We the employees of the store realize that you are new at your jobs, and we realize that the upheaval of managers coming and going in the past few months has made for some unfortunate instability in the staff, but we have a few pieces of advice that may help you to keep from pissing us off in the future:
1. Do not come into a store and change people's schedules without consulting them, then point them when they don't show up at their newly appointed hours. That is unprofessional and plain stupid.
2. Do not expect people to automatically like you and jump at your every command. Respect is earned, not granted by a title. It is your job to prove to us that you know what you're doing.
3. Do not expect servers who only get paid 3.77 an hour , and who already do a ton of hard labor after the store is closed and no further tables are allowed in to supplement their income, to feel obligated to do "extra cleaning" chores such as dusting chairs and windows, detailing cracks with toothbrushes, and/or scrubbing walls. Nor should you be surprised/offended when they object to such extra work. Either pay them extra for the extra work, or have some of your other employees who get paid a fair minimum wage do those things.
4. Do not call out your employees on things that you see them doing wrong in front of other employees or other customers. It is also highly unprofessional to yell at your servers where other people can see; such actions undermine them in front of people they either have to work with, or have to serve/deal with. Nor will such actions win you friends in the restaurant, because other employees see these actions, and if it can happen to one of us, it can happen to all of us.
5. Do not, after repeatedly butting heads with the same employees over the same things, start mocking them about the issues they are having with you -- not to other managers where your employees can hear, and certainly not to other employees. We guarantee you that such mockery will get back to the employee who was mocked, and that all their friends and the other employees will hear of such actions. Massive disrespect will result.
6. Do not, when actions such as the above numbers result in dissent in the ranks, call a meeting singling out your night crew to tell them exactly what they are doing wrong (never mind that what you're telling them they should do, they're already doing), and to tell them that they are not allowed to hate you. This is pure stupidity, and it's a good way to show us how little you know us, and to set yourself against an entire shift of your store. Also, we are going to talk about you amongst ourselves. You can't stop it, and expecting us not to just because "you said it stops" only shows us how poor of a manager you are.
7. Do not tell someone who has burned themselves by accidentally pouring hot coffee on their hands (which happens in a restaurant, thank you very much) to suck it up and quit whining like a baby.
8. Do not tell an employee who has always come in early to serve a large party -- one that regularly comes in specifically to be waited on by that particular employee -- that they are no longer allowed to clock in early, which means someone besides the requested server will serve the table. And especially do not then expect them (the employee or the customers) to be happy and quiet about it.
9. Do not expect your regular tables not to notice that their favorite servers are unhappy, and not to question them about it.
10. Do not hire six new servers at the end of season and expect your older, seasoned staff to be happy about an overstaffed floor on a slow night -- especially not after they have spent the majority of the busy nights during season handling their tables successfully with half the numbers you currently have on the floor.
11. Do not be surprised when your employees balk at taking breaks so that you can keep your floor overstaffed for the night. We, as servers, do not come in to work for 3.77 an hour. We come in to work for the fourteen or fifteen dollars an hour that the tips give us. We put up with the non-table hours of hard cleaning because of the good table hours. We do not come in to sit on our backsides for thirty minutes of not getting paid anything so you can keep too many people on the floor. If you have problems with your labor, CUT THE FLOOR.
12. Do not ever, ever, tell one of your employees that you have to keep the number of staff on the floor high so that you don't "have to be out here, traying food, dealing with tables, and running around out here". EVERYTHING YOU JUST NAME OFF TO ME IS PART OF YOUR JOB, YOU ABSOLUTE MORON. Also, do not imply to my face that I can't do my job without your frickin' oversight. I've been doing this job for two years and counting, and I'm damn good at it.
13. Do not start pointing people for being five minutes late. You will lose good servers that way. Also, do not offend one of your only grill cooks by pointing him for being late when you already know, and have known for quite a while, that he has another job that sometimes keeps holds him up, and have already accepted that arrangement with him. He will be upset and go home, and that will leave us down a grill cook -- those of whom you cannot afford to be low on, unlike your servers, of whom you have to many.
