Sunday boring Sunday

Yes, today was one of the most boring days I have had at work. I managed today. I was the mid so I didn't go in until noon. I spent most of the day walking around trying to find something to do. I ate a salad and half a piece of carrot cake so it wasn't all bad. (I also had some lobster bisque, but we weren't supposed to eat that so, don't tell, K?) The GM decided to do something nice and take the other two front of house managers to dinner. They went to a city close to us, but THEY JUST WENT TO A DIFFERENT LOCATION OF THE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT!!! He did that because he is a cheap skate. He and the other managers can pay for everything with their comp cards. They spend so much time in this restaurant you would think that they would go somewhere different, but no, they didn't. My roommate picked me up and we went to The Tavern and met up with some friends of ours from college who are in town from California for Thanksgiving. It was good to see them after, I don't know, six years; since they were married. Now I am going to watch a movie and get up and do it all over again. Tomorrow will be another day, hopefully a better one.

The past few days

I worked a short shift on Thursday. I went in at four to work the "second" bartender shift. That means that I was done as soon as happy hour was over at six. Its a silly shift, but a necessary one. We have to have two bartenders at The Seafood Restaurant during happy hour because of the cheap people who come in for cheap drinks and even cheaper food. The funny thing is, ninety percent of them have never come back for lunch or dinner, just for happy hour. This restaurant is really confusing. The company is trying to blur the line between fine dining and mass appeal. It might work in some other locations, but here it is not going so hot.

Yesterday, Friday, was actually pretty good. I opened the bar and stayed through happy hour. Once happy hour was in full swing I put on my long johns and winter coat and stood outside with one of the other bartenders and manned a drink stand. We sold hot chocolate, hot apple cider, coffee and smores to people who were at the mall we work at for the Christmas tree lighting. It just happened to be the coldest night of the month. We were setup on the patio so we had the gas heaters cranked up to full, but we were forewarned so we had plenty of layers to keep us from freezing to much! I was working with Ashlie, who had also been there all day. She was the opening server and then practiced making drinks until we had to go outside. She is our newest bartender, so she doesn't know how everything works behind our bar. She knows a lot because she has served for a few years and she was hired as a cocktail server so she serves in the bar a few times a week, but she still has to learn the mechanics of our style of drink making. The tree lighting was fun, but it was the cap stone of another long day so as soon as we were done breaking down, I went home and went right to bed because I traded shifts with Lauren because she had a cheer leading event this morning and could not work.

So, I opened again this morning. It was pretty good. I didn't have that many customers so I was able to get everything prepped and set up for the night shift. The thing that was bad about today was the management (imagine that!!!). They made me stay until six thirty or the time I like to call "when the display shelves are all clean". They made me stay and hour and a half later than they needed me just to clean shelves. So I stood on the back bar and cleaned shelves for forty-five minutes. It was great.

Now, I'm going to bed because I have to manage most of the day tomorrow. (Something I always look forward to. No, really! The Bar Manager and The GM will not be working tomorrow so we can all relax and at least try to have a good day!)

Weekends suck

Friday night was slow and boring. I closed the bar. Happy hour was very busy, but everything died as soon as that was over. I even told a customer at six, "OK, I can be polite now." The biggest excitement was a table walking in at ten forty-five, fifteen minutes before we closed. Not a big deal, we can usually have people in-and-out in thirty to forty-five minutes that late at night. As soon as they got their food, the cooks left because we had been very slow and they started their pre-close early. THE TABLE SENT THEIR FOOD BACK! There was nothing wrong with it, it was just not what they wanted. Luckily, one of the chefs was still there and he made them something else. Just another case of people being stupid and expecting to enjoy a leisurely meal at close. Stupid people!

Saturday was loads of fun. The entire front of house staff had a meeting at nine am that was pointless and boring. The bar staff then had a meeting right after that, that was stupid and demeaning and then the bar dishwasher broke again. I pointed it out to The Bar Manager and he was none to pleased, but he's an idiot so it's OK. Turns out the motor burnt out and it had to be taken back to the dishwasher repair shop to be replaced. So my fellow bartenders had to go through a Saturday night without a dishwasher at the bar. (We don't have a triple sink.) I had the night off so, I spent Saturday night watching movies and went to bed at ten thirty. I know, boring!!

