordering drinks? the Birthday Lady looked at her to see if maybe lady was just joking or something and then this look of shock/hurt comes over her face...I'm really proud of Birthday Lady because all she did was say, "well I will be gone soon and you won't have to deal with me in your ear." and it was true all she was waiting on was her lemon drop. I almost wish she had pitched a fit then Dragon Lady would have gone bye-bye. Birthday Lady does end up walking away and sent her husband over to get her shot (which I immediately made as a double, sort of as my own apology)

Like I said, up until that point Dragon Lady was receiving ninja service from me. Then you fucking bitch you screwed up my tip from Birthday Lady. Me and her were clicking enough that I know me and my partner would have split at least five. You, ass-fucking-cunt, dropped my tip down to a measly $2. You fuck with my money I don't pay attention to you. It really is that simple. My partner is the one who actually is taking care of you so I know you will still get service but you don't exist in my world anymore.

After witnessing that I was really irate--I've calmed since (yeah this is me more calm)--I saw my manager walk by and I hollered his name; when he came back to the bar window I told him that I needed to speak with him in the kitchen in about five. Then came the Keystone Barkeeps. I broke a bottle of Martin&Rossi Asti. We get that cleaned and we both go into the kitchen grab all the things we need to take care of various guests. We each go grab a tray, I got stuck telling the manager in the kitchen what just happened--because if Cuntalicious Dragon Lady is gonna complain the manager will know what the hell is going on before they get there. I come into the bar just in time to see S drop his tray of food--all over him. I can't help it I started laughing, every single guest is laughing except for Dragon Lady and her friend (it's not their food that fell, it's the tray I'm carrying) I put my tray down and tell S that I'm going to go get the stuff he just dropped and here is his tray of food--at the time I didn't know for sure it was Dragon Lady's but time wise it matched up to when her order should have been coming out--I go back to the kitchen and grab the soup and bread sticks he just dropped and when I get back to the bar the food is still on the tray on the back part of the bar. I gave him his soup and bread but instead of passing out the food that's still sitting on the tray I decide to clean up the mess on the floor which means that I get to go back to the kitchen and grab a broom and dust pan (I'm completely safety conscious--Fagioli soup is a slip hazard and blah blah) I come back in Dragon Lady had her food (I hope you enjoyed seeing it sit there bitch) and we get the mess cleaned up. When S threw some water on the floor and the broke glass bucket falls over. Seriously, it was a good twenty minutes of just cleaning stupid shit. So we now get that cleaned up and S is bringing over another bottle to put in our bucket when it somehow slips out of his hand and smashes on the other side of the bar. Luckily we had some regulars sitting there so they just make big jokes out of it. Between me and them we grounded S from going near the door to the kitchen or carrying anything. I went back to the kitchen grabbed the broom and dustpan to clean the bar again. And that's that for the Keystone Barkeeps. Dragon Lady decides on desert so S is getting that and I get desert for another party. When we both are in the kitchen we hear the backdoor bell ring, he looks at me and I said, "I'm so not dealing with that bitch in there we'll both go smoke and I will just ask C to watch the bar for us." C agrees once I give her the rundown and while we're smoking she asks Dragon Lady if she needs anything--no but then Dragon Lady tells C, "thanks for acknowledging us"

I realize this is a dig on me. I refuse to, remember you cost me money you no longer exist and I'm pretty sure S started ninja serving your rude ass. And even if he hasn't started that we just spent 30 min breaking/dropping/and cleaning up the messes (but evidently we did that on purpose *eye roll*). Our manager that was working the kitchen came up around then and cashed Dragon Lady out, and I guess our performance was so stellar she decided not to tip--no surprise anyways.

As far as nights go it was a good shift, even with that fiasco we each still made 50; and i broke a bill before the end of it.

Gee that's nice

2010-07-20T23:10:00.000-05:00

Went out last night and got the creepy/insult combo pick up line. My friend and I are talking to the bartenders and this guy comes up stands on the other side of her and starts talking to me.
stranger: "so i don't think i'm good enough for your friend....she's just to good for me....i'd like to get to know you though"
me: thinking to self great what a way to wow me that's so sweet...*half smile
stranger: "so tomorrow if you'll be here i'd like to try this again when i'm more sober"
i focus in on my friend's conversation with the bartender but dud catches my eye again and starts in on how i'm moving soon and how he can find a job anywhere...gas station attendant, construction, blah blah, and if i have family over there then they can help find something--still not sure if he was referring to them helping him or me... but seriously dud i just met you last night, in fact i didn't even talk to you until you started hitting on me because my friend is too good for you. thanks for that by the way. and after just meeting me your ready to move 200 miles away? ick, don't start on that--and don't tell me about how you stopped here on your way through to somewhere else because your son started a family here. again ick, i'm 26 and i don't have a daddy complex the oldest guy that i'm willing to date is 36. ugh!