14. Do not start taking out retribution measures on the servers/employees you don't like. If one of them says they need help, let them have help. If one of them gives away a table because they're busy and someone else is not, do not be offended that we didn't consult you first, and do not threaten to write the first employee up for it. If one of them has a situation where they cannot come into work, and cannot call to let you know they'll be in to work, do not assume they will not be in to work at their next scheduled date and get someone to cover the shift. Even more, do not send the first person home because you "already have the shift covered" -- by a newbie who doesn't know what they're doing.
15. Here's an idea: when you ask us to tell you what you can do to improve as a manager, listen to what we tell you. Do not blow off our suggestions as hot air and irrational, disgruntled employees that need to get over it. That is yet another sign of bad management skills. If we have a problem with you, assuming that the problem is all on our side is pure idiocy.
16. And finally, do not be surprised when your staff starts openly grumbling and complaining about the hostile, fearful atmosphere you've fostered in your store. Do not be surprised that they don't like you. Do not be surprised, offended, or angry when they start talking openly about quitting and consulting each other about possible new jobs. We may be at fault as well. In fact, I'm sure we are at this point, since we're overly prone to being offended. But any possible overreacting on our part was fostered by you in the first place. It is not our job to fix this. It is yours. That is why they call you management. If you can't deal with us on a human level of understanding and mutual support, you don't belong in your management position.
Thanks for nothing,
The servers and other staff of Bob Evans
1. Do not come into a store and change people's schedules without consulting them, then point them when they don't show up at their newly appointed hours. That is unprofessional and plain stupid.
2. Do not expect people to automatically like you and jump at your every command. Respect is earned, not granted by a title. It is your job to prove to us that you know what you're doing.
3. Do not expect servers who only get paid 3.77 an hour , and who already do a ton of hard labor after the store is closed and no further tables are allowed in to supplement their income, to feel obligated to do "extra cleaning" chores such as dusting chairs and windows, detailing cracks with toothbrushes, and/or scrubbing walls. Nor should you be surprised/offended when they object to such extra work. Either pay them extra for the extra work, or have some of your other employees who get paid a fair minimum wage do those things.
4. Do not call out your employees on things that you see them doing wrong in front of other employees or other customers. It is also highly unprofessional to yell at your servers where other people can see; such actions undermine them in front of people they either have to work with, or have to serve/deal with. Nor will such actions win you friends in the restaurant, because other employees see these actions, and if it can happen to one of us, it can happen to all of us.
5. Do not, after repeatedly butting heads with the same employees over the same things, start mocking them about the issues they are having with you -- not to other managers where your employees can hear, and certainly not to other employees. We guarantee you that such mockery will get back to the employee who was mocked, and that all their friends and the other employees will hear of such actions. Massive disrespect will result.
6. Do not, when actions such as the above numbers result in dissent in the ranks, call a meeting singling out your night crew to tell them exactly what they are doing wrong (never mind that what you're telling them they should do, they're already doing), and to tell them that they are not allowed to hate you. This is pure stupidity, and it's a good way to show us how little you know us, and to set yourself against an entire shift of your store. Also, we are going to talk about you amongst ourselves. You can't stop it, and expecting us not to just because "you said it stops" only shows us how poor of a manager you are.
7. Do not tell someone who has burned themselves by accidentally pouring hot coffee on their hands (which happens in a restaurant, thank you very much) to suck it up and quit whining like a baby.
8. Do not tell an employee who has always come in early to serve a large party -- one that regularly comes in specifically to be waited on by that particular employee -- that they are no longer allowed to clock in early, which means someone besides the requested server will serve the table. And especially do not then expect them (the employee or the customers) to be happy and quiet about it.
9. Do not expect your regular tables not to notice that their favorite servers are unhappy, and not to question them about it.
