These past few weeks, work has been treating me pretty well. Don't get me wrong, it's still stressful, there are still lines of customers out the door, burnt French fries, food all over the floor, and a very perturbed Kunoichi Cook, but I think I am at least beginning to cope with it better.
Could it be that I LIKE going to work now because it's actually FUN sometimes????
Wowwwwww........
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
A Good Day At Work? For Real?
There were so many reasons why today could have sucked majorly. For one thing, we've had unusually warm weather this past weekend, but they left the heat on at work. At least, that's why we all suspect it's so much hotter than usual. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate on Friday. Today I found I was holding my breath a lot because I was having trouble breathing. I was sweating more than usual. It was terrible. I was working right over the grill for most of my shift and it was just awful. I walked into the kitchen every chance I got and stood by the ice machine. Who knew the KITCHEN would make me feel better? I almost asked to go take a quick break as I felt like I might pass out, but thankfully I didn't.
Despite that, I had a good day. I'm starting to learn to just relax and chill out. As a result, I was happier and did a better job, got along better with the customers, was able to clean the grill in between orders and not get too overwhelmed. Not once did I think about running into the dish room to hide. This is a very unique experience for me during Monday and Friday lunch rushes.
I feel like I can go back to work on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and not feel anxious. Normally I don't except when I line cook for lunch; in fact, most of the time I look forward to going. I guess I should consider myself lucky. =-)
Special thanks to all my buddies on RHU.com for helping me out! You guys are truly the greatest.
Despite that, I had a good day. I'm starting to learn to just relax and chill out. As a result, I was happier and did a better job, got along better with the customers, was able to clean the grill in between orders and not get too overwhelmed. Not once did I think about running into the dish room to hide. This is a very unique experience for me during Monday and Friday lunch rushes.
I feel like I can go back to work on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and not feel anxious. Normally I don't except when I line cook for lunch; in fact, most of the time I look forward to going. I guess I should consider myself lucky. =-)
Special thanks to all my buddies on RHU.com for helping me out! You guys are truly the greatest.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
A Recipe for Disaster
On Monday night, I had the privilege of working in a new area that I hadn't worked in previously. I spent my Monday making pannini sandwiches and wraps for people. We didn't get very busy, and my coworker was really awesome. The night went quickly too, so I had an overall good experience. I just have to bitch about one thing though (because that's what I do). =)
When customers place their orders, they take a slip of paper and circle what they want: what type of bread / wrap they want, what they want on it (Italian, turkey & bacon, etc.,) and any special instructions (no sauce, extra tomatoes, etc.) This is where disaster strikes. The first thing they need to do is circle "for here" or "to go" but about a third of them leave this blank (a few people write "to go" under the special instructions: it drives me nuts but at least they wrote it at all), and a whole bunch of people don't even write their names. So then I have to yell out their orders and when they come up expecting their food, I have to ask if they want it for here or to go and they have to wait for me to get their sandwich out of the oven and put it in the correct packaging.
It's really not that big of a deal, but after a while it starts driving me insane. People, all you have to do is fill out a little slip of paper! Do not over complicate this too!!!
When customers place their orders, they take a slip of paper and circle what they want: what type of bread / wrap they want, what they want on it (Italian, turkey & bacon, etc.,) and any special instructions (no sauce, extra tomatoes, etc.) This is where disaster strikes. The first thing they need to do is circle "for here" or "to go" but about a third of them leave this blank (a few people write "to go" under the special instructions: it drives me nuts but at least they wrote it at all), and a whole bunch of people don't even write their names. So then I have to yell out their orders and when they come up expecting their food, I have to ask if they want it for here or to go and they have to wait for me to get their sandwich out of the oven and put it in the correct packaging.
It's really not that big of a deal, but after a while it starts driving me insane. People, all you have to do is fill out a little slip of paper! Do not over complicate this too!!!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Quotes From Tonight's Work
First Coworker: "Hey, how are you doing tonight?"
Me: "I'm great!"
First Coworker: "Well, we'll fix that!"
Every time I'm the Dishwasher Bitch, that's how we greet each other. :D
--
Second Coworker: "I'm just not really doing anything. Not moving that fast."
