I thought there were certain questions that it was known you never ask a female. I thought the two main ones were what her age is and if she was pregnant. Well apparently the latter isn’t offensive anymore these days.

This past Sunday, I was waiting on a table. A mom, dad, and three children. These people come in frequently, and are by far one of the most hated regular customers. They order things at all different times, the parents eat before they order for their kids, they constantly need refills, they complain about anything and everything. It’s just a table that makes you hate the rest of your shift. OH and they park in handicap when there are no handicap tags shown, and they are probably late 20′s. They have no handicap. Just three annoying kids and miserable personalities.

So after I wrap their food and I’m about to drop off their check to them, the dad proceeds to say ” Um are you pregnant?” A million things ran through my mind. First, I wanted to smack him. Then I wanted to pull his wife/girlfriend/mistress/baby’s mother’s hair, then I wanted to laugh at him. I think that this man must know how much I really can’t stand him, so he decided to insult me in the best possible way he could think of.

If I was thinking and wasn’t so taken back by the ridiculous question, my response could have good. If I was smart and had the nerve, i should have looked at his whatever she is, and said ” oh, you didn’t tell her yet?” That would have started some trouble on the homefront.  Maybe they wouldn’t come in anymore. I would enjoy that. We would all enjoy that. Really wish I thought of that then! UGH

There really is something wrong with a lot of people. Let me remind you all that asking a girl if she is pregnant is not appropriate, but I’m sure you were all raised to know this.

No cells, please.

So I just want to give everyone a lesson. It is rude to be on your phone while you are in a restaurant. This isn’t a story about a particular situation, because this has happened way too many times for me to remember enough details of a specific story. This is more of a lesson to inform everyone, incase you were unaware, that when you’re on a phone while someone is trying to speak to you about what you would like to eat or drink , it’s rude. Don’t forget that.

Would you be talking on your cell phone in the middle of class while your teacher is trying to speak to you? Would you answer your phone while your mom or dad is trying to talk to you about something? Most likely, no. At least I wouldn’t do that. Don’t get out of your car and come into the restaurant if you aren’t done your conversation. I don’t want to know about who is fighting with who, or who dumped who, or what you’re doing and wearing tonight. I don’t care. Tell me what you want to eat and I’ll be on my merry way to be away from you as fast as possible..I swear. Because as much as you want me away from you so you can finish your petty conversation, I want to be away from you too..trust me. I have no patience for this.

For the first few years that I was a server, I would feel bad interrupting, but I got over that recently. I’m doing my job, and although you are not respecting me, I’m going to do what I am here to do. I will interrupt you and talk to you. Whether or not you are listening is not my problem. I explain the soups of the day and the vegetables as I go over and greet my table..if when I come back and you want to know what the soups are, I will repeat them but I will also make sure that I already informed you while you were discussing what shirt you were going to wear to your party tonight.

This has always been something that has driven me crazy. Obviously. I can’t live without my phone either, and I use it for basically everything, but when someone else is trying to wait on me and make sure I get what I want and what I’m paying for, then my phone is away. It’s on silent and no one will interrupt that worker. Hope this something we can all learn from!

McDonalds is down the road!

I had a couple, around the age of 30, come into work last night. They were very pleasant people and they even complimented my Christmas tie, which randomly plays “Santa Clause is Coming to Town” ( talk about annoying). So we giggle about the tie and they say the Christmas tree in the restaurant is pretty, blah blah blah. They’re nice enough. This should be an easy table and a good tip.

So I go get them their drinks, a Coke and an unsweetened iced tea. I place down their bread and then comes the next question. ” Are you all set to order or would you like a few more minutes to look over the menu?” They didn’t need a few more minutes, in fact they didn’t even look at their menu because they were too busy coloring on the children’s menu. They then continue to order two orders of chicken fingers. That’s it. Now, don’t get me wrong,  I am a HUGE fan of chicken fingers, but I would never go anywhere besides maybe someplace like PJ’s or McDonald’s for chicken fingers.  How can you be 30 and come to an Italian restaurant and order chicken fingers when we have many more delicious meals on the menu. Personally, I’d be embarassed. The guy behind them is eating a Filet Mignon and his kid was eating an adult sized meal, and they’re eating chicken fingers. 