Woot! Woot!!

2010-07-18T01:45:00.000-05:00

Busy night tonight :-) Great thing didn't happen until the end of the night. Normally about five minutes till close we have Dog Guy come in. He's nice-well as nice as someone can be who comes in that late-but he buys his meal then gets two steaks and six chicken breasts for his dog. I know kinda crazy but dog evidently saved Guy's life from a mugger so I can understand. He comes in his check comes to about $80 or so normally and he tips anywhere from $30-$40. He also stays about an hour but for that I will definitely stay :-)

And call it karma but Killjoy got stiffed *evil grin*. She gets these people that smell horribly. One of them is Look-like-a-man. She evidently had cancer and the chemo made her gain a lot of weight and hair growth. She also uses this as an excuse to not have good hygiene...I have no clue what her husbands excuse is. Now I could have been really mean and not told Killjoy that she most likely wouldn't get a tip but then...Well anyway, I tell her and I tell her how their tip scale is. $2 on anything is their version of you-fuckin-rock and then unfortunately they request you as their server from then on. Whatever change would round the bill up to the next whole dollar (so if it's --.45 and they leave .55) means your a great server but they won't request you or anything and then most the time they just don't tip. It's not because they are poor; they are just that kind of people. Anyways so I tell her and she goes and takes care of them on the gamble that she'll get the tip (I neglected to say the requesting part) but at then end when she gets their $100 tab she sees no tip...darn sorry Killjoy maybe you won't be such a miserable fun sucker at work tomorrow...I could only hope anyways

Frenemies

2010-07-17T13:08:00.000-05:00

Really? I know you told Neighbor that shit because it would get back to me, I 'm not dumb like you apparently think I am. Fact is, Humpback, that I don't talk about you disrespectfully. All that shit that you told me while we were friends that you don't want others knowing--I still don't talk about it, I don't even make jokes about it...that's your game. Stop involving me in your drama--that is the reason we aren't friends anymore...not some misguided notion that you think I wanted to fuck you....*sound of disgust* egh....sometimes I really hate people...

Dream

2010-07-11T23:54:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had a dream where when you wake up you start to dissect it? The other night I had a dream where this kid started messing with these killer bees. Well, when I woke up I realized they couldn't be killer bees because they weren't in a hive, it was more like a wasps nest. Also, I out ran them by running around the house and the six times (three on one arm and I have no clue about the other three, I just know I got them)I got stung didn't trigger the whole swarm frenzy.

$$

2010-07-11T23:48:00.000-05:00

Had an amazing weekend. If the rest of the month could be like this weekend was financially then I won't stress over bills; which will be nice for once...

Ugh...

