Surprise, Surprise!

I worked last night, and to my surprise, they had me training! I haven't officially been made a trainer, but they're "throwing" people in to see how they would do--or something like that. In fact, they didn't even inform me that I was training--after shift meeting, I went up toward the host-stand, when this very tall gentleman came over and introduced himself as my trainee. I thought it was a bit unprofessional to not tell the trainer that she's training, but I got over it quickly.
It was my first time training in this restaurant, and I can't lie--it wasn't easy. It helped that my trainee was smart and caught on quickly. Too bad it was slower than molasses. Super slow. I felt bad that we didn't have work to do. Then again, he said we seemed pretty busy, but he hasn't seen us in action yet. The entire bar was empty! Crazy. All in all, I think it went well. I hope they continue putting me on as trainer. Yay.
This week coming up is Graduation Week, so hopefully the bucks start flying! I've been praying for rain (in the form of fifty-dollar bills)!

Close Tomorrow.

Detached

Tonight was fine. Tonight was actually one of the better nights I've worked. Morale was good. Good staff. Good. I didn't make great money, but I was out of there at a decent time (and did well for the actual time spent). Anyway...
I think part of the reason tonight wasn't that bad was because I hadn't worked in a week. It's crazy the things that happened while I was gone. There are new bartenders, new servers, new managers, new drama (another senior quit). Just a lot of shit. A lot of shit that I didn't have an opinion about because I wasn't around. It felt good. It really did feel good to be detached.

Dinner tomorrow.

Mini-Vaca...not really

I haven't worked at the restaurant since last weekend, and that feels great, but man, I've been busy! This weekend my cousin got married, so I drove with my family 6 hours to attend. It was a great time, but exhausting!

Because of my weekend excursion, I'm totally broke, so I predict some extra shifts in my future!

Stay tuned...

Dinner Wednesday.

Gripe of the Day

I haven't even been in the restaurant for two days, and I have a gripe. I have a gripe because of my scheduled shift this evening. I know that everyone has availability, and it's hard to accommodate a lot of people, but that's when seniority should have the upper-hand. When I started this new job, I only wanted to work Thurs, Fri, and Saturday nights. That was a big fat "NO." So, then I reverted to Wed, Thurs, and Sat, but my manager told me that they DESPERATELY need people Monday nights. It's amazing how busy Mondays are! (I hope you sense the sarcasm.) So fine, I gave her Mon, Wed, Thurs, and Sat (with the deal that she would only schedule me 3 of the 4 days). In addition, I told her that I would close the restaurant every Saturday night, if she didn't schedule me to close during the week. I have to wake up early, and it's difficult after getting out of there at 1. So, like clockwork, the last three weeks (the first three weeks of my new job), I have successfully closed at least one of my weekday shifts and the Saturday night shift.
I want to go in there and demand respect...demand a schedule that will not deem all-nighters...demand that she get off her high-horse, quit writing the schedule out of spite, and start respecting the people she's scheduling.
I know how daunting it is to write a schedule, I did it for nearly three years. I understand the frustration of everyone having separate schedules, but I also know the value of good employees, and I have great organizational skills. Once all the ethics are in place, the schedule practically writes itself.

Monday Blah-day

Once again, I would rather not drag myself to that restaurant again, but I suppose there is no other way for me to keep my house except work. Ugh.

Saturday night was weirdly slow. The interesting part about the evening was that, even though we were slow, tickets still managed to come out of the kitchen wrong--not completely wrong, but they would forget stupid shit--shit that they should not be forgetting. So, I said something to the MOD about the fact that the kitchen only had five tickets in the window and I needed a table-call because of their laziness/illiteracy. She turned to me and told me that the kitchen was dealing with other forms of stress and that's why. Okay, so great, you can fully justify a stupid mistake by your kitchen staff, but the moment one of the servers has to have something "promo-ed" we get reamed for it, talked to about it, or have tables taken away. Unbelievable.

This week is ridiculously busy, but I fully intend on signing up for "Lunch with GM."
I also fully intend on making his head spin.

Dinner tonight.

