Final Thoughts

Well, if I had any doubts, they have been put to rest now. Teaching is definitely harder than waitressing. Sorry to those of you who are servers; it is a very difficult job, make no mistakes, but it’s not teaching. I have only been back with students for one week, five days, and I cannot move. Waitressing is physically exhausting, but teaching creates both physical and mental fatigue that defies descriptions (and my fellow teachers can back me up on that). I wear high heels, so my feet are killing me. I am on my feet from 7:30 until 3:00. I walk up and down stairs more times than I can count. I explain one way, then another way, then demonstrate, then act out, then answer questions. With only a week down, I’m having trouble getting out of bed. I’m lucky that I love what I do because it is tough! So yes, my summer job was tiring, but I’ve concluded that teaching is more difficult! And that is my final thought and final blog entry (I think) about the restaurant. Thanks for reading along!

Incentive Meeting

Last night we had our incentive meeting. When we do “good things” at work, we are given business cards that have our mission statement on them. We put our names on them and twice a year the cards are thrown in a bin and prizes awarded to those whose names are drawn. I’ve gotten cards for cleaning when we weren’t busy, for when guests tell the manager how well I did, etc. I had a stack about five inches high (not sure how many that would be) in the three months I worked. Some people had boxes of cards though, those who have been at this restaurant the full six months.

Well, I won! One of my cards was picked, and I was given a $50 gift card to a Japanese steak house! I was so excited!

Other prizes were tickets to the Pirates, baskets of liquor, bottles of wine, gift cards to bars and restaurants, and the grand prize was $200 cash. Not bad. Some of the prizes were less exciting, like free parking for a month or one meal every day for a month. They picked about 20 names, but one girl won four times! It was pretty fun. Just before this, the chef rolled out his new menu, so we had plates of the new food to feast on while we did the drawing. It’s been a great summer job, and this was a really nice way to send me back to school.

One More Day

Sundays are the worst days to work when there are no sporting events on. I stood around for an hour and a half without a single guest in the entire dining room, not just my section. But then we picked up, and I had four tables sat at one time, including one party of 7. One table didn’t like the food. I asked if I could box it up, if someone at home would eat it. Her response was, “No one here will even eat it.” Yikes. Another woman ordered and said, “Well, there’s nothing I want to eat here, so I guess I’ll take the chicken sandwich.” Yikes again. But again, I had a few super nice tables. I carded this one guy, who told me today his life was over because he was 25 and officially old. I told him to watch his mouth because he didn’t know how old I was, which was laughed at around the table. So it was an acceptable day, but I’ve been so spoiled by game days that anything less than $100 a day seems like a waste of time.

Tomorrow, I go back into school to set up my classroom. That is going to be a reality check. Then Tuesday evening is my last night at the restaurant. Next Monday is the first day of inservice and our incentive meeting, which will be a very long day. But after that it’s back to being a teacher. It’s been a fun summer, and I’m glad I did this. It’s almost bitter-sweet, which is an odd feeling to have.

Three Days Left

Well, my summer waitressing job is coming to an end. Inservice starts on the 24th. I spent several days thinking about when I wanted to end this job. Part of me wanted to keep the job until the bitter end because the money is good. Another part of me wanted to stop working now so that I could have a few days to recuperate and work on my tan. I compromised by picking about five days before inservice.

I worked Tuesday because there was an event on, and we were suppose to be busy (we weren’t). I also work Thursday which is a big day here in Pittsburgh, and the restaurant WILL be busy. In fact, I’m really nervous about how busy it might be. I gave away my Friday morning shift so that I could have a day off. Then I’m on Sunday and next Tuesday, but then I am officially finished. Management said that I could continue to work on weekends if I want, so I may have a few other good stories to come, but for the most part, I’m happy to be returning to my 7-3 job with 130 14-year-olds.

Why I like school more…I like that I only have to make a first impression once. It is exhausting being super smiley and friendly all the time at the restaurant because I am making a first impression. I like that I see the same people over and over, so if I mess out, I have a change to make up; that is nearly impossible in the restaurant. I like that my job is steady, and I don’t feel like I could be fired at any moment for forgetting to bring out the app plates for the spinach and artichoke dip. I like that I work with educated people who aren’t obsessed with drinking, drugs, and dating. I like that I do not get filthy at school; there is no soda, mayo, soup, ranch, etc being spilled on me when I teach (although I do have to wash my hands a lot because kids are dirty). I like that I have a set time to eat every day. One of the things I really dislike about waitressing is that I don’t get a break, and now my eating habits are all out of whack, and I feel sick all the time. I’m sure there are other reasons I prefer teaching, but I’ll limit my list to this for now. I still can’t believe that there are people strong enough to do this full time because the restaurant business kicked my butt!

Overworked

I worked double shifts Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a good day to work-very busy. Very little was out of the ordinary, but honestly, even if it were, I can’t really remember Saturday because I served too many tables after that.