2010-07-10T00:46:00.000-05:00

I really hate stupid hosts, now I'm not saying that all hosts are dumb but one of our hosts that worked tonight failed the serving tests twice (training is five days long and there is a test basically each day) and then went on to fail the host tests (the floorchart test is the same one she took both weeks of her server training, then as a host she took it six different times). Our training is not that difficult, it doesn't change really because the same few people train and there is a book that tells us exactly what to go over. This is all beside the point though because I didn't have an issue with her tonight, my issue was with the lady doing lead....
I'll just call her Oi, since that seems to be her catch phrase....anyway, I was working in our bar area which consists of the bar top and seven booths...my service partner and I each take three tables and rotate the fourth out or have the bartenders pick it up (because in my restaurant no one is allowed to have more than three working tables at once) recently our corporate bosses decided to change the way the bar works. It's now open seating where before it was in the host rotation. Ok the key wording here is OPEN SEATING. Oi decides that since tonight is big party night that my service partner and I will be taking a ten top at the last two tables since they can be pushed together...Ok no big deal, that is until she has the one open table capped so noone can sit there (I have guests getting ready to leave at the other one) and tells guests that only the bartop is currently open seating...this puts my service partner with three tables and me with two. She now wants me to wait at least another 20 minutes before my partner drops a check (because every seven people we have to add a server (and my partner had just gotten all three tables)) before I get a table....this doesn't fly---not on my server wage....I go up to the host stand and tell them to figure something out because I'm not waiting 20 minutes and running two tables only...she shrugs and ignores me and the other host that was there asks about letting a bartender take it with me...I tell them I don't care who my partner is but I'm not waiting for a table....after I leave the host stand my service partner is getting change from the togo person (the togo area is the host are also) and they both see Oi tell four different tables that they can't sit in the booths...according to Oi only the bartop--not the booths that consist of the bar--is open seating. Service partner has now dropped a check and can take the table with me, togo girl tells me what was said, and the table is now set up. I went to the manager and told him what was going on, service partner comes up and confirms and also lets him know he dropped a check and can take it; I walk back up to the host stand the table is completely ready and ask if I need to go ahead and show them to the table or if another host is going to walk them back---she starts trying to tell me who my service partner is ( this has already been discussed and decided and all parties informed on whats going on). I lost my temper at this point--not that I had been calm before but I had been collected and logical...but I interrupted her which I rarely do and I think it startled her, I told her that all of that had been discussed and wasn't my concern anymore...my concern was getting this table sat...."oh it's ready? set up and everything?"....Christ! yes it is all I need is the last five menus and the party...she tries to send over a host to make sure I'm not lying (from the host stand you can see the table)...so I walk halfway across the bar again, check the table again, tell her again to page the party and grab five menus...she finally does page them, I go and check my other table since at this point I'm down to one, I get them their refills and look back at the ten and holy! fuckin! christ! they just squeezed 13 people to a table that really is perfect for 8 but can squeeze ten....poor Test Failure...she actually thought about this and looked at me and asked if they would be comfortable (if my mind hadn't been gearing up for the guests I probably would have been shocked that she actually had a logical thought) I told her it was ultimately the guests decision and if we had somewhere else to sit them to let me know. The guests for their part seemed perfectly happy with there table (no condescending comments or looks)...service partner and I greet the table and as we are getting the drinks for everybody Oi strikes again....because at this point she is now offering the bar (booths included) again...we grab the manager and ask him since the bar seems to be open seating again (which he then stops us and says it never wasn't and Oi was wrong (extremely satisfied evil type chuckle)) we both give him this bland stare and ask if he will at least go get the drink order for the people who just sat down (a few sarcastic comments about if he know how to do a wine presentation (where I tell him to offer a certain one because it's like silk in the mouth and service partner tells him to offer a certain beer because of its nice creamy head)) and he goes off to greet the table. We drop off the drinks and at this point we split up; service partner takes care of the two tables that have sat down and I start taking care of the party (totally not standards btw). Every time I walk past the host stand to go to the kitchen Oi asks if she can offer the bar some more and every time I have a valid reason of why she can't ( I do so love when I'm right about something and management backs me up).
At this point I'm going to clarify again that I didn't care about getting the party--I was there to make money not just jack around--but the circumstances around getting the table sat pissed me off...Bitching about the host stand is one thing but when it starts getting personal I try to back up the hosts and tell people to lay off--we don't know why decisions are made the way they are unless we're up there with them and most the time that's not the case--but as a host you are paid hourly, don't fuck with my money...if I have an issue with something that you're doing I will be as professional as possible when I address you, if for some reason I can't speak without being a raging bitch then I will go to a manager; that's what their salary is for.
And in the end the table and my passive-aggressive-you-can't-because worked into my favor the party left basically what the gratuity was so me and service partner were able to split a sweet tip.

oh and the table I had before the party sat down....fuck you guys.....24 cent tip....I might take it personally but every other tip was at least 20% so evidently you are just fucking teenagers; thanks though I will definitely remember you next time you come in and stop by your table a few times with the smirk that will make you look at your food and wonder....I wouldn't ever mess with someones food (that's just horrible and beneath most people) but I do find a certain joy when you realize that I remember you and your shitty tip and you suddenly remember all those stories...

CRASH!!

2010-07-08T00:44:00.000-05:00

hehe. No that has nothing to do with work (it was busy though). About thirty minutes after my bar shift started tonight it started down pouring and there was a wreck out on the highway near us, didn't look like anyone was hurt. We ended up getting friggin' slammed--and there I was post allergy day where I always feel like I'm walking through sludge. Had a decent day regardless though I ended up walking with 80 and some change.