I opened The Seafood Restaurant on Sunday and spent most of the day there. Nothing exciting happened. I was just there all day. I came home and went to bed.

Monday was a very long day. I was at The Seafood Restaurant for fifteen hours, from open to close. I opened as a manager and closed the bar. The most interesting thing was that three off-duty cops came in for the late happy hour at nine and stayed until eleven. An hour after close! They were real nice, but COME ON PEOPLE, I WANT TO GO HOME!

I had a day off yesterday and today. My roommate and I went to see Matt and Kim, an indie band from Brooklyn. They were way cool and we had a blast! Its good to get out of this city.

Late customers and an a-hole

The festivities started early last night. As soon as I walked in the door I was confronted by The Bar Manager. "You know your at 32 hours?" My reply was "yeah". Let me explain. Our work week at The Seafood Restaurant starts on Sunday. I was scheduled for a ten hour management shift on Sunday. A thirteen hour open manage close bartending shift on Monday and a ten hour open manage shift on Tuesday. Now, this would not be a big deal if we scheduled three managers every day, but we don't because we only have three front of house managers plus me twice a week and Brenda, working as a key hourly, two to three times a week. She only does short key shifts, i.e., five to nine, six to close (eleven), nine am to noon because she is also our bookkeeper and our AM host. So I was scheduled for thirty-two to thirty-four hours in three days. OF COURSE I'M GOING TO HAVE THIRTY-TWO PLUS HOURS YOU NINCOMPOOP! I took Wednesday off and worked a bar close shift for Jana because she was double-scheduled at The Chinese Grill and The Seafood Restaurant (remember she is one of the many who has slept with The Bar Manager). Getting back to the hours thing, my management shifts would be much shorter if we had more managers. I would only work from nine to six or so, but instead I work from nine to nine or so. I'm getting really tired of working this much and then getting grief for working so much when I'm only working what I am scheduled and picking up shifts when there is no one else who can do it!

Anyway, last night's shift was very slow. A couple of highlights though. I got to work with Dawn. She is awesome! A great bartender and a great worker. We work very well together because we are both focused, neat and organized. She left around seven with her friend Emily, who had come in for happy hour. Some guys waiting for their large party to sit down kept on crowding Emily. It was kind of funny because she was to stubborn to move and they were to dumb to realize she was sitting right next to them!

The couple who own a wine shop came in towards the end of the shift last night. They are way cool, tip real well and are generally fun to talk with and be around. They don't mind me closing around them and leave at a reasonable time. The kitchen closes at ten and the bar closes by eleven if there is anyone drinking. The cool couple left at ten after ten, but these two older gentlemen sat there nursing their drinks until almost eleven. They only sat down to have an afterdinner drink because The Bar Manager bought it for them. As soon as the cool couple got up to leave, the men ordered another round and then lingered over them for forty minutes!

I will gladly stay open if some people want to drink. I love making more money, but I had been empty in the bar since eight so I started closing down. The cool couple walked in at eight thirty and they are real easy to take care of so I kept closing down. The older gents were ushered in at nine forty five by The Bar Manager. The only thing I have to add to this is, if you keep your bartender waiting for you to finish so he/she can leave for the night, take care of them! I got a great tip from the cool couple, and three bucks from the older gents. It ended up being somewhere around ten percent. That's not good. You see me closing, you don't see anymore customers, you have to ask if we are closed. Even if you don't know that we are closed, leave a good tip to make it worth my time. Throw down five or ten bucks. Especially since the first round was on the house!

I went over to The Tavern to wait for my ride. Miss Lauren was bartending. She is way nice. Her boyfriend is the regional manager for Bar X. Rocky, another bartender at The Tavern, had just gotten off work and was having a beer and one of our old servers, David, was there having a beer after choir practice. I had a good thirty minute wind down and caught my ride home.