I opened the restaurant on Sunday, so I had to be there at 10. We were very busy all day, which is unusual for a Sunday. A few tables stick out in my mind. I had a table of 8 who were over heated from being outside in the muggy weather. They ordered a round of water and nothing else to drink. I added gratuity to their check which made them angry. Our policy is 8 or more gets automatic gratuity, but usually people leave more than what the bill requires…people who order water don’t leave extra. I then had a party of 7 at the same table; I thought they were Italian, but regardless of their heritage, they were very pushy. The father yelled what he wanted to eat before he ordered any drinks and while he was on the phone. Then the mom ordered mash potatoes for her baby and commanded that I get them right away, even though her husband was still yelling about the steak he wanted. I ended up bringing their drinks after the food arrived because they kept telling me to order the food right away and wouldn’t tell me what they wanted. My manager bought them a dessert, and they tipped well, but it was a headache.

I was prepared to leave on Sunday at 8:15; I had my money ready to give to management and was literally propping myself against a wall out of exhaustion in an attempt not to fall over when…”I know you’re tired, but I need to talk to you.” I was asked to sign back in and help on the patio with a few tables. That’s when the evening took a turn for the worst. I had a perfectly lovely table of three whose food was completely wrong. The medium well burger was bleeding, the meatloaf was cold, and there was no cheese on the fish sandwich. And why did this happen? Because I was serving the same group of Italians from earlier plus another 20 of their friends. They snapped their fingers and called me honey and were completely insulting. I told the manager to send someone else to work with them that I would not serve them. I had two other tables as well, a group of 8 and an older couple. The latter’s food was also run incorrectly. So I bought them a dessert, well two desserts because she wanted one thing and he wanted another. When food is delivered by someone else and is wrong, it makes me look like an idiot, and no amount of apologizing really cures the situation.

But at the end of the day, despite spilling drinks, typing in orders wrong because the kitchen was closing, dropping forks, and stumbling over my words, I did have some very sweet tables. My table of 8 outside was happy to laugh and joke with me and one of the guys gave me his phone number. It’s my first real number from someone I don’t know, so it was flattering. And I had a table of waitresses about my age from another restaurant who were very kind as well.

Now I’m “hungover,” in a non-drunk way. I had breakfast Saturday and hate a sandwich my wonderful guy made for me, but that was all because I was not given a break. Sunday I had breakfast and hate half a sandwich (also made by my wonderful guy) because I was again not given a break. I was so tired when I got home that I forgot to eat, and now I’m nauseous in an anorexic way, the feeling when you’re sick to your stomach because you haven’t eaten, so you can’t eat and can’t fill the hunger. I’m thinking of calling off work on Tuesday to reward myself for surviving. And I’m becoming more excited to return to teaching and have a normal overworked feeling again.

What’s Inappropriate?

What is inappropriate to say to a waitress? I ask this because I had an encounter with two mid-30 guys the other day that made me very uncomfortable, but I can’t actually say they DID or SAID anything truly inappropriate. They started their meal with me very happily. One of these guys knew EXACTLY what he wanted to eat and ordered it before he even ordered his drink. Then he told me to choose any beer for him. I know better than this, so I asked what type of beer he likes, and he decided on a “darker beer.” When I brought it, he made me stand there for about five minutes while he tasted it and guessed what it might be. He guessed wrong, and I had to tell him, but he said it was his favorite dark beer. It turned out that he had ordered the WRONG meal, so my manager bought him the meal he wanted since he had ordered improperly the first time.

Each time I stopped over to check on these guys, they asked me about myself. “So, are you a student, Renee?” “Are you married, Renee?” “How many kids do you want, Renee.” They repeated my name a lot, by the way, which alone made me feel awkward, not sure why though. I tried to oblige them, but as the questions got more personal, I began to “shut down” a bit. They asked me what beer I like to drink, then they asked me to sit and have a drink with them. Then they wanted to do shots of tequila with me. Of course, I explained that I couldn’t do any of this, so they said they would wait till I got off work. That’s when they got really weird.

This is how it started: “So I’m making this movie, and you would be perfect for it.” I call that creepy. It turns out that they are making a “self-defense” video, but the entire thing was very shady. They asked if I worked out, saying I look like I work out. I was really glad I had other tables that I could leave to take care of. During their stay there were several comments made along the lines of, “I’m getting divorced, so I haven’t gotten any in a long time.” I consider that as something inappropriate to say to your waitress, but what should the waitress say back? The one guy also gave me his business card and was unset when I didn’t comment on how professional it looked.

So I was very uncomfortable, but conflicted because I wanted my tip. Plus, I didn’t know what I could say to my boss to prove that they were being inappropriate. They hadn’t technically “hit” on me or done anything inappropriate. In fact, they were eating and drinking at an appropriate rate and working up quite a tab. If I asked them to leave or said they were making me uncomfortable, they wouldn’t tip me. I mentioned to a few of the guys that also work with me that they were being weird and to watch them for me. It turns out that these guests were talking about me when I wasn’t there. They called me “transparent” and a few other condescending things. And after all that, they only left me 15% each. They did wait until I got off work, but I told them that if they were waiting for me, I was flattered but not going to join them. And in the end, I had one of my co-workers walk me to my car, just in case.