muhwhahahahahhahahaha

2010-07-02T23:14:00.000-05:00

When you go out to eat do you ever feel like just maybe your server is trying to piss you off?
me:hi ladies how are we doing today?...(your good reply)...well, my name is A---
lady guest: (interrupting) do you have any REAL sweet & low, or is it just this generic crap?
me: well ma'am i'm pretty sure that is REAL sweet & low, just in our packaging
lg: *blank stare
me: so can i get you anything to drink today?
lg: well i did want tea but since you don't know what this (punctuated with you throwing the packet back to the sugar caddy) is i guess (now sounding truly put upon) i'll just have Coke
me: alrighty i will be right back with yall's drinks
Here's the thing lady I don't know if you noticed but when you sat down I came up and greeted your table and took your order. This obviously means that I wait tables. Which (smart people please bear with me) mean that I DON'T make any big decisions about what our corporation carries....now back to the table with drinks (i also have drinks on my tray for the other two table that sat down, drop all the drinks off and come back to get orders)...
lg's friend: i'll have (orders a dish that comes with salad or soup can chooses salad)
me: and ma'am what can i get for you today
lg: i'll have the (orders an appetizer that does not come with anything)
me: ok would you like to add a salad with that today?
lg: no i'm fine
me: alright then i will just get this in for yall,(turn to friend) i will be right back with your salad
go grab the other orders from my other tables and at this point i also have people sitting at the bar who i get their orders for, get a coworker to help grab those drinks while i go make 5 salads and bread for eveybody head back out...
me: (as i'm dropping her friends salad) can i go ahead and get you ladies anything else
lg: this Coke, there is something wrong with it...it's just blech (with the icky face)
me: ok would you like me to try the other drink station or would you prefer something else
lg: no i guess just go with water (sounding very put upon because we carry generic crap and icky coke)
me: i'll be right back with that for you (drop the rest of my salads make sure everyone else is good(luckily they are) go get her water and bring it out and low and behold she's eating salad)
Here's another thing, I point blank asked if you wanted salad and you said no, this means that your friend gets unlimited refills on her salad but you don't get any. So now I'm watching and notice that you eat half of it (a couple of bites I would have ignored) I now have more guests and everything is starting to get hectic but i do notice that you two are low on bread and your friend did give me the heads up to "keep it comin" so I come out with your next basket of bread...
me: here's fresh bread for you and I checked on your food it should be out momentarily
lg: can we get another salad? with more dressing this time you didn't put enough on last time (with the attitude, really?!)
me: (at this point i'm really busy but still polite(and normally i do tell them that they would have an additional charge but i didn't feel like i had the time to sit there and explain while dealing with more condescension so decide to not let them know and let a manager deal with it(and now i know my tip is gone because they are going to dispute the charge but i refuse to loose my job over three dollars))) i will be right back with that ma'am anything else while i'm back there?
lg: no
k so I go and do another round to all my tables and guests, thank god my manager, texas, (the one with bar experience) is there because I haven't been behind the bar to make drinks in 10 minutes or so. bring everything out. Their food ends up following me to the table. fast forward to the end of the meal...
me: hey texas, i just wanna give you a heads up that 111 is going to be unhappy that i charged them for her add salad
texas: did you let them know about it before you did it
me: no i've been running around....ok really i just didn't want to deal with the attitude (she's been by this table and had to deal with the condescension so she know where i'm coming from on that point)
texas: see you should have let them know that's where yall mess up....blah blah *lecture, how much did she eat?
me: about half and she said no when i point blanks asked about the salad with her appetizer

i'm tired of typing now so long story short they aren't happy with the bill she explains that the first salad two people can eat without being charged for an extra one (as long as one of them orders something that comes with salad) but once they order a refill they have to be charged, and at this point they decide i am a bad server very not pleasant (now remember she's been by the table a few times and they never had any complaints about my attitude just our gross coke and generic crap) and they stiff me....but you know what it's ok, at least i make an hourly wage (since i was clocked in as a bartender) and i got a little light revenge on a condescending attitude....

haha

2010-06-30T21:34:00.000-05:00

Hosted tonight, sometimes you just gotta love the job...anyway Avatar comes up to me and says, "I don't know if it matter or not but the person my table is waiting on is Himalasian....Malaysian...? " I'm sitting there busting out laughing brought tears to my eyes.....Thank you Avatar I really needed that.

Co-workers

2010-06-27T00:57:00.000-05:00

Probably my biggest pet peeve about co-workers...I hate when they say anything about a "real" job. I don't care if you don't plan on being a career server (because hey most of us won't) but you should still have pride in the job you do because what you do at this job does reflect on the kind of worker you'll be in your career. This means that middle of rush you need to not be texting and i don't know maybe taking care of your guests, and if they are completely taken care of then maybe seeing if anyone needs help could be your next step...you know just sayin....

