After such a great night last night, tonight was more than disappointing. It was downright upsetting. The morning shift was nothing special, but a few things happened tonight that turned everything into the biggest clusterfuck I’ve seen since starting at BC.
ONE – I wanted to take a break to eat something since I had a headache, but was told we were too busy. I could at least eat something on the fly while waiting tables, so I ordered something new (and small) so I could quickly scarf it down and keep going.
I was going with two tables when my food was ready, so I took it and scurried to the back to eat it. I was literally cramming food into my mouth, trying to eat it as fast as possible when a coworker – let’s call her June – decided to be a bitch. She’s been a bitch to me several times before, but I’ve always brushed it off and somehow she’d end up being nice to me again later that shift.
“Man,” she said as she put salads together on a tray, “I wish I had time to sit down and eat.”
Uh, pardon? Have YOU worked all day with no break? Am I sitting here leisurely folding my napkin into origami tigers? Oh, what’s that? NO?? Oh! Well then, fuck off. I didn’t say a word to her but I glared hateful words into the back of her skull as she walked away. B-I-T-C-H. See if I help your ass out when you’re weeded.
TWO – I miscounted change for a table and accidentally gave them about $11 more than I should have. My fault, and I’m an idiot. They tipped me $7. So not only was I out $4, but I was also out a tip. Fuck me.
THREE – I was sat with a large party at the large booth I share with my buddy. It was 7 people, so we didn’t have to share and my buddy told me to take it. Yay! I got their drinks and their order. I brought out biscuits and salads. They seemed happy.
Then my manager came up to me with a tray of drinks and wide eyes. ”You know that 21 and 22 are part of 37, right?”
“Uh. No?”
“Well they are. Here’s their drinks. Go.”
Fuck. Me. I was already weeded out the ass. No one – NO ONE – told me that those tables were all together. Not the hostess, not the manager, and not table 37. Only after 21 and 22 flagged someone down did someone get their drink order. Interestingly enough, they were sat in a closed section which is why no one noticed. Even better, no one could understand why the section was closed since cuts hadn’t been made yet, and tables had been sat in that section all night until that point. I have no idea what the fuck happened.
I could NOT take two more tables of people on top of my other two tables AND the seven top at 37. Luckily a coworker took the orders for the two tables and helped me out. He saved my ass. The tables still got subpar service because in addition to being needy, they stretched our ability to properly care for our tables, since we each had 2 tables more than we are allowed to handle. But we had no choice. My tables’ tabs came to about $250 and I was tipped just below $20.
I can’t really blame them, but it sucks because it wasn’t my fault. I missed out on a lot of money and they weren’t happy when they left.
FOUR – My last table, a snotty couple, were fucking horrible. They ran my ass off and asked stupid questions. If I asked questions to clarify their order I got grunts, sneers, and noses stuck so high in the air I was surprised their necks didn’t snap. I wish they had.
They got upset when I talked to the table next to them. I swear, I would have JUST LEFT THE TABLE and the moment I started talking to the other table, they would shout at me to bring them something. I tried lingering in the area but not talking to the other table, and this table didn’t ask for anything. But without fail, every time I talked to the other table, this table suddenly needed something.
I decided that I wasn’t going to be in a possessive, abusive table relationship and started ignoring “this” table. That pissed them off. I got sugary sweet. They didn’t tip me. I shrugged. They took their receipt with the survey information on it. Well, fuck. If they give me a bad survey it’ll be the first one and I doubt it’ll mean anything.
So yeah, that was my night in a nutshell. I fucking hate everyone and now I’m going to go shoot bitches on Call of Duty. Because fuck the world.
This sounds like a Chili’s company you work for. I worked 7 months at Chilis and it was f-ing miserable.
I am a server in a tourist town so I understand the stupid questions. I have back to back shifts of them daily.
Love your posts.
…no, its the Blue Crustacean now. Quit Chili’s a while back. It was hell but the manager had my back on the table throughout the meal. She was just dealing with other mishaps at the same time. Yikes.
I fucking hate stupid questions. Keep reading and keep commenting!
Preach on sister. Tonight sucked for me as well…Good luck on CoD. It’s a night of Portal and Cave Johnson for me.
I’m tiring of CoD. Classes start this week, yay!
I miss CoD. Is it Black Ops you play?
Indeed it is. But I have few friends with whom I can play. I play on the PS3 and most people I know have XBOX. But I don’t have to pay a fee to play online…which is definitely good considering how little I play during the school semester.
Ain’t that a bitch. Next time pass on the cake, I think the instant retribution just wasn’t worth it. Damn Table gods and thier idea of karma.
No kidding. I was like, “Is this punishment for taking the cake last night??”
Aw jeez, what a shitty fucking night! I’m sorry!
It still wasn’t as shitty as dozens of nights I had at Chili’s.
Haha! Yeah, that’s what I try to think too … even when my current place seems like it’s sinking more and more in to hell, I really HAVE worked worse places ….
I hope the CoD helped! While I don’t play CoD, I do blow things to hell and back via Painkiller. Games like those are great for venting anger.
I hope you’re feeling less “fuck the world” today. If not, I’ll blow something apart in your honor. ;D
:huggles:
~watergirl~
Yes, today was better. Thanks.
Gawd, I hate people like June. And there’s one in every friggen joint…that bitch who is all up in everyone’s business, making sure you are doing an impeccable job, on the alert for any broken rules (no matter how small & stupid, and for whatever reason), and generally acting like a foreman or something. And, to top it off, those bitches–however much they care that those they work with are nothing less than stellar employees–are as lazy as fuck, and break the rules all the time.
That’s the thing…she tends to do what she’s supposed to do, so it’s hard to call her out as a hypocrite. It just pissed me off that she was so snarky about it. Instead of looking long to enough to figure out that I’m not taking a leisurely break, she chose to assume I was putting myself first during a rush. Nooooo, I was trying to make sure I didn’t pass out during my dinner shift. That would have been a bigger inconvenience to everyone. And it would have happened, too.
From the outside a lot of servers don’t understand the three table rule but once they work there they get it FAST! Well at least I did… you not only have drink,s entrees, and stupid guests but you have to add soups, salads and wine samples to the equation! They run you ragged!
Oh, I know. I told the GM when she hired me that I was used to 8 tables sections. She sighed, smiled, and said, “I hope it’s okay that you’ll only have three table sections here.” I eagerly replied, “I’m looking forward to it.” I’m not stretched too thin with only 3 tables, but I am still BUSY. And I make money!!
@ My F.O.O Rude, Needy, or Passive Aggressive tables and sometimes actual server mistakes means free food and/or dessert. Maybe that was their goal? ***
Maybe. They were fucking weird.
And I hate mother f*ckers who start flagging you down when you’re busy with someone else and keep waving their hands like they are drowning …don’t you wanna be a teacher and swat them with a ruler and say: “Rude!!! I was getting their order. They are dining out too!”
I usually wave back and say, “One moment.” Usually pisses ‘em off, but they can’t say I was rude. Plus the interrupted table would probably vouch for me.
Smart assed coworkers get told. I don’t waste any time about it and I don’t care if I’ve been there a day and a half. Don’t judge me til you’ve walked a mile in my Crocs.
Hey FMT, havent been to your blog in a while and missed it! I loved the part in your post where you wrote about the last table whose “noses stuck so high in the air I was surprised their necks didn’t snap.” I am reminded of what a great writer you are and find it amazing that you juggle work and school as well as a blog. Thank you for sharing this post because it is nice to be reminded that other servers also share those nightmarish days which make me want to cry and go chef ramsey on peoples asses.
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