10. Do not hire six new servers at the end of season and expect your older, seasoned staff to be happy about an overstaffed floor on a slow night -- especially not after they have spent the majority of the busy nights during season handling their tables successfully with half the numbers you currently have on the floor.
11. Do not be surprised when your employees balk at taking breaks so that you can keep your floor overstaffed for the night. We, as servers, do not come in to work for 3.77 an hour. We come in to work for the fourteen or fifteen dollars an hour that the tips give us. We put up with the non-table hours of hard cleaning because of the good table hours. We do not come in to sit on our backsides for thirty minutes of not getting paid anything so you can keep too many people on the floor. If you have problems with your labor, CUT THE FLOOR.
12. Do not ever, ever, tell one of your employees that you have to keep the number of staff on the floor high so that you don't "have to be out here, traying food, dealing with tables, and running around out here". EVERYTHING YOU JUST NAME OFF TO ME IS PART OF YOUR JOB, YOU ABSOLUTE MORON. Also, do not imply to my face that I can't do my job without your frickin' oversight. I've been doing this job for two years and counting, and I'm damn good at it.
13. Do not start pointing people for being five minutes late. You will lose good servers that way. Also, do not offend one of your only grill cooks by pointing him for being late when you already know, and have known for quite a while, that he has another job that sometimes keeps holds him up, and have already accepted that arrangement with him. He will be upset and go home, and that will leave us down a grill cook -- those of whom you cannot afford to be low on, unlike your servers, of whom you have to many.
14. Do not start taking out retribution measures on the servers/employees you don't like. If one of them says they need help, let them have help. If one of them gives away a table because they're busy and someone else is not, do not be offended that we didn't consult you first, and do not threaten to write the first employee up for it. If one of them has a situation where they cannot come into work, and cannot call to let you know they'll be in to work, do not assume they will not be in to work at their next scheduled date and get someone to cover the shift. Even more, do not send the first person home because you "already have the shift covered" -- by a newbie who doesn't know what they're doing.
15. Here's an idea: when you ask us to tell you what you can do to improve as a manager, listen to what we tell you. Do not blow off our suggestions as hot air and irrational, disgruntled employees that need to get over it. That is yet another sign of bad management skills. If we have a problem with you, assuming that the problem is all on our side is pure idiocy.
16. And finally, do not be surprised when your staff starts openly grumbling and complaining about the hostile, fearful atmosphere you've fostered in your store. Do not be surprised that they don't like you. Do not be surprised, offended, or angry when they start talking openly about quitting and consulting each other about possible new jobs. We may be at fault as well. In fact, I'm sure we are at this point, since we're overly prone to being offended. But any possible overreacting on our part was fostered by you in the first place. It is not our job to fix this. It is yours. That is why they call you management. If you can't deal with us on a human level of understanding and mutual support, you don't belong in your management position.
Thanks for nothing,
The servers and other staff of Bob Evans
So here's a momentous event, worthy of note: for the first time ever last night, I lost my temper at work. It wasn't a full-out temper tantrum like I'm capable of throwing, but it was pretty bad. I threw my tray. I threw my pen. I started yelling at the manager in front of the customers. The whole works.
First. Time. Ever. In my entire life.
And, while I may have been in the wrong for losing my cool in front of the customers and the other employees, I wasn't in the wrong about what I lost my temper over.
I walked into work yesterday to a heavy atmosphere. Been happening a lot recently, and it's not something I'm very happy about. Everyone was upset, but for different reasons. J, the server, was upset because she'd been sick all day and hadn't been allowed to go home, even though she'd been throwing up at work (Okay, who doesn't send a server home who's been losing their guts periodically throughout the day?). D, grill cook, was upset because his other job had delayed him coming in on time, and they were going to point him -- he lost his cool, refused the point, and was sent home. That left us with one grill cook, Q, who was very, very upset at being the only cook for the night.