Slooooooooooooowwwwww

2010-06-26T00:54:00.000-05:00

Ugh...tonight me and the other bartender stood around doing nothing until 7:15. He had been there since four and I got there at five. So between 4 and 7 all we had done was made drinks for 15 tickets (yes we actually had time to count). Management wouldn't let him leave because they were afraid we would get to busy (yeah I get the fear but my wallet hates it) we never did though. We had a total of three guests sit down and for 45 minutes we had our little rush. After tip out we each only made 23 dollars....on a side note one of the couple that sat down made me laugh. Evidently one of our competitors serves and italian style meatloaf (had no clue about this) so when they sat down she looks over the menu and asked if we had meatloaf tonight. I couldn't help it she got the you're-an-idiot look with a slight no head shake. Her guy thought it was the funniest thing though...they were both great...the exact kind of guests we all want; super polite--every single time I set something down, no matter how sneaky I tried to do it, she always said thank you, when me or the other bartender would talk to them they would listen and actually look at us while we were speaking, and they tipped 25%. Fan-friggin-tastic... seriously the guests that always make the job worth it....

Lou Tice

2010-06-25T02:03:00.001-05:00

Winner's Circle Network with Lou Tice - 6/24/10 - "Control Over Your Emotions"

When you hit your thumb with a hammer, you know what causes the pain. Do you know what causes the emotion?

All of us have nervous systems that cause us to feel pain. All of us have emotions, too. We feel happy, sad, angry, elated, hopeless, inspired. But where do the emotions come from? What causes them?

When you hit your thumb with a hammer, you feel pain. You may also feel some anger and maybe even some shame. We can safely say that the hammer caused the pain. But we can't say that the hammer caused the anger or the shame. If that were true, then it wouldn't matter who hit them on the thumb, every single one would feel exactly the same emotions.

So how come you get mad when the same situation doesn't bother someone else at all? They laugh it off without a hint of anger. You see, the truth is that you cause you own emotions, and you do it with your thoughts. Many centuries ago, Epictetus said, "We are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by our opinion of the things that happen." I want you to know that you don't have to let your inner feelings be dictated by the external environment.

You can, bit by bit, learn to handle any and every situation you want to. You can learn to change your opinion of the things that happen so that you control your emotions, rather than letting them control you. Can you see yourself taking charge like this?

No work but no play either

2010-06-24T16:35:00.001-05:00

no working today...yay get to catch up on homework now though....

Buh-Bye

2010-06-23T13:23:00.000-05:00

I live in a dry county, so that means (supposedly) no alcohol is served in public places. The way all the bars and restaurants get away with serving food is by having people join a "private club"...meaning all they do at out location is sign a book with a name (doesn't have to be real) and a town (again doesn't have to be their real town).....last night we have a guest come in and the host greets him and asks him to sign in with a name and town (yes we even say a name not your name) he looks at her says "no, i'm good" and she in turn lets him know that until he signs our book we cannot server him. He walks out the door.I'm sorry but just because the majority of the other restaurants don't do there job and make you sign something when you walk in doesn't mean that we're going to follow suit. My place of employment actually does follow the law...and according to one ABC person (although this changes depending on which person comes in) we aren't even doing it correctly.

And by throwing your little fit we can all tell what kind of douche you would have been to the server. So I just wanted to say thank you for leaving, buh-bye.

PDR

2010-06-22T14:31:00.000-05:00

so a couple of weeks ago I got a write-up....yes I know it's ok be shocked...it started with this coworker...we'll call her Bulletproof...Bullet comes up to me and I guess another coworker (church lady) had told her not to speak in Spanish and that any language is ok except for Spanish. Bullet comes up to me and asks why it would be ok to have a conversation in Japanese but not Spanish, I told her any language regardless of what it is could be considered rude in front of guests that don't know said language. We went on to talk some more and she asked me the same questions again. I said I could care less what language is spoken in front of me as long as it's not about me and recapped my previous statement. We go on to talk some more about other topics and again she asks me the original question. Again I say any language that leaves someone out of the conversation because they don't understand can be considered rude. At this point I have to go take care of a guest and walk off.
Evidently she feels that because of what Church Lady and I said that she can no longer speak Spanish. I can't and am not speaking for Church Lady; I only got what was said from Bulletproof so I don't know the context of her and Church Lady's discussion. With my discussion, however, I never said anything against Spanish. and yes I can see that my statement taken by itself could be taken against Spanish but we had a full conversation around it where I said any language.
That incident took place about a month and a half to two months ago. About three or four weeks ago my district manager calls me into the office and asks me about it. I told him and wrote my statement and it ended with me being told to not fall for the manipulative questions (the fact that she asked me multiple times) and with Church Lady being let go.
It gets better though because Bulletproof also got called in the office. I don't know if she received a write-up but I do know she was in there crying for a period of time.

I know

2010-06-22T12:43:00.000-05:00

Yes I am aware that there are umpteen million restaurant blogs out there. I work at an Italian restaurant and I am almost through with school. Mostly this blog will be for anything that happens either at work or outside of work -- but fair warning I work a lot.