Since my return from my sabbatico, I feel like I've been in this perpetual state of running. Constantly jumping from one this to the next, with no lay-overs or nights to just sit and relax. I realize that I have forgotten the most important lesson of my trip and what's most valuable to me. What is it you might ask? Why it's me!
I have simply forgotten to do the things that make me happy and enjoy the minimal free time I've had. I also debate attempting to have a balance between work, friends, and home life... one always seems to be suffering. What is the equation to allow for this balance? Anyone got that figured out??
Well, it is true that this summer I have been to far more concerts, festivals, and had numerous fun times with friends... I can also say that work is going quite well... I'm serving more than bartending, getting decent sections and working mostly nights.....
My home life goes through phases... it seems that it can stay fairly organized for maximum of a month... and then it falls to pieces for a week or so.
And my attempts at dating.... don't even get my started on the disaster that is my love life and how I will probably never get over him. So much time has gone by, one would think the memories might subside.
I wonder if I could say this thing with myself is like a relationship... you need to work on it before it grows into something bigger, better and more beautiful.
Ok self... let's go on a date! Tomorrow I'm gonna take you out for coffee (yumm moch java chip frappicunio), and buy you something nice. This is after I allow you to leisurely sleep in and I make you breakfast in bed. Tehehe!
Showing posts with label melody. Show all posts
Showing posts with label melody. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Worst Table EVER
After serving in restaurants for a couple years now, I thought I had experienced some very shitty tables. The most typical example is where the guests were very cheap, their bills were about $10 per person.
There have been incidences where they left you a very crappy tip, or sometimes no tip at all, and you (the server) had to pay (tip-out) to serve the table.
There have even been times where the table stayed all night, drinking water after their meal. "We’re fine" was their exclamation each time you approached to see about bringing the bill. Or maybe they are holding the bill, suddely refusing to pay or leave.
I even had a table where I had lost the host's credit card (it had fallen out of a broken billfold). The guests told me how stupid I was, and cancelled the card. Of course they didn't tip me, and the restaurant decided to take some things off of their cheque, to which I then had to purchase (and tip on). The other tables in my section didn't leave me much money either, agreeing with the ladies that I was "stupid". Net Sales that night: $800, tips made: $8.
I thought all of this to be horrible and painful until tonight...
For the first two hours of my shift I hadn't got a table. It wasn't that the restaurant wasn't busy; it's just that I wasn't getting sat. I was getting feed up, and at the point where I received my first table, I had mentally thrown in the towel and gone home.
Pulling myself back into the game I approached my table where one guy and one blonde girl, had been sat. They order drinks. Dropping of their drinks, I wait to get the attention of the new guest. After about fifteen seconds of being ignored I politely interrupt and offer this new women a drink. Let's call her Ms.Picky, and she orders a lime margarita on the rocks. When I Return with her the drink, she looks repulsed. I wait to hear some complaint. She takes a sip, says nothing so I smile and leave; now having other tables to tend to.
Upon returning she has flagged down a hostess, trying desperately to get rid of the drink. With the offer of something else, comes annoyance on her part. Everything she wants we do not carry, and our substitutions are not up to her standards.
With the backwards brushing of her hand, she waved me away "Bring me some ice water while I think about it."
The time doesn't help her decision, and with her water fixed as ammo, she settles on a cheap draft beer.
The three order some appetizers.
Another older woman joins them, and orders more appetizers, to which I verify that these will be coming after the ones already on the ways. She says no, they should be fine with just the original order.
After they eat their appetizers, she asks me what happened to the appetizers she had ordered. I explain that I was under the assumption that she had said that the original order would be enough food. I apologized, this was not my mistake, but I understand that you need to make the customer feel in the right.
By this point, at each trip to the table I feel I am fighting a wave of conversation and ignorance, to attain their attention, and keep it long enough for them to answer my simple questions (Another drink? May I remove this? Ready to order? May I bring you something else?)
At this point I tried to pawn the table off on another server, no deal! I can feel the black hole getting deeper each second, and this table swallowing me into it.I also knew at this point I would not be making any money off of this table.
The blonde girl orders her wine by pointing to her the almost empty glass, then pointing to me, and lifting her eyebrows in a challenge.
The guy seems nice, but really it's a mask for his underlying alter ego, that loves to tell me how to do my job. Some Examples?
Upon dropping off cutlery.... "You need to bring me a steak knife"
Upon taking drinks orders... "You can bring this drink with that one, (or) I'll take another when mine is done."
Upon trying to take the dinner order... "Come back in five minutes" (Four times!)
Upon clearing the table... "You can take this plate"
As I'm holding an empty plate... "We don't need that anymore." (REALLY?)
Before the food arrives, the guy flags down another server to order the table a round of shots.
When the food arrives, Ms. Picky takes one bite and flags someone down to tell him or her to get me immediately.
"This is the worst salad I've ever eaten, it's drenched in dressing! I can't even eat it. Where's the manager? Get them to come by, and his steak is not cooked enough," she blurts out all in one breath. I remove the salad, and asked the guy about his steak. He assures me it's fine. So I go to speak with the manager.
The manager tries to offer the girl something else. They take the salad, and an appetizer (just to be nice) off the bill. A drink was ordered by the manager for the table and I bring it to the older lady. Upon checking on them I was told, the drink was awful, and no one would drink it "remove it!"
When they were finally ready for the bill all my other tables had left (came after them and left before them). I asked and may sure that it was just 'one bill'.
Once I had printed it and left it on the table, I immediately tried to walk away. The older woman cried "wait!" and tapped her fake nails on the bill, "this is not right. We had an agreement with your manager, and it's not in here. Why don't you go get them?"
