This is what happens when Valentine's Day falls on a Monday...people make a Mardi Gras out of it.
It started Friday night...kinda like the "Early Bird" special. Saturday night was even crazier, people all decked out in their red vests and pink sweaters. Most overheard remark at the host stand..."Table for two please".
Working in the restaurant industry requires that you take full advantage of all holidays...Gotta strike while the iron is hot! After Valentine's Day we run dry until Mother's Day.
The only problem is that it tends to be a lot of people that usually don't go out to eat and some of them don't realize we make $2.13 a hour and rely on tips to make our paycheck.
I am still a firm believer that if you "WOW" them...most will respond in kind. If you get a few bad tips and a lot of good ones the odds work out in your favor.
We have a few new servers that recently started and have been blindsided by not only the huge menu we offer but the rapid fire pace that we work during crunch hours.
Most are young (of course they are ALL young compared to me) and come into the job thinking of only one thing...money in their pocket.
I had been a server for 33 years when I started this job and it took me four months before I felt comfortable "selling" as opposed to "order taking". I knew very little about wines but busted my butt learning all I could .
Now I can sell the product, push the product, suggest modifications to certain dishes to make it more palatable to the guest and know how to send it all to the kitchen without major goof ups.
The new servers...Not so much.
Some try really hard. Others try really hard to act like they try really hard when they don't.
Some of them get ticked when you try to help them. They burr all up and shoo you away, only to come back thirty minutes later to ask you to help them figure out what went wrong.
I feel like saying "YOU went wrong, you idiot ... I tried to tell you that to begin with thirty minutes ago before you acted like I was a stupid old woman who was holding you back from making your wad of cash".
One of the newer server's had a meltdown during the brunch shift and I swear it was like seeing a toddler throw a tantrum.
You know me...I cracked up about it all day long!
He pitched a hissy fit when I told him he had taken the wrong food to his table...one of the plates was supposed to go to MY table.
He kicked a glass rack that was on the floor and said "I didn't TAKE the wrong food...anybody that says I did is wrong. TRY to fire me for it, I DARE ya" !! I started to tell him "Be careful what you ask for".
We all looked at each other and tried not to laugh until he huffed away out of earshot. It's like the saying "The guilty dog barks first".
The other night we were closing with the same guy and I told him what he needed to do before he left. Once again...his money had been made and he was ready to go. He said (quite loudly) "I'm not doing anymore side work... I don't care WHO says I have to".
I laughed at him THEN too.
Of course being the resident comedienne, that does nothing but give me more material to work with.
That's our new big saying at work (when he's not standing there). "I'm not doing it, I don't care WHO says I have to".
I went into the dish area last night to drop off an armload of dirty dishes and said to Hoke "I'm sitting these dishes right here, I don't care WHO says I can't".
Followed by "I'm having me a drink of water..I don't care WHO says I can't".
Followed later by "I'm doing my check out and leaving...I don't care WHO says I can".
If it's funny to us...we have no problem with beating a dead horse...we'll beat it until it is dog food in a small can the size of Bumble Bee Tuna.
When holidays hit and it is crazier than crazy...that's what gets us through. Laughing at things and letting troubles roll off our back.
That's what we do and "I don't care WHO thinks it is funny".
I was at work today when Hoke sent me a text asking when he worked tomorrow.
I sent him back a text saying "I'm not telling you, I don't care WHO tells me to".
I immediately sent him another text telling him he had to be there at 11Am.
Not five minutes went by and I felt my phone buzzin my pocket. I went to the women's room and checked my phone..It was Hoke.
"I'm not coming in at 11...I don't care WHO tells me to".
That's life when you work in a crazy place that for two hours a day is like "Panic Central".
You make the best of bad situations...you work your butt off and try to laugh along the way.
We laugh a lot at work. We also work really hard.
I'm not sure if the new guy is gonna make it..."I don't care WHAT he thinks, he just needs to START thinking".
When I clocked out from my brunch shift I had laughed so much I announced to the other servers "This concludes my Matinee performance, please come back at five for my evening show".
I must say I "WOWED" them during the evening show as well...I don't care WHO says I didn't!
Til next time...COTTON
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