I have a second site now…
CLICK HERE to view it.
I’m not entirely sure what to write about,
for the ‘About’ page.
I feel like most of this stuff is self explanatory.
My biggest issue is deciding if I’d like to make this page about me, or about my blog and why I’ve been inspired to write it. Perhaps a little bit of both?
Forgive me if I start to ramble about really random things here. I feel like this page will be turning into a large explanation of things so that I can keep my other posts short and simple. Without all the messy details to muddle everything up…
- I am a server. You might prefer to call me, ‘waitress’. For some unknown reason I’ve taken up the habit of simply saying ‘server’. It comes in handy when you work with mixed genders. Or perhaps, I’ve noticed more negative associations with the terms ‘waiter’ and ‘waitress’ than I have with ‘server’. Who knows.
- I’ve worked in the food industry since I was 15. I’ve only just turned 22, so this does not really give me very much credit. But when all things are considered, I’ve got 7 years of experience with working around food, and the people eating it. Plus, I feel like your first job really sets the mold for your working career if you really get into it and learn from your experiences. So why does this seem an important fact to tell you? Simple. Maybe I’m not the most highly experienced, but I would like to think that I’ve got a very good understanding of how to act with customers and how to handle myself around food. Does that mean I always apply this knowledge? Well…. Maybe not. ;)
- I’ve done every job you can think of in a restaurant. From unlocking the doors, to setting up the stations, to cooking food, serving food, clearing the tables, cleaning the dishes, to prep work, emptying the stations, and locking the door…. I’ve done it all. Any combination you can think of, I’ve done it. So if the cook comments on how hot it is in the kitchen (seeing as I’ve been a cook myself), I probably understand his torment a bit better than most of my co-workers. Or if I happen to have a bus-boy during my shift, I understand how much easier it is to pre-bus the table for them.
- I’ve only worked in 4 different restaurants. One of them gave me a real run for my efforts, throwing vast amounts of work my way. This is where I gained most of my experience in the various job descriptions listed above. So I understand that I haven’t really experienced the greatness of working in a food chain. I’ve been in family owned places from the start, and I’m fine with that. Aside from those places, I’ve worked on the weekends cleaning vacation condos for a summer or two, and I’ve worked retail in a clothing store. Neither of these experiences will be repeated. Ever.
- This blog is inspired solely by the people I work with, and the customers I deal with. I say ‘deal with’ because that’s really more of what I’m doing. My place of employment is a 24hour business. My shift of choice? I’ve heard it referred to as: 3rd shift, the late shift, midnight shift, the drunk shift… And a few random others. I prefer the ‘midnight shift’. Different places run different hours. I think the most common midnight shift runs from 11pm-7am. My shift in particular runs 12am-8am. Lucky me.
- Midnight shifts are both easier, and harder, depending on a person’s outlook for various things. No manager? AWESOME! Free run of the place!! Oh but wait… Not only do I have to help seat people… I have to serve them… And then help ring people up at the register… Oh crap this guy is complaining about how over priced our water is. Do I really have to deal with him? Oh that’s right, there’s no manager. In case you haven’t noticed, no manager means more work for you. Especially when dealing with grumpy customers.
- Each shift entails it’s own breed of customer. Day shift, beginning somewhere around 8am for most places, is all about breakfast for the first part of your day. You wake up early, you go to work, and you serve other people who are also waking up early. The customer range is anywhere from elderly people, to couples, to families, to tourists passing through. Screaming children are common. There is a high demand for fast turn overs on your tables, because there are more people coming and going on their way to and from work or local attractions. And just when you think you’ve gotten a routine down for doling out syrup and toasting bread for orders of eggs, they go and switch the menus anytime between 12pm and 3pm. Why? Because you’ve moved on to the lunch/dinner menu portion of your shift. Now you need to memorize a whole new set of today’s special side dishes and meals.
- Dinner shift generally starts in the area of 4pm. There are daily vegetables to check, as well as special meals. A lot of places tend to run the same specials on a specific day of the week, and only occasionally switch things up with different meals. Other places run something different every day, and occasionally repeat dishes here and there, according to popularity. Your average customer here is usually of the middle aged to elderly, though families are also very common. I don’t remember seeing as many screaming babies on Dinner shift, but I think that’s because nap time is usually taken at home. Though small children are usually present. The most common tradition of Dinner shift co-workers is to spread the news of which dinner specials you’ve run out of, or which side dishes. Or a dessert, should that occur. And once a certain time rolls around (for my place it’s 10pm), most of these specials are taken off the board and no longer served. So for the remaining two hours of your shift, you have to painstakingly explain, with vast amounts of patience, to annoyed customers that there are no longer any special side dishes or special meals. The customers usually aren’t happy about this.
- Midnight shift definitely has it’s own breed of customer. Occasionally there is the horrible parent lugging their 5month old baby around, or letting their 3year old drink coffee at 2:30am. But that’s not a usual occurrence unless it’s a holiday. The customer you’ll see the most is a drunk customer, especially if you are located within walking distance of one or several bars. 80% of my customers are drunk, even if I can’t tell right away. The other 19%? Well, that’s generally every freak, geek, creep, and nutjob that crawls out of the woodwork and from under rocks. The last 1% are those customers just passing through, who you don’t ever see again, or only come in randomly. Depending on how you can deal with people, this is either awesome… Or horribly terrifying.