(Note about Q: nobody likes working with him. He has a bad attitude so large it could overwhelm the Grand Canyon. He gets upset if any special instructions are written on the tickets. He gets upset if more than one ticket comes into his window at a time. He gets upset if we ask him for gravy. He gets upset if we bother him at all. And that's just his normal attitude. Last night he was actually angry. )
C, server and very good friend of mine, is also so pissed off she can barely speak. Apparently, H (hot bod, for anyone who's been following any of my posts for a while), couldn't get a ride or a phone to work the day before, and got a no call, no show. This is very unusual for H. He's been working at Bob's for over four years now, and he's missed maybe a week of work total. He's an excellent employee who does his job and then some, and who does it with flawless efficiency.
Well, H came in yesterday to find that, because of the no call, no show, Ms. GM had decided that he wasn't going to come in yesterday, either, and had covered his shift. So they sent him home. He showed up for work, and they sent him home because they'd already gotten someone else to work his shift.
WTF!!!! What am I supposed to think about that? How can that be anything but retribution from our fool of a GM? You don't just assume that one of your most reliable people is not going to be there just because they weren't there one day. And you certainly don't send them home after they show up on time exactly as they're supposed to. Does that mean, that if I ever have a situation where I can't get to work, they'll send me home without letting me work my next shift? Is this some new form of punishment? What?
So at that point, I was stunned and angry. H knows what he's doing like very few people in the store do -- and they send him home? And instead, they have another (admittedly very reliable) KP, and a newbie who hasn't even finished his training in the back. We are also down a cook, remember?
So we get busy. Very busy. Section-is-full-and-constantly-refilling busy. So, of course, Q can't handle grill by himself, pissy as he is, and the reliable KP has to jump onto the grill to help him. This leaves newbie in the back all by himself to handle all the salads and desserts we're sending back to him. And of course, he doesn't do them all right, or takes too long, or doesn't get the ticket. So, a good portion of my night is spent running to the back to check on poor newbie -- who's doing the best he can and with a good attitude, too -- and correcting him on things, asking him to make things right away, or just grabbing things that we need. This wouldn't have happened if H were there. SRSLY.
Another portion of my night is spent dealing with Q, the grill cook with the murderous intent. He is getting really, really pissy with the servers. Really. I have the newer people coming up to me, asking me to get things for them because they don't want to upset Q any more, or he just ignores them. He's been yelling at the servers about everything from sloppy handwriting to "incorrect" markings (incorrect meaning that he has no idea what it is, not necessarily that it's wrong). Just to be clear, I'm also getting yelled at about the number of special order tickets I have. People want no pasta on their pasta, and grilled instead of fried, and the only way I can let the cook know that is to write it down -- and Q doesn't like all the extra script. And he has actually thrown tickets back at servers for whatever reason.
So I have to deal with that.
Then the big tables start coming in. Six top. Eight top. Six top. Five top. Six top. Ten top. Six top. Nine top. Boom, boom, boom. One right after the other. And we still have the smaller two, three, and four tops coming in between them. The wait time for food starts getting into the thirty minute range. I spend the next few hours running around, apologizing profusely to my tables while I'm trying to take some of the larger tables, and correcting the mistakes that are coming from everywhere. It's chaos.
It didn't have to be chaos. We had enough servers to deal with the floor, and only just enough time in between table to deal with everything. It was the mistakes, the pissy cook, the understaffed back rooms, that caused all the stress.
So we come down to the end of the night. I have a 3, a 2, a 3, and a 6. Q is already pissed at me about the two checks I turned in for the six, and I've already apologized five times over and fixed two problems with two of my other tables. The 9 walks in, gets seated in the back. Not only am I the nearest to that table, I'm the only one with any semblance of an ability to take it. Fine. I have no problems with that. I'm good enough to deal with it, and I know it.
I take the drink orders for the 9, and run the (very late) food to the other tables who've been waiting oh-so-patiently. At this point in the night, I'm pretty fed up with the complete incompetence I've been dealing with so far. And, positive a person as I usually am, everyone's anger was weighing me down. Oh, and did I mention that I'm in the middle of my period, and so my usually vast and careful patience is very low?
