Day Four...Two More To Go

Just got off the phone with Massey. The weather finally broke and they got to have their bon fire. It has rained on them the past two days and several of the scheduled activities have had to be rescheduled . The food still sucks she tells me...the turkey tetrazini for lunch looked like dog barf (bless her pea picking heart).

Tonight was the night for the senior pranks and she is washing the ice cream toppings and whip cream out of her hair as I type this post. With her massive thick curly hair...it is no easy feat. She acts like she is complaining but I know she is loving every minute of it.

The band program at her school is huge. They have a tractor trailer painted in the school colors with the Indian mascot painted down the side. They took it with them to camp, along with the three golf carts and ATV that they use while there. They have posted over 600 pictures on the band web site since they have been there and it is fun to look at all the pictures. I wish I could have afforded to take off a week from work and go as a chaperone. Maybe next year.

Instead I stayed at home to work. My luck ran out on my clever banking skills, and now I am in the hole. Obviously the treasurer for the band stayed home because they shoved my check for her dues right on through my account. Now I have paid her next payment of $220.00 for her dues plus a $36.00 check charge. It's my own fault though...now you know why my husband won't bank with me. My husband would croak if he knew or read my blog. "What happens in my account Stays in my my account" is my motto.

I will be caught up again in a couple of shifts at work and no one in my house will be the wiser.

In situations like this I have the opportunity to go into work with the mind set that I will MAKE every customer love me and their meal and almost mentally will them to leave me a fat tip.

It pretty much worked tonight. I did well and it was a slow night.

When I first go in, I am the only server on the floor for the first 30 to 45 minutes. I try to make that count in my favor.

Today a new hire was doing his manager spiel. When the new hires get through training they have to wait on the manager as if they were an actual customer and get critiqued by the manager and another key employee.

The guy (who I had not trained) came up to me and said he needed a table visit. That is when something goes wrong at a table and you get a manager to go try to diffuse the problem. He said I was the closest thing to a manager he could find and would I mind going to the table. I asked what the problem was and he said he hadn't put the proper brown sugar coating on the rum spiced ribs and that they didn't have enough BBQ sauce. The managers sometimes just tend to push the limits to see how a new server reacts to problems at a table and how well they try to make a good recovery.

I hadn't even realized the server was doing his food review with management because I was busy waiting on my own six or seven tables and was training a new guy to boot.

I told him I would be glad to go by, and approached the table. I told the manager ( who was posing as a guest) that I was truly sorry he didn't have everything served or presented properly and that after correcting the problem, we would send the cook back to Mexico and fire the new guy.

Luckily the manager was in a good mood and laughed at my feeble joke. All that really matters is that the new hire knew when something goes wrong at a table, get a manager involved immediately before things escalate to a point where we can't make a good recovery and keep the guest happy.

It isn't easy being a good server. Being a server is easy enough, but to be a good server takes a lot of patience and a lot of psychology and knowledge of the product you are pushing.

I remember eating at a new restaurant once... when I ordered the house salad with the house dressing, it was delightfully delicious. I asked my VERY young server what was in the house dressing and he replied "Ya know, they are just CRAZY back there when they are mixin' all that stuff up."

What in the heck kind of answer is that? He would have been better off winging it with his own made up version of a recipe than to tell me they were just CRAZY back in that kitchen while they were mixin' stuff.

It made me think maybe they had a meth lab back there as well.

All in all a good day. Massey is still having fun at camp, she comes home day after tomorrow, I am now $120.00 closer to being back in the black and luckily when I walk out of work tomorrow night, I will walk out with another paycheck. "CHA CHING!!"

A Little "Byrd" Told Me...

One of the girls that I work with... we'll call her Byrd for this post... is one of the cutest and sweetest girls that I have the pleasure of calling my friend. She has recently re-enrolled in college to pursue a nursing career, after graduating from the "School Of Hard Knocks" with her ex- boyfriend. ( His loss TOTALLY) She is quiet, sweet....not TOO sweet, and has a heart of gold. She and I are the four o'clock servers that come in and have the whole restaurant to ourselves for about an hour. This is the time that you can really make some money, before the other ten servers get there; and not all the time, but usually we strike it rich. She likes to call me a" table hog".. to which I generally reply "HEY! I resemble that remark!!" I seem to work better when I have about six or seven tables going at once...My Automatic pilot takes over and it just comes naturally to me to be flying around the restaurant at warp speed, doing everything at once. One day she came up to gripe about how many tables I had going... why didn't SHE have that many tables? She went on complaining for a few seconds, when the manager on duty came to the kitchen window and said to the cooks.. " I need some Cheese Fries FLYING!" That means we have forgotten to order them, and need them as quickly as possible. My little Byrd, said " OH &#$@ !!" I forgot to ring those in for table 70 !!" I just laughed and laughed at my little Byrd, and just HAD to say.. THAT is why I have all the tables.... I'm just trying to help YOU out! Let me also say that I am old enough to be her mother, and have been doing this job since before she was born. But I love to pick on her... Like I tell all my co-workers... I only pick on the people that I like, and I like you A LOT!! She is one of my favorite people at work, she has that beautiful dark hair and bright blue eyes... and a body most all the guys would kill for the chance to just admire and dream about. She just doesn't have enough faith in herself, and for the life of me, I can't understand why?! But I can still remember being her age, and not understanding a boat load of things... men, relationships, self worth. But hey! I have my 4 o'clock shifts with her just so I can help shove her down the path of life in the right direction, whether she wants it or not. These kids that I work with are like my own kids in a whole lot of ways. I love them and care about how they are using or not using their potential, and making or not making the right decisions. I don't mind one bit being bossy with the ones that I care about. I have been on this Earth longer than most of their own parents, and just want to help them avoid a few of the mistakes that I made, and help them get to their goal a little quicker. I know she is heartbroken about her recent breakup with the "BOOB" she was dating; if I could only make her realize that years and years from now, he will be such a little , tiny "BLIP" in her memory.... and she will be the biggest regret he ever had, breaking up with her. I remember being young, and thinking that you just CAN'T go own without 'HIM". But you know what? He probably can't go own without YOU, but now he will have to, and you will evolve into the wonderful, caring , smart, savvy person that every guy you meet will fight for the chance of dating and winning your heart. HEY little Byrd, listen to this OLE CROW.... I truly DO know what I am squawking about !! But remember.... I GET MORE TABLES THAN YOU...... "AGE BEFORE BOOTY" is my motto, and I am sticking to it. Love ya my sweet little byrd, you will be happy again before you know it... especially if I or my oldest son has anything to do with it! ( He ain't stupid either.... well maybe a little... but at least he knows a pretty gal ! ) PS.."OH-Kay".. you are coming up in the rotation.... (just a little shout out to more of my friends!)