I have decided that I need to do more with my life. I don't know where to start, but I will keep you posted.

Longest three days of my life...for this week

Here's to working thirty plus hours in three days! Today is my day off and I have spent most of it catching up on everything I could not do in the last three because I was working the whole time.

Sunday was a good day. It was our annual "Veteran's Appreciation Day". The Seafood Restaurant gave a free meal to veterans so we were much busier than normal. I worked from noon to about eight. It was a good shift. I started off working with a bartender that I'm not that fond of. Mainly because I know she has slept with The Bar Manager, who is a prick. I ended the shift with Lauren. She is great. She also coaches cheer leading at one of the local high schools. It was just a long day.

Monday was the longest day I have had in a long time. I started out by opening The Seafood Restaurant as a manager. The GM came in at three, Dawn (one of the other bartenders) pick me up to get my car out of impound and took me back to work, I changed real quick, and got behind the bar for a busy happy hour and then a busy dinner rush because of a thirty-three top and a private party. I ended up leaving at eleven. So it was a fourteen hour day. I made good money, so I can't complain. I went down to Bar X to see Jake before I caught the bus home. I ran into Rocky and Danielle from The Tavern. This was another long day.

Tuesday, I woke up and opened The Seafood Restaurant, once again, as a manager and stayed there till eight. At least this time I stayed in the same position all day and The GM didn't come in until three again so I had the place to myself and my co-workers for most of the day. I ended the day at the bookstore paging through Waiter Rant. Its a great book written by a gentleman who writes a blog by the same name. He was a server in New York City for the past few years and accurately describes life in the service industry. His blog had some influence in me starting this one. You and find his site here.

So that was my almost normal weeks worth of work in three days. I'm going to go enjoy something non-work related until I have to work tomorrow night.

Explanation

I guess I should explain yesterday's post. Not only am I a bartender at The Seafood Restaurant, but I am also an hourly manager. (I know, I know, the dark side.) Our last GM, the good one, asked me to do this soon after we opened and I accepted. I enjoy it somewhat and I'm very good at because I was a manager previously at The Italian Restaurant. That taught me how to be a good manager and put up with bad managers. I don't want to be a full time manager right now. Especially in my current place. I don't want to work that closely with The GM. So I am content to manage twice a week. I usually open, which is nice because I'm the only manager in the building for a few hours and I can hang out with the other employees while still performing my management duties.

Just shoot me

I worked a short shift last night. I spent the afternoon running around trying to figure out how to get my car out of impound. (I will get it on Monday and its going to be much less than I thought. Yeah!!!) I went in at five and worked with two of my female bartenders. I was supposed to close, but I gave that to the bartender that usually closes on Friday. (I still don't know why The Bar Manager gave me that close.) I asked the other bartender if I could leave first so I was only there for three and a half hours and that was long enough! We had some good customers at the bar. One of the regulars, Michael, was there for a long time waiting for his wife and drinking 12yr Glenlivet. They stayed and had dinner at the bar. I love people like that. They hang out, talk to us, spend money and tip well.

Once again my life was made worse by the presence of the management. I'm getting tired of being treated like I'm five. Talking down to your subordinates is not a good way to manage effectively. Quick note to all present and future restaurant manager: HIRE COMPETENT PEOPLE AND TREAT THEM LIKE HUMAN BEINGS!!! Now, I realize this is hard to do at a new store opening when you need to hire anywhere between thirty and one hundred twenty front of house employees. But over a year after opening, when you are still hiring idiots, guess what, they are going to act like idiots and do stupid things that will cost you customers and, therefore profits, bonuses, tips, morale and so on and so forth. (Can you tell I'm frustrated?)

I just needed a break from The Seafood Restaurant. I worked three hours this morning. It was a nice, short, good shift. The opening bartender was one that I love to death and can talk to about anything. (She is also helping me with getting my car back.) I did not have an opening server. The opener has not worked in over a week. He stopped taking his insulin last weekend, had a diabetic episode and was admitted to the hospital. He did not work either of his shifts earlier this week. Once again our stellar management team did not communicate with anyone or think ahead. So, no opener. It worked out well, though. The servers that came in at eleven finished opening for me and we only had four tables in The Seafood Restaurant by the time that I left.