I turn in the two checks for the 9. On one of the checks, a little girls wanted crepes with the filling, topping, and whipped cream all on the side. I have no way of communicating that beside writing it out on the check. Q makes his offended noises, pulls the checks from the in-slot on the window, looks at them.... and turns around and throws the check back in my face.
"I'm not making this shit. Write it again." Angrily. As if I did something wrong.
I'm tired, frustrated, and offended. But because I still have to get things for the tables before I get them their food, I swallow my anger and take back the check. I look at it, see nothing wrong, or scribbled, or sloppy. Clear as I can possibly make it. The jerk just didn't want to read the darn thing. But, okay. I still have to get stuff for the table and I don't have time to argue. I scribble out the crepe and instructions and turn the check back in.
"Here, Quinn. Make the rest of it, and I'll re-write the crepe."
He ignores me. Ignores the check. I'm really starting to lose it. I can feel the anger creeping around in my gut. But I rewrite the crepe and special instructions, in tiny, neat, simple letters(with bullets), on its very own check, and turn that in as well. "Here. Its on it own now. That should be easier to read."
He still ignores me.
I'm thinking he's refusing to cook my check. "Quinn, what do you want me to do?!!" I slap the new check on top of the old one in the window. "Look, how else can I write this so that -- " He snatches the check from my hand, cursing at me, and that's my snapping point.
I. AM. INCENSED.
Manager of the night, E, looks over at me from the host podium and calls my name, asking if there's anything he can help me with, and I flip.
"You need to do something about this! I don't know what else to do! I need this check cooked. You fix this, because he's not listening to me." I'm not exactly yelling, but I'm close enough, and all the customers can hear me. Manager E jumps (this is kinda funny in retrospect, actually, because his face was so shocked and panicked and he's such a dignified guy) and rushes at me waving his hands at me to try and get me to calm down.
I throw my pen. Then my tray.
I completely ignore him. "He needs to stop yelling at me for giving him tickets. Do something about this." Still talking very loud. Upset.
E keeps trying to get me to go into the back, but I don't want to be pacified, I don't want to talk about it right then, and I don't have time besides. After a minute, though, I calm down enough to tell him that I'm done making a big deal about it, and that I just need my check cooked. I show him the tickets and tell him to take care of it, one way or the other. If Q won't cook my food, then E has to.
And then I'm off to deal with the 9. Halfway through the 9, a 7 walks in -- regular customers who've requested me for their big party -- and sat in my section, so I have to deal with that as well -- and all with a cook who spent the rest of the night pretending that I didn't exist and ignoring my requests for certain items off the grill. After about an hour, I felt guilty enough to go and apologize to both Q and E, because regardless of my provocation, losing my temper in front of everyone was unacceptable. E was receptive and appreciative, and he listened to my concerns and apology after I'd calmed down enough to give them to him.
Q didn't even want to hear it. He ignored me. Completely. Pointedly.
How, exactly, am I supposed to work with this man anymore?
I made almost one hundred dollars last night. But it was an absolutely terrible night. By the time our last table left, we'd been closed for an hour. We didn't get out until midnight last night. And did I mention I was on my period? Yeah. You try dealing with all that hostility without the appropriate supplies, and without the opportunity to stop and deal, even once, with that particular biological ordeal. I literally almost walked out, and I'm actually kind of afraid to go back tonight, because I'm afraid that Ms. GM is going to try and punish me for losing it last night. Write me up or something. I know she'll have heard about it, but I don't think I was in the wrong for doing anything but losing my cool, and I tried to fix that -- on my own, without any prodding from any of the managers.
(Note about Q: nobody likes working with him. He has a bad attitude so large it could overwhelm the Grand Canyon. He gets upset if any special instructions are written on the tickets. He gets upset if more than one ticket comes into his window at a time. He gets upset if we ask him for gravy. He gets upset if we bother him at all. And that's just his normal attitude. Last night he was actually angry. )
C, server and very good friend of mine, is also so pissed off she can barely speak. Apparently, H (hot bod, for anyone who's been following any of my posts for a while), couldn't get a ride or a phone to work the day before, and got a no call, no show. This is very unusual for H. He's been working at Bob's for over four years now, and he's missed maybe a week of work total. He's an excellent employee who does his job and then some, and who does it with flawless efficiency.