Me: "Is it that quiet out there? Nothing to do?"
Second Coworker: "No, it's about normal. I'm still not moving that fast."
--
And of course, tonight we dish crew members couldn't decide what radio station to listen to, country or classic rock / oldies. So we put one stereo on one side of the dish room to country, and the other to classic rock. Two different stations playing at the same time. Another coworker came in to get something and said, "What the fuck are you guys listening to?!!!??"
Ahh, work! Such bliss!
Me: "I'm great!"
First Coworker: "Well, we'll fix that!"
Every time I'm the Dishwasher Bitch, that's how we greet each other. :D
--
Second Coworker: "I'm just not really doing anything. Not moving that fast."
Me: "Is it that quiet out there? Nothing to do?"
Second Coworker: "No, it's about normal. I'm still not moving that fast."
--
And of course, tonight we dish crew members couldn't decide what radio station to listen to, country or classic rock / oldies. So we put one stereo on one side of the dish room to country, and the other to classic rock. Two different stations playing at the same time. Another coworker came in to get something and said, "What the fuck are you guys listening to?!!!??"
Ahh, work! Such bliss!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Jobs I Could Never Do
This one goes out to my friends on retailhellunderground.com. I am a servant of that genius site, always.
I made a list of jobs in which I don't think I'd ever be able to survive. Enjoy.
In no particular order:
1) Grocery stores. I hate grocery shopping and these places are the last places that I'd want to hang out. I'd be way too tempted to tell people to go to aisle sixteen for the mouthwash they were looking for that is actually located in aisle four. Plus, which position would I even be good at? I'd be having too much fun "accidentally" running into people's cars with the shopping carts I'm supposed to bring back to be able to perform my job properly. Grocery stores are out.
2) Walmart. HELL NO. It's bad enough being a customer there and having to look at and listen to the other customers that never graduated from the eighth grade so they can't read and can't count (well I guess that's why). Plus, with the stories I've heard, Walmart treats their employees like garbage.
3) Restaurants as a server. I simply do NOT have enough patience for this position. If my ability to make money (tips) depends on my patience, then I won't be making much money! I am quite sure they would fire me after a week because I'd surely have stabbed a customer by then! Not only that, but I'm also very uncoordinated so I'd probably be dropping people's food. Then I'd have to listen to customers' bitch fits about their food being dropped and how they have to wait and then I don't get a tip. FUCK THAT SHIT. Let me wash dishes in the back! I'd rather burn my hand to the bone than deal with boneheads all night long!
I'm happy where I work, right where I am. I just keep thinking to myself that at least I am separated from people by a counter so the true psychos can't attack me and I can't attack them if they drive me to insanity. I do want to keep my job, after all. I work with some of the chillest people around. =)
I made a list of jobs in which I don't think I'd ever be able to survive. Enjoy.
In no particular order:
1) Grocery stores. I hate grocery shopping and these places are the last places that I'd want to hang out. I'd be way too tempted to tell people to go to aisle sixteen for the mouthwash they were looking for that is actually located in aisle four. Plus, which position would I even be good at? I'd be having too much fun "accidentally" running into people's cars with the shopping carts I'm supposed to bring back to be able to perform my job properly. Grocery stores are out.
2) Walmart. HELL NO. It's bad enough being a customer there and having to look at and listen to the other customers that never graduated from the eighth grade so they can't read and can't count (well I guess that's why). Plus, with the stories I've heard, Walmart treats their employees like garbage.
3) Restaurants as a server. I simply do NOT have enough patience for this position. If my ability to make money (tips) depends on my patience, then I won't be making much money! I am quite sure they would fire me after a week because I'd surely have stabbed a customer by then! Not only that, but I'm also very uncoordinated so I'd probably be dropping people's food. Then I'd have to listen to customers' bitch fits about their food being dropped and how they have to wait and then I don't get a tip. FUCK THAT SHIT. Let me wash dishes in the back! I'd rather burn my hand to the bone than deal with boneheads all night long!