I’m not sure if what I did in that situation was right or if there was a better way to handle it. But the entire 2-hour episode made me question where the line is for appropriate comments to make to your waitress, and what she can say back.

A Week Away

So I have been at a teacher’s conference for this week, learning about what technologies I can integrate into my classroom. It has been overwhelmingly informative and busy. Breakfast is at 7, and by 8:15 we are sitting in a session learning about glogster, animoto, google apps, smart technologies, or something along those lines. Our day concluded by 8 because 12 hours of tech talk is enough for anyone! But for those of you who have been to a conference, you know that you remain up and out and connecting well into the early hours of the next day. This week made some of the differences between my two jobs very distinct.

Firstly, getting up at 6 was out of the question (I skipped breakfast!) since I started at the restaurant. We don’t even open the restaurant until 11, so early hours do not exist for me. I had completed two sessions at the conference before the restaurant even opened. I sat in a chair all day, but I was just as tired as a full day of waitressing, which seems odd. This week was so mentally stimulating and draining (there is a whole new vocabulary to learn when you try to enter the tech world!). I am physically tired after a day at the restaurant, but there is very little mental stimulation. I say pretty much the same things all day: Our specials today are…We serve Coke products…Can I start you folks off with an appetizer…Would you like a refill…Can I tempt anyone into looking at a dessert menu…and that’s my day. Talking about wikis and blogs and html for 12 hours a day worked a part of my brain that has been hibernating since early June.

I told people at this conference that I just started waitressing and where. The reactions were interesting. Some people wanted to come visit, some wanted free drinks if they did, some didn’t understand why, some had done some serving themselves. I told everyone that I like it, because I do enjoy my summer job as a server. But I am so happy to have another, more academic, job. Despite the fact that this week sounds like a group of tech nerds being dorky all day, I met some very cool, down-to-earth, real people who like to drink and laugh and talk about real things. I serve food with some “very cool, down-to-earth, real people who like to drink and laugh and talk about real things,” but most of them can’t (or won’t) make that jump to the academic side. So long story, short: I had a great week and am looking forward to the start of school.

To see what I learned at this conference, check out my website for my students. Send me a message if you don’t know that address and want to see the cool things I learned to do, pretty much overnight and for free.

What Food Service Can Look Like

 

Not a bad variety of beers

 These pictures are a bit of a shout out to my best friend.  We took a “road trip” after we graduated college and went to Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver.  Along the way we saw some pretty silly things, and of course wanted to document them with pictures.  I recently refound them, and since they are “food service” themed, I thought I’d share.

 

As opposed to a sturdy canoe

 

We just thought the name said it all

Hot Dog! Glad I don't work here

Waiting on Waiters

I thought that working in the bar on Sunday would be a no-money shift, but luckily, my co-workers decided to sit, eat, and drink.  As people got off their shift, they sat in my section and kept ordering.  Even the managers were being served by me (yes, that is passive voice, but I don’t care).  Apparently, the managers decided to comp most of what my co-workers ate and drank.  This means that even though the started drinking at 3 when I came in, and even though I didn’t clock out until after 9 pm, their bills were $10 and under.  However, they still tipped me based on the entire order, not what they paid!  So bills of $6 left $25!  I made more money from my fellow servers than I do on a Friday night!  

The reason everyone was hanging out is because one of my co-workers is leaving.  We all went out to say goodbye.  The evil manager came out too.  I tried to speak with him, but it is very unusual for me to drink with my boss, and I kept thinking how it might impact how he treats me at work.  Wasn’t really that good of a time.  But that leads me to my next point:  the turn-over rate at a restaurant is crazy!  I have another goodbye party this coming week for another person who’s leaving.  The worst thing is that the people who are leaving are the people I like and who are normal.  Obviously, they are going back to college, or grad school, or they were hired, etc.  It’s the nut jobs that are sticking around (and I generalize here-they’re not all weird).  I’ll be ready to go back to teaching in a few weeks, although the management has agreed to let me work the occasional weekend when I want to make some pocket money.

Tripping and My First Phone Number

Two funny-ish stores.  First, I tripped.  I was on the patio and serving two guys, probably around my age.  They were just drinking and enjoying the weather.  One signaled to me that he wanted me to come over, so I turned to go.  My foot, however, got caught in the bottom of a table cloth, and I tripped right in front of them.  Luckily, I wasn’t carrying anything, but it was pretty embarrassing.  They laughed and said it was “cute.”  They each only left me $2 though, so apparently it wasn’t that cute (just FYI, their bill was $10 each, so it was 20%).

Second, two of my very good friends came into the restaurant to be served by me.  They hid behind their menus, so I didn’t even realize who they were until I was at the table.  On their check my friend left her phone number with a few very flattering words.  It made me smile.  I could have shown it off to the people at work, but I decided that sharing it on the blog was better.  The best part is that I have to turn my Visa, etc receipts in to my manager.  So they get to see how many people get left funny little messages and phone numbers.  It only took a month (and a visit from people I know, haha), but I finally got a “call me” message!