Well, H came in yesterday to find that, because of the no call, no show, Ms. GM had decided that he wasn't going to come in yesterday, either, and had covered his shift. So they sent him home. He showed up for work, and they sent him home because they'd already gotten someone else to work his shift.
WTF!!!! What am I supposed to think about that? How can that be anything but retribution from our fool of a GM? You don't just assume that one of your most reliable people is not going to be there just because they weren't there one day. And you certainly don't send them home after they show up on time exactly as they're supposed to. Does that mean, that if I ever have a situation where I can't get to work, they'll send me home without letting me work my next shift? Is this some new form of punishment? What?
So at that point, I was stunned and angry. H knows what he's doing like very few people in the store do -- and they send him home? And instead, they have another (admittedly very reliable) KP, and a newbie who hasn't even finished his training in the back. We are also down a cook, remember?
So we get busy. Very busy. Section-is-full-and-constantly-refilling busy. So, of course, Q can't handle grill by himself, pissy as he is, and the reliable KP has to jump onto the grill to help him. This leaves newbie in the back all by himself to handle all the salads and desserts we're sending back to him. And of course, he doesn't do them all right, or takes too long, or doesn't get the ticket. So, a good portion of my night is spent running to the back to check on poor newbie -- who's doing the best he can and with a good attitude, too -- and correcting him on things, asking him to make things right away, or just grabbing things that we need. This wouldn't have happened if H were there. SRSLY.
Another portion of my night is spent dealing with Q, the grill cook with the murderous intent. He is getting really, really pissy with the servers. Really. I have the newer people coming up to me, asking me to get things for them because they don't want to upset Q any more, or he just ignores them. He's been yelling at the servers about everything from sloppy handwriting to "incorrect" markings (incorrect meaning that he has no idea what it is, not necessarily that it's wrong). Just to be clear, I'm also getting yelled at about the number of special order tickets I have. People want no pasta on their pasta, and grilled instead of fried, and the only way I can let the cook know that is to write it down -- and Q doesn't like all the extra script. And he has actually thrown tickets back at servers for whatever reason.
So I have to deal with that.
Then the big tables start coming in. Six top. Eight top. Six top. Five top. Six top. Ten top. Six top. Nine top. Boom, boom, boom. One right after the other. And we still have the smaller two, three, and four tops coming in between them. The wait time for food starts getting into the thirty minute range. I spend the next few hours running around, apologizing profusely to my tables while I'm trying to take some of the larger tables, and correcting the mistakes that are coming from everywhere. It's chaos.
It didn't have to be chaos. We had enough servers to deal with the floor, and only just enough time in between table to deal with everything. It was the mistakes, the pissy cook, the understaffed back rooms, that caused all the stress.
So we come down to the end of the night. I have a 3, a 2, a 3, and a 6. Q is already pissed at me about the two checks I turned in for the six, and I've already apologized five times over and fixed two problems with two of my other tables. The 9 walks in, gets seated in the back. Not only am I the nearest to that table, I'm the only one with any semblance of an ability to take it. Fine. I have no problems with that. I'm good enough to deal with it, and I know it.
I take the drink orders for the 9, and run the (very late) food to the other tables who've been waiting oh-so-patiently. At this point in the night, I'm pretty fed up with the complete incompetence I've been dealing with so far. And, positive a person as I usually am, everyone's anger was weighing me down. Oh, and did I mention that I'm in the middle of my period, and so my usually vast and careful patience is very low?
I turn in the two checks for the 9. On one of the checks, a little girls wanted crepes with the filling, topping, and whipped cream all on the side. I have no way of communicating that beside writing it out on the check. Q makes his offended noises, pulls the checks from the in-slot on the window, looks at them.... and turns around and throws the check back in my face.