I'm happy where I work, right where I am. I just keep thinking to myself that at least I am separated from people by a counter so the true psychos can't attack me and I can't attack them if they drive me to insanity. I do want to keep my job, after all. I work with some of the chillest people around. =)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Why Can't I Work Here?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS79YzlFuL8
Best clip from the best movie EVER!
Best clip from the best movie EVER!
We All Should Get These
On cafepress.com you can custom design your own stuff so I did this. I don't have the cash to actually buy it, but I had a lot of fun with this one.
Initially I was going to put some kind of clipart on it but then I figured it speaks for itself.
Inspired by one of my all-time favorite movies: Waiting.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
The Unintentional Generosity of Customers
Greetings! Tonight I had a very good time at work. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, maybe because it's almost Friday. And it was a very exhausting night as I was in charge of running stuff back and forth to the salad bars and, essentially, getting a work out. However, it all paid off at the end of the night.
Upon closing time, I set out to begin wiping the vast quantity of tables. Many customers were still eating, which meant that I and my two helping coworkers had to skip those tables (obviously) and come back later. Most tables were relatively tidy. But of course, these are customers we are talking about here, and most of them can be total slobs. Hence, I had to run trays full of food, including bowls of melted ice cream, half-eaten salads, and mostly full coffee mugs, to the dish room because the customers were too lazy and apparently this is what I get paid to do. Jerks.
It all paid off in the end though, because by the time I got to the last row of tables, I found a bunch of trash and two small cardboard boxes marked "carepackages.com" I looked inside and what did I find? A bag of Doritos, a bag of Chips Ahoy cookies, smarties, chocolate, Mr. Goodbars, and some peanut chewy bars. Free food!!!! And nowhere in the rules does it say I can't take non-work prepared food that has been rejected by lazy customers. I took it back to my locker before finishing up the closing procedures as part of my commission for cleaning up their ice cream, empty dishes, paper napkins on the floors, etc.
I even gave one of the chewy bars to a coworker because I don't like them but he does! :-)
Funny how sometimes the customers try to be rude slobs but end up feeding a starving employee by accident. ;)
Upon closing time, I set out to begin wiping the vast quantity of tables. Many customers were still eating, which meant that I and my two helping coworkers had to skip those tables (obviously) and come back later. Most tables were relatively tidy. But of course, these are customers we are talking about here, and most of them can be total slobs. Hence, I had to run trays full of food, including bowls of melted ice cream, half-eaten salads, and mostly full coffee mugs, to the dish room because the customers were too lazy and apparently this is what I get paid to do. Jerks.
It all paid off in the end though, because by the time I got to the last row of tables, I found a bunch of trash and two small cardboard boxes marked "carepackages.com" I looked inside and what did I find? A bag of Doritos, a bag of Chips Ahoy cookies, smarties, chocolate, Mr. Goodbars, and some peanut chewy bars. Free food!!!! And nowhere in the rules does it say I can't take non-work prepared food that has been rejected by lazy customers. I took it back to my locker before finishing up the closing procedures as part of my commission for cleaning up their ice cream, empty dishes, paper napkins on the floors, etc.
I even gave one of the chewy bars to a coworker because I don't like them but he does! :-)
Funny how sometimes the customers try to be rude slobs but end up feeding a starving employee by accident. ;)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Monday Mayhem
Why do people need to order such weird shit? I worked a split shift on Monday, so that meant I got to spend one shift cooking burgers and the other cooking stir fry. Working one shift alone can test my patience to the breaking point, but two? Here's how my adventuresome day progresses:
Customer: Yeah, I want a mushroom Swiss.
I start making it.
Customer: No, I want American cheese.
I throw away the Swiss cheese I assumed was required and grab a slice of American.
Customer: No, I need bacon on that too.
I throw the American cheese away as well, solely out of frustration, add the bacon, and then a new slice of cheese.
Customer comes back five minutes after she leaves with her burger.
Customer: Yeah, I need mustard.
At this point I am about ready to throw my spatula across the dining room. Somehow I'm expected to read fucking minds while getting paid not even $8.00 an hour. Somehow, even though a mushroom Swiss burger is a burger with mushrooms and Swiss cheese on top, I'm expected to know that when you ordered a mushroom Swiss burger, you REALLY wanted a BACON CHEESEBURGER with AMERICAN CHEESE and MUSHROOMS added. Good grief.