After ten minutes of speaking to the table, more drinks were taken off the bill. Let's recap shall we
One Lime margarita
One salad
One appetizer
One 'removed' cocktail
One cooler
One beer
Two glasses of wine
And the round of shots (4)
I went to process the bill. The guy once again told me how to do things, "Can you bring us separate cheques."
Our computer system is slightly older and once you have printed the original bill, you can not separate it. I tracked down the manager and got the cheques separated into what they had asked me for.
They then wanted items moved to other bills.
The pointing blonde yelled at another server to process her interact, and got very disgruntled when the server replied that they couldn't because they didn't know which server was assigned to their table.
Of course after all that trouble no one tipped a cent, and I had to pay to be treated like crap by those assholes.
Worst table ever. I hope so, if there can be worse, I wish you good luck, and patience.
There have been incidences where they left you a very crappy tip, or sometimes no tip at all, and you (the server) had to pay (tip-out) to serve the table.
There have even been times where the table stayed all night, drinking water after their meal. "We’re fine" was their exclamation each time you approached to see about bringing the bill. Or maybe they are holding the bill, suddely refusing to pay or leave.
I even had a table where I had lost the host's credit card (it had fallen out of a broken billfold). The guests told me how stupid I was, and cancelled the card. Of course they didn't tip me, and the restaurant decided to take some things off of their cheque, to which I then had to purchase (and tip on). The other tables in my section didn't leave me much money either, agreeing with the ladies that I was "stupid". Net Sales that night: $800, tips made: $8.
I thought all of this to be horrible and painful until tonight...
For the first two hours of my shift I hadn't got a table. It wasn't that the restaurant wasn't busy; it's just that I wasn't getting sat. I was getting feed up, and at the point where I received my first table, I had mentally thrown in the towel and gone home.
Pulling myself back into the game I approached my table where one guy and one blonde girl, had been sat. They order drinks. Dropping of their drinks, I wait to get the attention of the new guest. After about fifteen seconds of being ignored I politely interrupt and offer this new women a drink. Let's call her Ms.Picky, and she orders a lime margarita on the rocks. When I Return with her the drink, she looks repulsed. I wait to hear some complaint. She takes a sip, says nothing so I smile and leave; now having other tables to tend to.
Upon returning she has flagged down a hostess, trying desperately to get rid of the drink. With the offer of something else, comes annoyance on her part. Everything she wants we do not carry, and our substitutions are not up to her standards.
With the backwards brushing of her hand, she waved me away "Bring me some ice water while I think about it."
The time doesn't help her decision, and with her water fixed as ammo, she settles on a cheap draft beer.
The three order some appetizers.
Another older woman joins them, and orders more appetizers, to which I verify that these will be coming after the ones already on the ways. She says no, they should be fine with just the original order.
After they eat their appetizers, she asks me what happened to the appetizers she had ordered. I explain that I was under the assumption that she had said that the original order would be enough food. I apologized, this was not my mistake, but I understand that you need to make the customer feel in the right.
By this point, at each trip to the table I feel I am fighting a wave of conversation and ignorance, to attain their attention, and keep it long enough for them to answer my simple questions (Another drink? May I remove this? Ready to order? May I bring you something else?)
At this point I tried to pawn the table off on another server, no deal! I can feel the black hole getting deeper each second, and this table swallowing me into it.I also knew at this point I would not be making any money off of this table.
The blonde girl orders her wine by pointing to her the almost empty glass, then pointing to me, and lifting her eyebrows in a challenge.
The guy seems nice, but really it's a mask for his underlying alter ego, that loves to tell me how to do my job. Some Examples?
Upon dropping off cutlery.... "You need to bring me a steak knife"
Upon taking drinks orders... "You can bring this drink with that one, (or) I'll take another when mine is done."
Upon trying to take the dinner order... "Come back in five minutes" (Four times!)
Upon clearing the table... "You can take this plate"
As I'm holding an empty plate... "We don't need that anymore." (REALLY?)
Before the food arrives, the guy flags down another server to order the table a round of shots.
When the food arrives, Ms. Picky takes one bite and flags someone down to tell him or her to get me immediately.
"This is the worst salad I've ever eaten, it's drenched in dressing! I can't even eat it. Where's the manager? Get them to come by, and his steak is not cooked enough," she blurts out all in one breath. I remove the salad, and asked the guy about his steak. He assures me it's fine. So I go to speak with the manager.
The manager tries to offer the girl something else. They take the salad, and an appetizer (just to be nice) off the bill. A drink was ordered by the manager for the table and I bring it to the older lady. Upon checking on them I was told, the drink was awful, and no one would drink it "remove it!"
When they were finally ready for the bill all my other tables had left (came after them and left before them). I asked and may sure that it was just 'one bill'.
Once I had printed it and left it on the table, I immediately tried to walk away. The older woman cried "wait!" and tapped her fake nails on the bill, "this is not right. We had an agreement with your manager, and it's not in here. Why don't you go get them?"
After ten minutes of speaking to the table, more drinks were taken off the bill. Let's recap shall we
One Lime margarita
One salad
One appetizer
One 'removed' cocktail
One cooler
One beer
Two glasses of wine
And the round of shots (4)
I went to process the bill. The guy once again told me how to do things, "Can you bring us separate cheques."
Our computer system is slightly older and once you have printed the original bill, you can not separate it. I tracked down the manager and got the cheques separated into what they had asked me for.
They then wanted items moved to other bills.
The pointing blonde yelled at another server to process her interact, and got very disgruntled when the server replied that they couldn't because they didn't know which server was assigned to their table.
Of course after all that trouble no one tipped a cent, and I had to pay to be treated like crap by those assholes.
Worst table ever. I hope so, if there can be worse, I wish you good luck, and patience.
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