"I'm not making this shit. Write it again." Angrily. As if I did something wrong.
I'm tired, frustrated, and offended. But because I still have to get things for the tables before I get them their food, I swallow my anger and take back the check. I look at it, see nothing wrong, or scribbled, or sloppy. Clear as I can possibly make it. The jerk just didn't want to read the darn thing. But, okay. I still have to get stuff for the table and I don't have time to argue. I scribble out the crepe and instructions and turn the check back in.
"Here, Quinn. Make the rest of it, and I'll re-write the crepe."
He ignores me. Ignores the check. I'm really starting to lose it. I can feel the anger creeping around in my gut. But I rewrite the crepe and special instructions, in tiny, neat, simple letters(with bullets), on its very own check, and turn that in as well. "Here. Its on it own now. That should be easier to read."
He still ignores me.
I'm thinking he's refusing to cook my check. "Quinn, what do you want me to do?!!" I slap the new check on top of the old one in the window. "Look, how else can I write this so that -- " He snatches the check from my hand, cursing at me, and that's my snapping point.
I. AM. INCENSED.
Manager of the night, E, looks over at me from the host podium and calls my name, asking if there's anything he can help me with, and I flip.
"You need to do something about this! I don't know what else to do! I need this check cooked. You fix this, because he's not listening to me." I'm not exactly yelling, but I'm close enough, and all the customers can hear me. Manager E jumps (this is kinda funny in retrospect, actually, because his face was so shocked and panicked and he's such a dignified guy) and rushes at me waving his hands at me to try and get me to calm down.
I throw my pen. Then my tray.
I completely ignore him. "He needs to stop yelling at me for giving him tickets. Do something about this." Still talking very loud. Upset.
E keeps trying to get me to go into the back, but I don't want to be pacified, I don't want to talk about it right then, and I don't have time besides. After a minute, though, I calm down enough to tell him that I'm done making a big deal about it, and that I just need my check cooked. I show him the tickets and tell him to take care of it, one way or the other. If Q won't cook my food, then E has to.
And then I'm off to deal with the 9. Halfway through the 9, a 7 walks in -- regular customers who've requested me for their big party -- and sat in my section, so I have to deal with that as well -- and all with a cook who spent the rest of the night pretending that I didn't exist and ignoring my requests for certain items off the grill. After about an hour, I felt guilty enough to go and apologize to both Q and E, because regardless of my provocation, losing my temper in front of everyone was unacceptable. E was receptive and appreciative, and he listened to my concerns and apology after I'd calmed down enough to give them to him.
Q didn't even want to hear it. He ignored me. Completely. Pointedly.
How, exactly, am I supposed to work with this man anymore?
I made almost one hundred dollars last night. But it was an absolutely terrible night. By the time our last table left, we'd been closed for an hour. We didn't get out until midnight last night. And did I mention I was on my period? Yeah. You try dealing with all that hostility without the appropriate supplies, and without the opportunity to stop and deal, even once, with that particular biological ordeal. I literally almost walked out, and I'm actually kind of afraid to go back tonight, because I'm afraid that Ms. GM is going to try and punish me for losing it last night. Write me up or something. I know she'll have heard about it, but I don't think I was in the wrong for doing anything but losing my cool, and I tried to fix that -- on my own, without any prodding from any of the managers.
You have no idea how rare it is for me to lose it. I am one of the most patient, cautious people in the entire store. I had a terrible temper when I was younger (Spanish blood, people) but I've worked very hard to bring it under control over the years. Like I said. First time ever in any of the jobs I've had since I entered the work force.
I love my job. I'm good at it. I love my customers. I love the people I work with. But ever since the new manager has come in, the well-oiled machine that was the restaurant that I worked in has been slowly falling apart. If this is the way the management is going to run their store, maybe it's time I start looking for a new job.
