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I think seeing Valentines things up at stores is what made me think of this..
I can only think of one really bad V-day working with SC's
I was working at a seafood restaurant, I was scheduled in at 9 AM (We didn't open untill 11 AM). Now I had closed the night before, they ran any servers they had into the ground and no one would stay for more than a couple of months, so the servers who could not afford to quit were left to pick up the slack. In fact if you called into work, they would guilt trip you into coming in (I'll get to that point of a different thread). I didn't get home until around 2:30 that morning, which left me to get around 5 hours sleep, now, I can run on that much sleep IF I haven't had an exhausting day before and IF they day after the few hours sleep wasn't going to be exhausting.. I'm just a wimp, I need my sleep.
When I applied for this job, they went over something they call "The Compass".. On their terms it meant they they owned you and you had to walk the tight rope of rules they had, if you ever got written up they'd write something like "Disregarded section XX of the compass" or some BS like that. The managers apparently did not have to abide by The Compass, they were some of the laziest, money grubbing people I had ever met. They'd go around and kiss ass with the customers instead of helping the servers if they were behind, if you were busy and had a few dirty tables, they'd stack all the dirty dishes onto one table and not even try to take some dishes to the dish room. they'd stop you as you were leaving the kitchen or Galley Alley as they called it while you had a heavy tray of food to pint out that a table was dirty, I more than once got snippy with them and told them to have at it.. I'd do my best to prebus, but when you have to remember 7 things that you needed to bring to you tables, you can't always do it. They'd have these horrid sales meeting for servers who did not sell enough appetizers, desserts or beverages. The servers who attended these meetings all worked non smoking and we'd argue that we wanted to work smoking once in a while, smokers ordered more food and booze it seemed like and if they'd get rid of those garlic cheese biscuits, maybe they'd order more food, I brought up the fact that unless I was get commision on sales, I wasn't a sales person
So I get to work, I had brought a few bags of caffeinated tea with me ( I hate coffee) and I sucked down 3 cups along with a B vitamin complex pill. I set the salad bar up and suggested that we make some salad, put them on a tray and in the cooler, that didn't fly.. We'd have plenty of help the managers told us, it was a mandatory work day.
Most people don't get to go out to eat that much.. They go on Valentines or Birthdays and Anniversaries and that's it and they want a pleasant dining experience.. It's a fine goal, but it doesn't always happen.
So at 10:30 there are people lined up, I have my station stocked, pictures full of tea and water.. I'm ready.
Lunch was busy, nothing overwhelming by around noon my stomach started growling and I wondered if I'd have a small break between 2 and 4 to eat something.. I get sick to my stomach if I go too long without eating, but it was non stop on to dinner and I noticed how my section kept getting bigger and bigger as more servers called off work (If I had been smart, I'd have faked a migraine and went to a doc in a box just to get a doctors excuse) so my comfortable 4 table section was now a 9 table section that was full all the time. I tried to keep up, the managers did not help by barking that I was putting too much lettuce on a salad plate and stupid piddling stuff like that, I took an order from a customer only to be yelled at 30 seconds later that they wanted their salads now. The complaints about the drink special, which was a 2.99 Strawberries and cream.. Now for 2.99, you can't expect it to be too big, not at this kind of pricey restaurant, so the 2.99 drink special was served in a wine glass and people complained of the size. They complained of the wait to be seated, complained of the wait for food, just complained, complained complained. And keeping them in bread and tea was like building a sand castle at the waters edge, you'd get it half way built only for the tide to come and wash it away. As soon as a table left, it's get seated and I'd get an earful of how long they waited, some would say that they were in a hurry and needed there food soon.. Yeah, right if you needed a quick bite, you should've gone to McDonalds, I'd apologize and tell them that I couldn't make the food come out an quicker, they'd ask if I could tell the cooks to cook it first.. Now I can do that.. BUT I'd have to bribe the cooks, a couple of bucks does it and I told the customer this and he threw out the "R" word. Around 5 PM, I started getting dizzy and my stomach was growling real hard. I pulled a manager aside and said that I needed to eat something before I got sick, she looked at me like I was crazy, I told her that I could just eat a bowl of soup and some biscuits, it wouldn't take me but 5 minutes but nope, no break for me and that bitch manger stood in the galley alley and said aloud how she didn't understand how all the servers just wanted to stuff their faces when we were so busy. So I went on with my work trying to ignore my stomach and the dizziness, tried to placate the customers with bread when they'd bitch about the wait and ask why the dining room in the back was not open.. We never used that dining room except for private parties and even if we did use it, there just weren't any servers to work it. I went to fill up my tea picture and the tea was out, so I started brewing more tea, I went and dropped off food, bread salads and went back to sweeten the tea... It was gone! so I brewed some more, went and did other things come back and that tea was gone.. No doubt a server from a different dining room took it, I started to brew a third urn of tea, left came back and that was gone... That's it! I threw a 5 alarm fit in the middle of the galley alley and the managers got scared, one of them asked what was wrong and I told them that I had brewed three urns of tea and they all dissapeared and my tables needed tea. So a manager brewed some tea and stood by it to make sure it wasn't taken. I had a table of 8 come in and I was making their salads and this teenaged server comes and takes 3 salads off my tray and I jumped on her and she trying to play on my sympathies by saying that she needed them and that she was so busy, "We are all busy" I told her "so put those back", she did that begging, big eyed, tearful voice thing and I told her that in the time she took to beg me, she could've made her own salads. This couple came got sat in my section and as I was taken bread and salads out, I stopped at their table and told them I'd be right back to get their drink order, the woman said "Don't rush.. We're in no hurry." I smiled at her and said "I could hug you right now." Seven and a half hours of "What's taking so long" "Where's my salad?" "We need more bread" "What do you mean you're out of live lobster!! This is a lobster place." "I want a manager!" "Geez ya'll are expensive!" and "Hey Rose.. Where's Jack?" I was putting plates of food on a tray when it hit me "Oh dear." I said and ran to a trash can and started vomiting, or at least trying to, I had nothing in my stomach to vomit up, I sat and retched for a few minutes. A manager and several servers saw me, the manager pretended not to see me, I finished and went back to what I was doing, I had 2 more dry heaving attacks before a manager said I could go home and she said it with such disdain, this was the same manager I asked if I could get something to eat.. I told her that I didn't need to go home, I just needed to eat. That stupid bitch would rather have sent me home than give me a 5 minute break and she loudly and rudely told everyone that I was going home. I went home, stopping to get something to eat at a fast food joint. I got home and counted my tips, I had made nearly 200$.
Every other Valentines day I worked was either delivering food or at a place that no one wants to go on Valentines.. My husband and I don't go to a nice place on Valentines, we go the day before or after.
I can only think of one really bad V-day working with SC's
I was working at a seafood restaurant, I was scheduled in at 9 AM (We didn't open untill 11 AM). Now I had closed the night before, they ran any servers they had into the ground and no one would stay for more than a couple of months, so the servers who could not afford to quit were left to pick up the slack. In fact if you called into work, they would guilt trip you into coming in (I'll get to that point of a different thread). I didn't get home until around 2:30 that morning, which left me to get around 5 hours sleep, now, I can run on that much sleep IF I haven't had an exhausting day before and IF they day after the few hours sleep wasn't going to be exhausting.. I'm just a wimp, I need my sleep.
When I applied for this job, they went over something they call "The Compass".. On their terms it meant they they owned you and you had to walk the tight rope of rules they had, if you ever got written up they'd write something like "Disregarded section XX of the compass" or some BS like that. The managers apparently did not have to abide by The Compass, they were some of the laziest, money grubbing people I had ever met. They'd go around and kiss ass with the customers instead of helping the servers if they were behind, if you were busy and had a few dirty tables, they'd stack all the dirty dishes onto one table and not even try to take some dishes to the dish room. they'd stop you as you were leaving the kitchen or Galley Alley as they called it while you had a heavy tray of food to pint out that a table was dirty, I more than once got snippy with them and told them to have at it.. I'd do my best to prebus, but when you have to remember 7 things that you needed to bring to you tables, you can't always do it. They'd have these horrid sales meeting for servers who did not sell enough appetizers, desserts or beverages. The servers who attended these meetings all worked non smoking and we'd argue that we wanted to work smoking once in a while, smokers ordered more food and booze it seemed like and if they'd get rid of those garlic cheese biscuits, maybe they'd order more food, I brought up the fact that unless I was get commision on sales, I wasn't a sales person
So I get to work, I had brought a few bags of caffeinated tea with me ( I hate coffee) and I sucked down 3 cups along with a B vitamin complex pill. I set the salad bar up and suggested that we make some salad, put them on a tray and in the cooler, that didn't fly.. We'd have plenty of help the managers told us, it was a mandatory work day.
Most people don't get to go out to eat that much.. They go on Valentines or Birthdays and Anniversaries and that's it and they want a pleasant dining experience.. It's a fine goal, but it doesn't always happen.
So at 10:30 there are people lined up, I have my station stocked, pictures full of tea and water.. I'm ready.
Lunch was busy, nothing overwhelming by around noon my stomach started growling and I wondered if I'd have a small break between 2 and 4 to eat something.. I get sick to my stomach if I go too long without eating, but it was non stop on to dinner and I noticed how my section kept getting bigger and bigger as more servers called off work (If I had been smart, I'd have faked a migraine and went to a doc in a box just to get a doctors excuse) so my comfortable 4 table section was now a 9 table section that was full all the time. I tried to keep up, the managers did not help by barking that I was putting too much lettuce on a salad plate and stupid piddling stuff like that, I took an order from a customer only to be yelled at 30 seconds later that they wanted their salads now. The complaints about the drink special, which was a 2.99 Strawberries and cream.. Now for 2.99, you can't expect it to be too big, not at this kind of pricey restaurant, so the 2.99 drink special was served in a wine glass and people complained of the size. They complained of the wait to be seated, complained of the wait for food, just complained, complained complained. And keeping them in bread and tea was like building a sand castle at the waters edge, you'd get it half way built only for the tide to come and wash it away. As soon as a table left, it's get seated and I'd get an earful of how long they waited, some would say that they were in a hurry and needed there food soon.. Yeah, right if you needed a quick bite, you should've gone to McDonalds, I'd apologize and tell them that I couldn't make the food come out an quicker, they'd ask if I could tell the cooks to cook it first.. Now I can do that.. BUT I'd have to bribe the cooks, a couple of bucks does it and I told the customer this and he threw out the "R" word. Around 5 PM, I started getting dizzy and my stomach was growling real hard. I pulled a manager aside and said that I needed to eat something before I got sick, she looked at me like I was crazy, I told her that I could just eat a bowl of soup and some biscuits, it wouldn't take me but 5 minutes but nope, no break for me and that bitch manger stood in the galley alley and said aloud how she didn't understand how all the servers just wanted to stuff their faces when we were so busy. So I went on with my work trying to ignore my stomach and the dizziness, tried to placate the customers with bread when they'd bitch about the wait and ask why the dining room in the back was not open.. We never used that dining room except for private parties and even if we did use it, there just weren't any servers to work it. I went to fill up my tea picture and the tea was out, so I started brewing more tea, I went and dropped off food, bread salads and went back to sweeten the tea... It was gone! so I brewed some more, went and did other things come back and that tea was gone.. No doubt a server from a different dining room took it, I started to brew a third urn of tea, left came back and that was gone... That's it! I threw a 5 alarm fit in the middle of the galley alley and the managers got scared, one of them asked what was wrong and I told them that I had brewed three urns of tea and they all dissapeared and my tables needed tea. So a manager brewed some tea and stood by it to make sure it wasn't taken. I had a table of 8 come in and I was making their salads and this teenaged server comes and takes 3 salads off my tray and I jumped on her and she trying to play on my sympathies by saying that she needed them and that she was so busy, "We are all busy" I told her "so put those back", she did that begging, big eyed, tearful voice thing and I told her that in the time she took to beg me, she could've made her own salads. This couple came got sat in my section and as I was taken bread and salads out, I stopped at their table and told them I'd be right back to get their drink order, the woman said "Don't rush.. We're in no hurry." I smiled at her and said "I could hug you right now." Seven and a half hours of "What's taking so long" "Where's my salad?" "We need more bread" "What do you mean you're out of live lobster!! This is a lobster place." "I want a manager!" "Geez ya'll are expensive!" and "Hey Rose.. Where's Jack?" I was putting plates of food on a tray when it hit me "Oh dear." I said and ran to a trash can and started vomiting, or at least trying to, I had nothing in my stomach to vomit up, I sat and retched for a few minutes. A manager and several servers saw me, the manager pretended not to see me, I finished and went back to what I was doing, I had 2 more dry heaving attacks before a manager said I could go home and she said it with such disdain, this was the same manager I asked if I could get something to eat.. I told her that I didn't need to go home, I just needed to eat. That stupid bitch would rather have sent me home than give me a 5 minute break and she loudly and rudely told everyone that I was going home. I went home, stopping to get something to eat at a fast food joint. I got home and counted my tips, I had made nearly 200$.
Every other Valentines day I worked was either delivering food or at a place that no one wants to go on Valentines.. My husband and I don't go to a nice place on Valentines, we go the day before or after.
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