I'm not working tonight. It's weird not working on a Saturday night. I haven't had a Saturday night off in months. In the restaurant business we work all weekend. That's what I usually do. I think I'm just going to hole up in the house and watch a movie and catch up on my reading. Happy Saturday everyone!

I'm stupid

My shift last night was long and frustrating. Many problems and very few solutions. The main problem is the one that gets worse every day. The fact that my managers are not qualified or good at their jobs. We have a new executive chef that falls into the same vein. Everyone is trying waaaay to hard to do everything the way corporate wants it done. All told, it's not a nice place to work. I can't quit because I am making good money and I will not be able to find a job this good or that pays this well.

Back to last night. The dishwasher behind the bar broke. This not a good thing because we wash almost all of the glassware in The Seafood Restaurant behind the bar. I don't have a triple-sink so I had to load everything up and take it to the main dishwasher in the back. I had late bar patrons, which was great because they tipped well and they were way cool. But, because I was talking to them, I did not clean as much as I should, as quickly as I should or started as early as I should. I got into it with the Bar Manager (who remember is not good at his job) about the broken dishwasher and getting everything clean. He wanted to leave everything until the morning. I said that was silly. We need to clean everything, every night. Period. I told him we need keep the main dishwasher open longer to accomodate the bar glasses and equipment. The chef said no, but he did leave the dishwasher full of clean water so I could finish my dishes. I just had to break it down. No big deal, it only took a few minutes to do this. Compromise is great!

I was done with my shift at 11:45. I was angry at the management, frustrated with the way the shift went and flush with cash. So what do I do? I go to Bar X and proceed to down what I think was six tall Maker's and Diet in about two hours. That was a great idea! Do you know why? I had not eaten in twelve hours, the Bar Manager came in and sat down next to me and just generally pissed me off, and they kept pouring me drinks. Now, the first two are very bad. The last is very good, just not for me. If I go out at all, I generally only have two drinks and then go home. Two relaxes me and helps me unwind, but does not impair me. Impair is the correct word to use. I was extremely impaired. I had to go into the bathroom and puke before I paid my tab. One of my best friends in the world, the Girl From LA, called me at that time. I remember her calling, but I don't know what we spoke about. And last but not least, I got pulled over, arrested, and GOT A DUI!!!! So this is why I'm stupid.

serving other bartenders is almost as good as sex

Four bartenders came into The Seafood Restaurant last night from three separate bars. They all work in the same mall where I do. They have all waited on me in the past at their respective establishments. One of them was very vocal about how much he likes it when I drink at his place. It's not just about tipping well, it's also about being a good regular.

I enjoy regular status at a few bars in this city. As I become acquaintances with more and more bartenders, I become an instant regular almost wherever I go. I hate to sound like a prick, but the feeling you get when you walk into a bar on a busy Saturday night (after working an eight hour shift yourself) and are greeted by name and with a drink when there are twenty-plus other people vying for the bartenders eye is one of the greatest feelings on this planet. It's made extra special if you breeze by the bouncer with a nod and a fist bump and proceed to carry-on a brief conversation with every bartender behind the bar that night, the manager on duty (if he/she is worth talking to), and whichever attractive server you have either drank with or hit on will being well lubricated.

This is not to say that I am an alcoholic. I just need the winding down phase post-shift and consuming a couple of beverages helps me get out of go, go, go mode and into I'm ready for sleep mode. Ask any bartender who has worked behind a bar long enough and they will tell you that the post-shift drink is one of the most important rituals we have. It's a time to reflect upon (or forget) everything that happened that shift. It's also a great time to bitch about your management, staff, and customers with other bartenders. Trading stories and bending a sympathetic ear show you that you are not alone in this crazy profession. Doing that while waiting on other bartenders and having them tip you generously is almost better than sex.