Needless to say, the bill was about $11.00 and the tip was not as good as exoected because they were obviously just big kids. I’m sorry if this offends anyone, but I guess that’s just not my cup of tea. I would never do that, and most people I know would never do that, but I guess to each is his own.

So for the most part, like I said before I really enjoy working with the people I work with. Most of us have been there for years, and we have become very close. I see most of them more than I see my family, and even outside of work I find myself hanging with most of them. But, there are definitely cliques in the restaurant. People who favor certain people over others, people who just ignore other people, and people who really do anything they can to help another worker out, and get nothing in return. There are 35 servers give or take that I work with. Obviously, we aren’t all scheduled at the same time or even have the same shifts at all. I’ll go weeks without seeing certain people because of the different schedules we have. Some people only need to work a day a week for extra cash, whereas most people who are college students and are trying to pay bills and tuition work more like 5 or 6 days. I’m a 5 day kind of girl. I should work 7 days, but I choose not to for some reason.

There’s always been something that bothered me about these people that only work one day a week, and this time of year really brings it to my attention because we are closer to the holidays and it’s just not occuring to people that they need money. These people begin to want everyone’s shift. They want to be put on the schedule more and they want to work from open to close and have great sections. Well where are you mid July when I’m sick and you’re too busy drinking margaritas by your pool to help me out and work for me? Where will you be Christmas Eve, New Years Eve, and New Years Day when we are all required to work two of those days, but since you only work one day a week,  you get away with working zero holidays. We have families and things we want to do too ya know.

This is supposed to be a happy time of year, and between finals and trying to get some last minute cash for Christmas shopping in my spare time at 11 PM after my days of work and school, I’m not so happy. I’m not happy because I’m working my butt off all year and these people that work MAYBE one day a week are here all of a sudden 3 and 4 days and don’t know what they are doing. They don’t know what’s in  the soups, or what ingredients are in the appetizers, or what the sauce of the day for the fish is ( even though it’s been the same sauce every day for the last 3 years…seriously.) It’s very frustrating to me. In my opinion it shouldn’t be allowed. You shoulnd’t be allowed to come in and attempt to take over the restaurant after working maybe 50 days throughout the last year. Go away. I don’t need you to take my money or annoy me with your dumb questions.

I’m sure this is extremely insensitive and mean of me, but it is the end of the semester. I have finals and millions of other things to do and I don’t want to be any more stressed than necessary. I’m glad that all these people seem to get a sense of motivation to work, but it would be more helpful if they were like this throughout the entire year and not as soon as mid Novemeber hits. Guess I’m just a scrooge.

How do you come into an Italian Restaurant and tell me that you are allergic to garlic and expect me to be able to give you something with no garlic? News flash. It’s Italian food. Garlic is the main ingredient in absolutely everything..literally. So when you come in and get annoyed because  I can’t give you shrimp scampi or meatballs with no garlic..don’t expect my sympathy because that’s just plain stupid. Would you ever order icecream and ask if it was possible to make it for a person who’s lactose intolerant to eat? Come on! Get real. It’s not going to happen. Not in this restaurant..not any time soon! Just a heads up that you will make many mad if you decide you can’t have garlic while eating Italian!!

Drama Momma

So, this is where the crazy people come in to play. Let me start with this – people are nuts. Absolutely crazy. I feel normal when I tell this story.

A few nights ago at work, a party of 6 came in to eat. Only 2 people where there at first. They were immediately seated while they waited for the rest of their party to arrive. Well, they never were actually seated (this is where the screaming begins). ” OH MY GOD I CAN’T SIT HERE. OH MY GOD!” Ok crazy lady, you can be relocated because you obviously have an issue with this table and this chair..whatever you want. So like the crazy lady and her even crazier daughter wanted, they were moved..obviously because the customer gets what the customer wants. So while trying to figure out what this crazy lady was screaming about, and asking if she was okay, she started scraming again. ” OH MY GOD I CANT BLIEVE THIS. OH MY GOD. THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE. OH MY GOD.” Oh my god lady, shut up. You’re yelling and we don’t know why. Is there something wrong with you? Are you okay? Tourettes? Are you having a heart attack? What exactly is your deal right now? Relax.