Keep in mind that this shit happens nonstop during a lunch rush, making me want to kill someone, namely, myself.
On Monday night it was better, mostly because I got to work with one of my friends and it's generally a more laid-back setting than the other place. We got to turn up the radio and stand back by the grills talking while we were waiting for customer orders to come through.
I do have a few messages for said customers, however. Mainly:
STOP THROWING OUT THE RECEIPTS!!!! Technically we don't have to give you your food when you come to pick it up because you have zero evidence that you actually paid. I just give it to you anyway and yell at you for it so I don't have to deal with temper tantrums.
STOP BEING ANNOYING ABOUT YOUR ORDERS!!! I don't like giving you rice in a separate container. It throws off our entire awesome system. Why would you order just shrimp with no sauce, rice or vegetables??? You're paying the full price for it. Oh well, it's your money, not mine.
READ THE NUMBERS WHEN YOU COME TO PICK UP YOUR FOOD!!!! You don't even have to read any words, just match the number on your receipt with the number on your box of food! But because you people keep grabbing the wrong orders, I or one of my coworkers has to make sure everyone grabs the right order! One of these days a vegetarian customer is going to open up a box full of steaming hot shrimp and learn their lesson (and I'm going to laugh my ass off as I bet money this has actually happened before).
Cleaning a steaming hot grill at the end of the night, with hot soapy water and all kinds of nasty, disgusting, greasy shit is like the icing on the cake. My hands are on fire but I just scrub as quickly as I can, grit my teeth, and bear the pain because the sooner I can see myself in that grill surface, the sooner I can go the fuck home and do it again tomorrow.
Customer: Yeah, I want a mushroom Swiss.
I start making it.
Customer: No, I want American cheese.
I throw away the Swiss cheese I assumed was required and grab a slice of American.
Customer: No, I need bacon on that too.
I throw the American cheese away as well, solely out of frustration, add the bacon, and then a new slice of cheese.
Customer comes back five minutes after she leaves with her burger.
Customer: Yeah, I need mustard.
At this point I am about ready to throw my spatula across the dining room. Somehow I'm expected to read fucking minds while getting paid not even $8.00 an hour. Somehow, even though a mushroom Swiss burger is a burger with mushrooms and Swiss cheese on top, I'm expected to know that when you ordered a mushroom Swiss burger, you REALLY wanted a BACON CHEESEBURGER with AMERICAN CHEESE and MUSHROOMS added. Good grief.
Keep in mind that this shit happens nonstop during a lunch rush, making me want to kill someone, namely, myself.
On Monday night it was better, mostly because I got to work with one of my friends and it's generally a more laid-back setting than the other place. We got to turn up the radio and stand back by the grills talking while we were waiting for customer orders to come through.
I do have a few messages for said customers, however. Mainly:
STOP THROWING OUT THE RECEIPTS!!!! Technically we don't have to give you your food when you come to pick it up because you have zero evidence that you actually paid. I just give it to you anyway and yell at you for it so I don't have to deal with temper tantrums.
STOP BEING ANNOYING ABOUT YOUR ORDERS!!! I don't like giving you rice in a separate container. It throws off our entire awesome system. Why would you order just shrimp with no sauce, rice or vegetables??? You're paying the full price for it. Oh well, it's your money, not mine.
READ THE NUMBERS WHEN YOU COME TO PICK UP YOUR FOOD!!!! You don't even have to read any words, just match the number on your receipt with the number on your box of food! But because you people keep grabbing the wrong orders, I or one of my coworkers has to make sure everyone grabs the right order! One of these days a vegetarian customer is going to open up a box full of steaming hot shrimp and learn their lesson (and I'm going to laugh my ass off as I bet money this has actually happened before).
Cleaning a steaming hot grill at the end of the night, with hot soapy water and all kinds of nasty, disgusting, greasy shit is like the icing on the cake. My hands are on fire but I just scrub as quickly as I can, grit my teeth, and bear the pain because the sooner I can see myself in that grill surface, the sooner I can go the fuck home and do it again tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)