Conclusions

I've come to the conclusion that I simply cannot wait so long between posts anymore! Even though I'm only at the restaurant 3 nights a week, there is still so much going on, that it really is stressing me out.
The GM started this thing a few weeks ago--"Have lunch with GM!" He has a slot on Tuesday and one on Thursday. At first, I thought I would spare him and keep my opinions to myself (it never goes anywhere anyway), but at this point, morale is so low, I feel it's necessary. It's cyclical, which I've explained before, and I would like him to see the cycle. I've already expressed my feelings here, but I think it's time.
However, I do have my concerns. Now that I'm only working a couple nights a week, I don't know if he'll take me seriously. No, I really don't like waiting tables, but I do take pride in my job and the establishment where I work. No matter what my job is, I take pride. And that's the thing. Obviously, something has kept me there--the people, the cuisine, the patrons, the money--something has kept a lot of us there, and those people should be respected and know their worth at the company. We don't know our worth--we know that we are disposable and could be cut at any moment. It should have to be that way.
I don't want to leave and go to another restaurant. I know this one, and I'd prefer to stick around in a place where I'm comfortable (to a degree).
I'll write more later...

Guess What?

I really don't want to work tonight! :(

I Miss You

I had no idea that transitioning into this job would be so difficult...well, it's not really difficult, but it's an adjustment I didn't realize would take so much out of me. I really like my new job. And I really enjoy the part about me not being at the restaurant as much. The ridiculous meter is off the charts.

Cinco
Cinco de Mayo, a lovely drinking holiday that brings everyone out. We were insanely busy (even though it was a Monday). We had tents set up outside, and the patio. I was inside, which I was bummed about at first, but I got over it. I was in a decent section, with happy patrons, and happy employees. I ended up getting sat with a co-worker and her eight friends, so that really made my evening enjoyable. It was the longest day of my life, but well worth it monetarily.

Drama
All last weekend we considered Cinco because it fell on a Monday. So, the first day of Cinco (Friday) the computers went down. Down-down. I, luckily, was not working, but the crash kits were pulled out and everything was done manually. Saturday morning when I got there, they were still down. Crash kits again. Everyone was tense, and those who had worked the night before were already frustrated because they already had one shitty shift, and they felt like they had to get ready for another. It was extremely difficult. When a "turn-and-burn" restaurant's computer system goes down that usually means that they are fucked. Especially during a holiday weekend. (I call it karma, but I'll get to that in a minute.) I only worked lunch Saturday (again, luckily), and I stayed in the zone to make sure that I was doing everything right. I wrote everything legibly for the kitchen staff, made sure to tally up the ticket properly. It's just weird because it's not what we're used to. If this were a diner, we'd have no problems. We had the prehistoric credit card machines--automatic rubbing system--pretty funny. But, we only had one, so that was a pain in the ass. When the shift was coming to a close, I immediately figured out my own sales, food sales, liquor sales, and asked to "check out" before completing my side-work. My GM and I sat down, did the entire check-out and agreed on the amount owed, etc.
Well, that night I hear that check-outs didn't go so smoothly. People claim they didn't make enough money, or that they owed too much. Some say that management on duty didn't know the proper formulas to figure out cash owed, etc. It was a mess. It even caused a senior server to quit, and it's a shame because she was a very hard worker and a good server.

Stupid Shit
Last night (Saturday) I got my ass kicked. I was in the first section, the farthest from the servers' station and the kitchen. It's a great section, but it's hard! I was sat my first 3 tables within 15 minutes. That's how the night started, and that's how it proceeded for the remainder of the shift. I snapped at the hostess (like we all do), which I had to apologize for later, because she is my friend, but it did upset me that she was seating me so incessantly. I know that it's preposterous to say this, but I really do wish that we could put the hostesses in our shoes for one day--shit, one round of being flat-sat, then tell me if they'll do it again. I say it's preposterous because of course we know that they wouldn't last, but maybe if they had some perspective...who am I kidding...
Moving on with the flat-seating...When I bitch about said flat-seat, I get this response, "Ask for help." If all servers are being flat sat, then they really don't have time to help others (there are usually a couple servers who are good for help, but on a whole everyone starts fending for themselves after the shift picks up). I know that being in the section I was in last night, I found it very difficult to find time to help anyone. That's also why no one can keep up with running side-work. If everyone is scrambling to get out of the weeds (and let's face it, some of them don't), no one can do anything. Pace the wait (I know I've talked about this before).