Well this lady was in celebrating a friends birthday (the friend was not there to witness this scene..and if she was, I would hope that she would no longer consider this lady a friend due to her obnoxious yelling and screaming tanturm that I haven’t seen from even a four year old). She hands us a cake and while still speaking way too loudly, asks us to put it in the freezer because it’s an ice cream cake and if we don’t put it in the freezer immediately it will melt because it’s been out of the freezer for 10 minutes. So, we please her..again and the server sprints to make this lady happy. At this point, we STILL don’t know what is wrong with this woman. Well, now her daugher ( who is around 17) makes a phone call. Then the yelling begins..again. ” OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE SHE’S IN HERE. OH MY GOD. THEY’RE TERRIBLE. IT’S MY MOM’S FRIENDS BIRTHDAY AND WE CAN’T EVEN ENJOY OURSELVES. OH MY GOD. SHE IS GIVING ME DIRTY LOOKS. OH MY GOD.” At this point, we now realize that all these people want is an open restaurant to themselves to enjoy the 48th birthday celebration that they are here for. Well, that’s not happening. Sorry. Go somewhere else. Eat at home. Please.

Crazy mother went over to the table of the family of 4 ( who ended up leaving before they even got their entrees).  Hands are flying. Tears are streaming. It’s pretty intense. So after some investigation and dirty looks from nearby tables full with normal customers, we find out that the 17 year old daughter didn’t make the high school cheerleading team and the other girl ( the normal, quiet girl, who we didn’t even know was involved because she was not yelling back at these people) made the team. Yes. All of that over the cheerleading squad. Now, the employess can’t help but say “OH MY GOD. IS THIS FOR REAL?” We were hoping for some big juicy story that involved lots of drama, then we learned about the cheerleading squad. It was quite the let down.

I hope this makes most of you feel normal, because it sure made me feel good about myself. I feel bad even sending back a steak cooked the wrong way when I go out to eat, I can’t even imagine yelling over something so petty. So please people, relax and don’t scream unless it’s a really good story, because now the 15 people that were working that night will never refer to you as anything other than the crazy family.

A “Pay it Forward” moment

I can honestly say that not many things that customers do make me appreciate my job, but this certain story made me actually enjoy being in the business even if just for the night. You don’t see many good things happen when it comes to this business. I’m used to the people talking on their cell phones while I’m trying to tell them the soups we offer that day or texting the entire time I’m trying to take their order. Now don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy my job. I enjoy the craziness because it makes me laugh most of the time, and I enjoy the people that I work with. I like working with the public and I like dealing with different people all of the time, so I think that this job is good for me while getting through college, but I just can’t help but be stunned at some of the things that are done and said while working.  So this story is a good one. It’s one that I actually have been telling for months because it made me realize that there still are some good-hearted people in this world. 

A few months back, I was at work on  slow Tuesday night and one of my co workers had made a comment about what a great tip he had just received, and he seemed to be bragging as I was complaining about a bad tip I had just received. So naturally, I was bitter. My argument was that since his tip was so wonderful and mine was so terrible, I should get half. Sounded fair to me. He didn’t agree. Oh well. That’s besides the point.  So anyway, about a half hour later, a man had  come up and handed me $100 bill and asked me to not say anything to the family sitting behind him, but he wanted to take care of their meal for the evening.  Needless to say, this man giving $100 bills away was the man that was a good tip. The family consisted of an infant, the baby’s mother, and the grandparents.  This man was probably around 75 or so, and when he walked in he said hello to everyone that he passed, and on the way out he said good night to everyone in his path again. It’s nice to encounter someone so friendly, it makes you actually want to wait on them  and not want to give them decaf coffee instead of their requested regular coffee. 

Anyway, this man had commented on how cute the baby was and congratulated the mother and grandparents on the new addition to their family. The grandparents had mentioned that it was their first grandchild and what an exciting time it was for them. So when the man walked out, he handed me$100 and said “Please don’t tell them I’m doing this until they are ready for their check, but tell them that I know how it feels to be a first time grandparent and it’s the biggest joy in the world, so I’m taking care of their dinner.”  It was hard while waiting on them, to not say anything because this was good news that I wanted to share with them , because I knew how this made me feel, I couldn’t imagine how it would make them feel. When they eventually were ready for the check, I told them story and they all had tears in their eyes. A complete stranger knew and understood their happiness. A complete stranger wanted to buy them dinner to let them celebrate their good news. A complete stranger would not do this on a normal basis, and that’s what made this situation so special and unusual. 

I wish I could explain the happiness that I felt when I saw all of this happening. It made me realize that there are some people who will do anything to make even a stranger happy. It reminded me of that movie Pay It Forward. It made me want to go do something beneficial for someone that I didn’t know.  Trying to explain it doesn’t do justice for the effect the situation had over everyone working that night. I’m so used to people trying to have things taken off their checks, that when someone wants to secretly pay for a family’s meal, most people I work with can’t help but feel excited and truly happy. I’ve been there four and a half years and that is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like that done so this was kind of a big deal for me. This was one of the few times where a customer has done admirable and made me want to be a better person. It’s something that I’ll never forget and still think about frequently.

Like I said before, it took four and a half years for me to witness something this nice to happen at work, so don’t think these nice stories will last long.  In a few days I’ll be back to hating on my customers

This is the busy time of year in the restaurant business. Although it means more money for me and the rest of the servers, it means more people in the restaurant to drive me crazy and get in my way. This past weekend was the busiest I’ve seen it in a few months. The Eagles didn’t play this Sunday and neither did the Phillies, and since that has a big effect on how busy we are, we obviously were pretty busy.

There’s a rule in MOST restaurants that the customer comes first. If they are walking and are in your way, you move to the side and wait for them to pass. Not only is it a professional thing, it’s a respect thing as well. Now I can say that this isn’t always the case in all restaurants, because I’ve been in restaurants and almost been trampled by the workers that are in a rush. So this Sunday, I’m patiently (and with a smile while holding a tray with meals for five people ) waiting for a guy to walk by me to walk out. He was approximately in his mid 60′s, so he wasn’t in a walker or walking too slow, he just was unaware of his surrounding and the 60 pound tray that I’m carefully trying not to drop.  Well this went on for atleast a minute, which is a long time for someone who’s never been to a gym or lifted a weight to be holding a tray with heavy plates full of food. I’m standing there while he is looking around the restaurant like he’s never seen one before. Eventually, he looks at me and giggles and says ” Wow you’re standing so still with that  tray of food that I thought you were a statue!”  This is where my evil smile and giggle came out.  I can honestly I truly wanted to punch this man.  If I was standing there long enough that this man thought I was a statue that’s a pretty long time..right? Seriously dude, get out of the way.

To top it off, it wasn’t even food for my table. It was for a coworker that was too busy to do it themselves, therefore I got mad at them too for the dumb man’s comment. That’s what I get for trying to be a good co worker. It’s little things like that that remind me of why I don’t like people that I don’t even know. That may be harsh, but if you could feel my arm, you wouldn’t disagree. I hope to teach you a valuable lesson that servers don’t mind waiting for you to walk by, but when you see someone out of the corner of your eye that appears to be a breathing statue, please get out of the way.

The Beginning..

So being in the restaurant business has its ups and downs just like every other job. It requires me to be attentive and have patience because I deal with many different kinds of people throughout a shift. It also requires me to act happy even when I’m nowhere close to being happy.  There are times that I enjoy what I do, but there are also times that I literally feel like I could kill someone.

I am a server in an Italian Restaurant in Washington Twp, NJ. I have been working there since I graduated high school in June 2005 and I can honestly say that for the most part, I love it.  I love the people I work with ( for the most part) and I love the money that comes along with it ( again, for the most part).

There are certain parts about my job that I could do without, number one being the stupid people. I don’t think you truly know how stupid people can be until you get a job that deals with them everyday. My customers never seize to amaze me with their ignorance.  It’s incredible that there are people out there even at age 40 that give off the impression they’ve never stepped foot outdoors before and this is their first time in contact with other humans.

I’m here to vent about the ridiculousness that comes along with the job, the customers that make me want to pull my hair out, and the laziness of the people I work with.  So stay tuned for my whining, because I do plenty of it.

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