Monday, February 4, 2008

How do they "manage" to make it through a day?

Let's not leave out the most important part of our restaurant team... The management....at least we let them "think" they are the most important (just kidding). They work sixty plus hours at the store.. some coming in at 4 AM to receive deliveries, some staying until past one in the morning. They have one hundred people pestering them at all given times...from dishwashers to hosts to servers, cooks, and most dreaded...irritated customers. I was a manager at the last restaurant I worked at, and I am here to tell you, it ain't easy; by a LONG stretch. They are the hardest working and the hardest worked people in the restaurant business. I must admit that my managers treat me so great that I sometimes wonder what I have ever done to deserve such wonderful treatment?! But what is great about our management team is that the harder you work, the better they treat you... so I must work pretty darn hard. They have people constantly seeking them out in the store... people wanting them to buy ads in yearbooks, coupon books, banners in ball fields, or just wanting to rant and rave over the fact that their French onion soup was cold. It amazes me daily that the public can get SO worked up over an over done steak, or the fact that they had to actually WAIT for a table on a Friday night. Just wait till Valentine's Day... Every manager in the place will have an ulcer by the end of the day. They do not hesitate to jump on the line and help cook.. some have spent hours on the fryer, or char grill, even the salad window, just helping us get caught up and expedite the food. Many days, they will even wash dishes, plunge a toilet, or escort an intoxicated person out the door. They are the restaurant "parents" , and are responsible for every action, every complaint, situation and problem that arises in the course of a day. But throughout it all, they smile, are considerate to the customers.. whether they are wrong or right; put up with people calling in sick, not showing up, or not doing their job. And for some unknown reason, they continue to show up again the next day. Dealing with not only the public sector, but the behind the scene problems is enough to drive you crazy... Maybe that is why very few of our managers have a full head of hair! But my respect for them is immense, my sympathy for them is even greater. It is a fast paced, hectic world in the job of pleasing the public; but my bosses do it better than anyone in the world... and I am pretty sure that I am right on the mark with that statement... and will stand behind it, or them... any day of the week... Till later...COTTON

No comments: