Armageddon

[Jester]

I can't recall if I have referenced this in the past, but if I did, it was not in full detail. So now, boys and girls, it is time for me to tell y'all about Armageddon.

Back when I was working for the red and white striped corporate chain restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona, we had a day that will never be forgotten. More's the pity. It was the night of the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, played just to our south at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, and that year the University of Tennessee would defeat Florida State University in that game. Not being a fan of either team (being a Sun Devil myself), I really didn't care about the game.

Anyway, the night was an average night until after the game. But after the game let out....the entire University of Tennessee decided to eat at my establishment. Or so it seemed. This was perhaps the busiest I have ever seen any restaurant, and definitely the worst I ever saw THAT restaurant.

The wait for a table was a good 1.5-2 hours. The wait for food was just as bad. I remember at one point a small order of potato skins taking 55 minutes to come out of the kitchen. And that was not at all atypical. And yet people were rude, demanding, vicious, and just plain mean....and cheap, cheap, cheap. The only reason any of us made any money that night was because of the sheer volume, because those people were stingy as hell with tips, even though just about the entire staff had to shift in a gear that none of us even knew we had.

To give you an idea of how bad it was, our kitchen closed at midnight. Usually we were out of there by anywhere from 12:30-1:30 am, usually closer to the first than the second. That night, we were so slammed, that after the last customer left, rather than trying to do things the normal way, everyone picked a job and just started doing it. For example, one person might work on restocking. One might bus tables and run them back to dish. Me, I was just unloading said bus tubs at dish. And we collectively clocked out at 4:00 am, and just sat around, on the floor by the bar, just breathing and looking at each other till 5:00 am. Seriously.

So you get the idea that this place was busy, busy, busy, and every one of us was running around doing everything we could, giving our blood, sweat, and tears, just to keep up. But even with all the people there being less than pleasant, one SC stood out from the crowd. In the middle of all of this insanity and chaos, this one yahoo apparently didn't like something that happened at his table, and I guess he was completely blind to the insanity going on around him. I guess he was trying to be funny in front of his friends, and he just looked at my coworker, his server, and said, "Are you fucking stupid?"

I happened to be passing by at that very moment, and I was stunned. I couldn't believe the guy just said that. And as I was watching, my coworker stopped right in the middle of what she was doing, pointed straight to the door, and said calmly but viciously, "GET. OUT." That shocked him. "What?" She repeated to him, "Get the hell out of my restaurant...NOW." He stood there in shock.

Well, said coworker, very cool girl, went in the back to get the manager, and was very upset, very certain she was going to lose her job. But luckily, our Assistant Manager was very cool, and was not about to put up with this crap from this yahoo on this night.

She went out to the table, looked at said yahoo, and said, "You need to leave." He still seemed surprised, and asked, "Why?" She looked him dead in the eye and said, "NO ONE talks to my staff in an abusive way like you did, and I am not going to stand for it. Now, we are paying your bill, but you need to leave, and you need to leave right now. If you do not leave, we will call the police. There will be no discussion. End of the story."

He left.

For a while, I was seriously thinking about invading the house of every University of Tennessee fan and treating them the way they treated us. Then I realized...it wouldn't have helped. The people who were there that night just sucked.

But to this very day, anyone who worked there that night still refers to it as "Armageddon."

And no, I am still not a University of Tennessee fan.

[friendofjimmyk]

I feel your pain! I can't even tell you how much I can relate to the insanity you just described! I have been there and done that, my friend!

The busiest night I can ever remember being behind a bar was while I was still living in Cleveland, Ohio. I was working at a popular sports bar and the Indians were in the playoffs...the series right before they went to the World Series (and lost to the Marlins? ) The night in question was the night of the game they won to take them to the World Series.

Anyway...I have never been in a situation such as that evening. Behind the bar was a small area. There were two of us working the bar. MY GOD! I have never served drinks faster in my entire life! The entire game the Indians were doing awesome and the drinks were flowing. Then they won! I couldn't poor shots fast enough. I couldn't keep up with the glass washing and actually started pouring shots using our pint glasses that we used for beer. (they were still measured shots - no filling the pint with liquor although they asked for it when they saw the pint glasses!!) I had been at work since 12pm that day. The restaurant wasn't open at that time,but I was pulling double duty as an assistant. I spent that early afternoon making sure we had enough beer for the evenign - I.E. stocking kegs and cases - hard grueling work for a little girl. But I loved it. Anyway....

I didnt' have any encounters with SCs that night. I was the "awesome bartender". It was my co-worker that I had an issue with. The bar area was so small that we would collide - often - behind the bar. He was a built guy - worked out all the time so he was like a freakin' rock. When we'd hit, I'd bounce off his rock hard body and into various places behind the bar - the well, the coolers, the cash register. He didn't do it on purpose, that was just the nature of that evening. I had battle wounds from him! The bar closed at 2am and we were there until 5am closing. We made killer cash! It was by far the best night tending bar ever!

On the flip side, the night the Indians lost the World Series...remember those old cartoons where they would depict a building and people would file into the building and it would swell with people. Then they would leave and it would empty like a balloon and wilt to the ground. That's what happened when they lost...mass exodus and no cash!

[Argabarga]

Sporting events are the Devil, The longest shift I ever worked on the clock for anyone in my working life was a homecomming game for our college football team while they were having a good year. It was traffic direction for the police, you're assigned an intersection, and a start time of 6:30 in the morning, you work it untill "it can run itself"

I finaly got out of that intersection at 1130 that night.

[ArenaBoy]

Sporting events are the Devil.

I have worked way too many basketball games that I think I've gone legally insane. When the team I work for made it to the finals 2 years ago, I was treated like crap by every SC imagined. We lost the finals and I got treated like crap by everyone just because we lost. Add that up with 98% of the fans being drunk, in a bad mood, and our traffic laws and I almost got assaulted. To this day, if my team makes it to the finals I refuse to work because I almost quit on the spot that night.

[marcus]

It sux when you're slammed like that, but it's equally bad for the customers. 55 minutes for potatoe skins? I'd have been an SC myself that night.

It seems that in attempts to maximise profits, management fail to provide an acceptable customer/employee ratio. When I see restuarants which have more customers than they can handle (it's not hard to spot) I walk on by taking my money with me.

IMO while there is no need for abuse, customers have a God given right to be irrate in situations like you described. Frankly, if food took over an hour to appear I wouldn't be there when it did turn up.

[Mizzikiel]

Though I dont work in a restuarant, I do work in a coffee-shop/fast food-esque place (Tim Hortons) There was a big regatta right near my store (infact, we were the closest food source to it) This regatta was not city big, not region or province big, no. There were people from all over Canada and all over the US here. I worked two days during that 5 day nightmare, and I feel sorry for those who worked them all. In the first day I worked, we hit a slow spot of about 10 seconds for the whole 8 hours. I went to make a sandwich for the one person who came in, I finished it, turned around, and the line up was back out the door. For the exception of that 10 seconds, the door never closed. There was one other person whom was working sandwiches with me. Her and I together, making sandwiches as quick as we could, not caring about appearance, were still making customers wait upwards of 15 minutes. And, like you, one SC stood out among the rest. She comes up to us and starts bitching about how it is taking forever for her friend to get her sandwich. We explained multiple times about how we only make what comes up in that order, and we cant skip any of them. She continues to bitch about how we're going to make her and her friend late for their race etc. etc. Finally, after 15 minutes, her order appears. We finish the two orders ahead of it, then begin to make the sandwich. We put the lettuce and tomatoe on it, then her friend looks at us and says "Actually, could you toast that" So, apparently, they are in this massive hurry to eat and get to their race, however, they can wait an extra minute for the bun to be toasted. Also, instead of running back to the area to eat, they ate in the store, then left afterwords, seemingly in no hurry... I really hope they did have a race, and I really hope they lost...

[Drakstern]

IMO while there is no need for abuse, customers have a God given right to be irrate in situations like you described. Frankly, if food took over an hour to appear I wouldn't be there when it did turn up.

There's a difference between abusing the customers, and telling them 'no' when they're being asshats.

This is one of those times. Frankly, when a restaurant is that slammed, there is simply only so much they can cook, create, or bring out at any given time. There's a limit to the kitchen space, prep space, and speed dishes can be done.

The guy that stood up and said 'are you all stupid' was out of line, and deserved to be removed.

[Becks]

IMO while there is no need for abuse, customers have a God given right to be irrate in situations like you described. Frankly, if food took over an hour to appear I wouldn't be there when it did turn up.

A long wait for food when a restaurant is empty is unacceptable. When a place is slammed, and I'm fool enough to go in there in the first place, I'll be happy if/when I get my order.

How is asking an abusive customer to leave abuse? Please explain.

[marcus]

"Unacceptable"

You misunderstand. I mean that there is no excuse for abuse from a customer.

I do however stand by my stance that if a restaurant cannot handle full capacity, it is simply understaffed which is unfair on both the customers and staff.

[Jester]

It sux when you're slammed like that, but it's equally bad for the customers. 55 minutes for potatoe skins? I'd have been an SC myself that night.

It seems that in attempts to maximise profits, management fail to provide an acceptable customer/employee ratio. When I see restuarants which have more customers than they can handle (it's not hard to spot) I walk on by taking my money with me.

IMO while there is no need for abuse, customers have a God given right to be irrate in situations like you described. Frankly, if food took over an hour to appear I wouldn't be there when it did turn up.

I need to explain the situation a bit further, it seems.

I worked for that restaurant for a while. That restaurant was a good 5-7 miles from the stadium. We were NOT right in the vicinity of it. The Fiesta Bowl is a regular event in that area, and we had never seen anything like it. We were well-staffed for whatever night of the week that was, being as it was in season....but I shit you not when I tell you that place went from steady to Are You Freakin' Kiddin' Me? in no time flat shortly after the game let out.

Now, when I am in an establishment, and I can see not only that it is full, not only is there a line out the door and a significant wait, but that every employee in there is busting a major hump to get things done, and it is STILL taking forever? I am not bitching.

Now, people did inquire about how long it would be. And we flat out told our tables that things would be long. And some people did not want to wait, and they left, and I understand that.

But the asshat in the story was not bitching about the wait at all. He was reacting to something that the server said, something appropriate to the situation at the table (I wish I could remember what, but I know it was not about the wait), and that reaction was to demean the server by condescendingly asking her, "Are you fucking stupid?"

I have no issue with people leaving if they feel the wait is too long.
I don't even have an issue with people complaining if the wait is too long, or being irritable in a bad situation. I get that. Hell, if I go to a restaurant and there is a huge wait, 99.9% of the time, I leave said restaurant and go somewhere else, so I don't have to wait. That being said, I DO very much have an issue with people being condescending, demeaning, and rude to someone who is doing their damndest for that person and his friends.

We were well-staffed that night. Management was not trying to maximize profits at the expense of service. Hell, more all the managers there were working the line, expediting food, cooking, stocking, bussing, seating, whatever was needed to get stuff done, and I had no complaints about them at all.

But the situation that night was not predictable. Anyone who has never worked food service might not understand this, but these things happen, and there is no telling when they will.

And that man's behavior that night was not acceptable.
Period.

[Pagan]

It sux when you're slammed like that, but it's equally bad for the customers. 55 minutes for potatoe skins? I'd have been an SC myself that night.

It seems that in attempts to maximise profits, management fail to provide an acceptable customer/employee ratio. When I see restuarants which have more customers than they can handle (it's not hard to spot) I walk on by taking my money with me.

IMO while there is no need for abuse, customers have a God given right to be irrate in situations like you described. Frankly, if food took over an hour to appear I wouldn't be there when it did turn up.

Let me add something in support of Jester. I don't work in food service, I just don't have the personality for it, but I applaude those of you that do. That being said....

Starting today, 10-6, through 10-15, we have the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. What this means is 750 balloon pilots and their crews. It also means a lot of tourists. By the end, the attendance is usually upwards of 800,000 (yes, I realize it's not individuals, but cumulative, but even so). That means that in the evenings all of the restaurants (fast food and sit down) in ABQ are going to be over capacity and waits will be long. It has nothing to do with the customer/employee ratio. It has to do with the population of the city almost doubling for the week! And the Balloon Fiesta (and the Fiesta Bowl) only happen once a year. Other times, not a problem. Now do you get what Jester's trying to say?

What you're saying about not being there when you're food showed up is extremely rude on your part. When you've already had to wait up to 2 hours to get seated, you can pretty much guess that the food's going to be a while, too. Yes, it sucks to have to wait for your food, but you made the choice to stay and be seated and now you're upset? If you leave without cancelling your order, the restaurant now has to throw that food out, thereby driving up costs in the future!

Sorry to rant, but I understand what Jester's trying to say and don't see why you think it's justified to get irate in a situation that really is not the restaurants fault!

[skeptic53]

In high school I worked as a cook at a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant. It was in a large mall, but in those days the mall had no food court. There was a fancy white-linen-table-cloth place in an upscale department store, and an Orange Julius. That was it. Times were very hard in the area (famous billboard: "Will the last person leaving Seattle please turn out the lights?") so there weren't many fast food or any other restaurants in the general area, either.

Friday nights during football season were a nightmare. The place would fill up with high school kids who took great pleasure in tormenting the staff. It was like a frat party without the liquor. They were playing "adult" and thought it hilarious to order the waitstaff around, send food back to the kitchen, leave 1-penny tips, etc etc. The line would be out the door most of the night, and the wait for food or ice cream was twice what it might be otherwise. What exacerbated the wait for tables was the early arrivals wouldn't leave. The menu had a gimmick item, "Soda water 2 cents plain", the kids would order it and dare each other to drink it, they would start food fights, try to dine and dash, etc etc. Anything to avoid paying the bill and leaving.

I agree with the person who rebutted Marcus by pointing out that you can only put so many staff in a kitchen designed for 4 cooks. I would add that it's a wee bit difficult to find extra trained cooks (who know that particular restaurant's system) to work one night a week, much less one night a year. We had two day-shift cooks but even if they had been called in, there was still only one grill, two fryers, two steamers, and X amount of counter space.

The fountain was no different. There were only so many shake machines, and only so much room for the different flavors of ice cream. You couldn't really bring out extra tubs of ice cream, there was no room for an extra freezer.

As bad as it was every Friday in the fall, it sounds like a flea's fart compared to the Fiesta Bowl "Armageddon" in the OP. Glad I never had to work a scene that bad.

[friendofjimmyk]

It sux when you're slammed like that, but it's equally bad for the customers. 55 minutes for potatoe skins? I'd have been an SC myself that night.

It seems that in attempts to maximise profits, management fail to provide an acceptable customer/employee ratio. When I see restuarants which have more customers than they can handle (it's not hard to spot) I walk on by taking my money with me.

IMO while there is no need for abuse, customers have a God given right to be irrate in situations like you described. Frankly, if food took over an hour to appear I wouldn't be there when it did turn up.

I don't think its an issue of employee to customer ratio. Even if the restaurant was fully staffed, that's a madhouse and shit happens. If I am correct, potatoe skins are usually pre-prepped...maybe since they were so busy they actually had to cut and prep some potatoes...in that case, being a manager - I would've 86'd the item.

"God given right" to be irrate? I have to disagree with that statement. But, that's my opinion.

[friendofjimmyk]

"Actually, could you toast that" So, apparently, they are in this massive hurry to eat and get to their race, however, they can wait an extra minute for the bun to be toasted. Also, instead of running back to the area to eat, they ate in the store, then left afterwords, seemingly in no hurry

That kind of stuff pisses me off to no end!

One restaurant I worked in was semi-fine dining. Someone called who was a semi-regular to our restaurant. They told us to set a table for 6 - proceeded to give us their drink and food order and told us it better be on the table whent they got there because they were in a hurry!! Our manager obliged. And it was no easy order....milkshakes for the kids, alcoholic beverages for the parents (in Texas - not only do you have to have your ID but in most places you have to have this stupid thing called a "Unicard" staying you belong to a "club" so you can drink - it's a law that dates back to prohibition) the manager didn't care about checking ID or the Unicard - big trouble and told the bartender to make the drinks anyway - special ordered food. These folks arrived...their food arrived to the table like seconds after they got there, they ate - slowly - they sat for a long time after their meal, then the mosied out the door. And for our troubles...10% tip. WTF?

[friendofjimmyk]

"Unacceptable"

You misunderstand. I mean that there is no excuse for abuse from a customer.

I do however stand by my stance that if a restaurant cannot handle full capacity, it is simply understaffed which is unfair on both the customers and staff.

Sorry, in my opinion - you're wrong. It is possible that a restaurant is fully staffed and slammed. Your deduction that if the restaurant cannot handle "full capacity, it is simply understaffed" is WRONGO, dear! Even if there were more servers and cooks in this case, the shear volume of the busy restaurant - which if the wait was 1.5 - 2 hours means it was beyond full capacity - so having more staff WOULD NOT MATTER!