No Smoking
Ever since some dumb asses decided to tell the RGM they were going out to smoke, there is a ZERO tolerance level on smoking. Over Cinco, however, that did fall off a bit, so last night, I took a chance. Around 8:30, I told the GM that the trash was overflowing, and I would take it out. He asked if I had a minute. While I was taking out the trash (which really was overflowing), the other manager on duty came walking around the building. I yelled that I did ask permission, but she still seemed confused. Either way, we went inside, finished the shift, whatever. So after close, after check out she asked me about "the incident."
MOD: What exactly did you say to General Manager when you asked to go outside?
Me: I said that the trash was overflowing, so I would take it out.
MOD: Did you say anything about smoking?
Me: No, I figured any manager I asked to take out the trash, they would know that I would sneak a smoke while I was out there.
MOD: Okay, well General Manager didn't know that, and he wanted me to right you up.
Me: Well, I want you to know that I didn't mean to be malicious or anything, I just figured...
MOD: Well, I'm not going to write you up, but I wanted to let you know.
Me: Thanks very much...

Yadda, yadda, yadda. I'm thankful she didn't write me up, but this no smoking thing is killing most of us. The thing that pisses me off the most, which makes me want to rebel even more, is that they allow the managers to "take a drive" during the middle of their shift to smoke. They are allowing the people who are in charge of all the people to leave the property, while on duty, to smoke a fucking cigarette, but they won't let their employees run outside to relieve some stress. Unreal. I just hate the fact that management is not leading by example. If they can't get through a shift without a smoke, why do they expect us to. I'm all for stipulations, and I sure do know how people can abuse certain privileges, but come on. This is ridiculous.

Close tomorrow (even though I asked for no closing shifts during the week because of work, but who am I? Oh, that's right, I'm just one of their senior staff members, and that means squat)...

Coming Soon...

Cinco de Mayo update.

My thoughts on training techniques.

Employee Drama.

Ah, who am I kidding...the "norm" coming soon! :)

Busy Week

I certainly have been busy this week. I started my other job, and I told the restaurant I would work an extra shift (4, rather than 3). Needless to say, I haven't been extremely motivated to wait on hungry patrons. Last night, I was the QUEEN of giving away tables. I didn't want to deal with anyone. Sooo, at 8:15, when it was dying hard, the hostesses started to set up a 10-top in my section. She said that they weren't all there yet, so she would stall for as long as possible. I was so scared that I was going to get that table. I didn't understand why they wouldn't just give it to a closer, but whatever. I ended up approaching the closing manager like this, ", may I express a concern?" I proceeded to tell him that I was worried that if I took the 10-top I would be there all night, and I have my new job in the morning. All he said was, "I'll take care of it." The next thing I know, he put cuts up! Way too early! Two out of the three closing servers were relatively new, and there were still people walking in the door. I feel partly responsible, but then again, I have no control over what the manager decides to do, I was simply asking if he could give the table to a closer, just so I wouldn't have to be there all night with them. I would have taking another small-top if need be. Whatever. I did my side work and did what I could to help. They seemed okay when I left, but they were "jammin' " (as my mother would say).


I have a funny story. A couple nights ago, there was a table of six in the section next to mine--four adults and two children). The one small child was a boy around 5 or 6, the other, a toddling little girl. The boy had on those "wheelie" shoes (sneaker with a wheel on the bottom of each), so he was "wheeling" around the table the whole time--and the whole time, I was dodging this little kid. So, at one point, I was going up to the table sitting parallel to the Wheelies, and I had a stack of plates in my hand. I wasn't really paying attention to this small child at the moment because I was focusing on my table. Well, next thing ya know, this kid "wheels" out from the table and slams his head on the stack of plates in my hands. I know it hurt a little. If not from the blow, from his embarrassment. I apologized quickly, but I was pretty angry at this little imp and his no-discipline parents. I threw the dishes in the wait station, kinda pissed off, and stormed to the kitchen. I needed to scream, and it was coming out no matter what! I freaked out for a minute, re-gained my composure and went back out into the dining room. I immediately went back up to the child to make sure he was okay, then I turned to the table I was trying to take care of before. When I went over, I apologized and said, "Before that little catastrophe, I was going to ask if ya'll needed boxes." The girls laughed, and the one said, "We wished you'd have hit him harder!" Awesome!

Patio tomorrow night!