- Mood:
exceedingly frustrated
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quillwing717- quillwing717
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chasethestars
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I mean, what does he expect!? He works in a f**king restaurant! People are going have special orders, they're going to want their food a certain way and it may not always be on the menu. That should be a given. I would do everything I possibly could to get him fired. But maybe I've been angry for far too long at this point and I'm just turning evil.
As for this manager I would print out that list you made and anonymously leave it for him. I won't tell you to start looking for a job right away; only if there's absolutely nothing else you can do in the situation. But you should not be harassed or degraded on your job by anybody.
I'm not quite so vindictive as to actively try to get him fired -- and really, he was as much of a victim of our management team as anyone.
It helped -- a little -- that I got an apology from both E and Q yesterday after I got into work. Unfortunately, now Q wants me to not write any special instructions on the checks anymore. He wants me to just tell him.
But, how am I supposed to do that when I have to write the instructions down in order for me to remember them? Never mind the fact that I'm not sure who will get the ticket, and the other cooks all need the instructions to know what to cook.
The best I can do is try to write as neatly as possible.
My bigger problem is our new GM. She's got serious issues with me now. Serious. A young woman, new GM, on a freakin' power trip with her staff.
*sigh*
I guess since he apologized I wouldn't try to get him fired. But he would so be on my short list from now on...
I'm sorry that your job is starting to become so unpleasant. Maybe if you give it time it'll come back to normal again?
I am worried, but not enough to quit -- yet.
There's got to be a demand for good wait staff everywhere. See if one of your former managers would be willing to give you a reference, and bypass your current twit of a boss.
It's possible. I think she's a new GM (store manager, rather than assistant manager), and she's pretty young, so maybe she feels she's got something to prove. But her attitude is terrible.
My brother was telling me that the one day last week, she was going around mockingly, over-exaggeratively offering to help all of her staff. "Dripping with sarcasm" were his exact words. When he asked one of the other managers what was up with it, she told him that it was Ms. GM's way of protesting that everyone has a problem with the way she does things, and that she wanted all the management to do it, too.
*insert rolling eyes here*
Seriously? Why would she think that would help the situation at all?
That's an idea worth considering. I know of at least one restaurant in the area that's hiring. Or maybe I could just transfer to one of the other stores in the area, where my other bosses went.
That sarcasm bit is completely, unbelievably unprofessional. I don't think Miss Sunshine is going to last long as a manager. She already has you guys ready to revolt; if you all start calling in sick, quitting, etc. she won't have any staff left to pick on or to get the work done. I'm sure the franchise bosses over her will notice that real quick.
I remember waiting tables. I only did it for half a summer, I got annoyed when they decided to quit paying me my $2.15/hour because I was earning too much in tips...I hope things get better.
How's the yoga going? *looks around sheepishly* Just because I'm not keeping up with my end of the bargain doesn't mean I can't hold you to yours, right?
Umm.... I don't think it's legal for a restaurant to not pay you anything. No, I'm certain it's not legal. Someone screwed you royally on that.
Yoga's doing.... all right. I could be doing better. I'll go one day on, a few days off.
I tend to avoid yoga during my period, so I haven't done for a few days, but since I'm almost off it, I did a twenty minute cardio set this evening, and I feel great.
*nudge, nudge* You should try it. It really helps oil up the joints. ^__^
I hear you about management though. They can ruin the best jobs. I hope they get it together soon.
Yoga...yeah...I should do that...I'm sticking with physical therapy for the time being. I'm not taking any chances with my back anymore...it's been nearly 3 months of this. I'm really ready to feel like I'm not 80 years old anymore.
Honestly, hun, in a situation that sucks as thoroughly as this one does, snark's the way to deal with it. If the GM comes and asks if you need help, let her help. Put on your most serious puppy face and tell her you've forgotten how to switch off your solar-powered pocket calculator. Ask her to teach you how to spell 'whipped cream'. Demand to know how you're supposed to greet a Japanese guest in his native language.
Be the most polite, helpless little puppy in the whole world.
Ought to be fun.
Ask her silly,