It is a foggy, rainy, craptastic day in Chicago today; a perfect day to sit at home, get homework done, blog, and continue applying for jobs.
The serving gig I mentioned in the last post was very short-lived, my friends. Two days, to be exact. I used to wait tables at a truck stop, and waiting tables here in Chicago was different than waiting on truckers at a truck stop, but it was definitely not better overall. So why did I quit after two days? Many reasons.
Reason number 1. The manager was giving me extremely bad vibes. He kept telling me he was glad he gave me a chance at the restaurant (on the first day, when I hadn't even proven myself in the least), and when we started talking about my job as a medical biller and office assistant, he asked if I could come to his house a couple of nights this weekend and help him get organized. Um....that is REALLY creepy. Hell no I'm not coming over to your house at night! Or during the day! Or ever! I also caught him just watching me on several occasions, and it seriously made my skin crawl.
He was also extremely bad at handling customers complaints. I had a table that found a HUGE chicken bone in her chicken salad sandwich. I was so embarrassed. I ran back to tell the manager and he rolled his eyes and said "what's the big deal?! It's not processed chicken, so there are going to be bones!"
Really? WOW!!!!! Awesome customer service! She could have CHOKED or punctured her esophagus or stomach. I'm not even joking. The bone was sharp and large. And the manager thinks it's not a big deal, and he doesn't even tell me to offer her anything else? Or a free dessert? Or a free meal?! Of course, I offered her something else anyway but she declined, as she had lost her appetite. Can ya blame her?!
Reason number 2. The restaurant is brand new, and extremely disorganized. They opened up in mid-February, and they have lots of kinks to work out. Both managers that I met did not know how to run the POS (computer system). There were two servers that were considered "permanent" and they didn't even know how to answer all of my questions about the system, about the menu, about substitutions etc.
Scenario 1: Making me wait at their table for 10 minutes while they're trying to order because they "don't want to have to wait an hour for the order to be taken."
Awesome. Not like I have 5 other tables waiting that already know what they want.
Scenario 2: Waving me down every two minutes for over half an hour to ask questions about the menu. Literally. I am not joking. Every. 2. minutes.
Then, after I do my best to provide great service for you, suggest menu items that meet all of your diet demands, and refill your hot tea 7 times (yes, I am not joking. This woman drank 7 pots of tea.) And after you sit at my table for well over 2 hours, you stiff me. No tip. Nothing. Awesome.
Scenario 3: Customers calling me racist. Oh yes, it happened. Apparently I'm "racist and don't serve black people." Ummm. Except that over half of the tables I am serving right now are black.
Luckily this awful comment came shortly before I left for the evening, so when the tears began to stream down my face and I began to do the ugly cry, the only person that saw me was my sweet husband, Will. He hugged me and told me that I am a great person who doesn't deserve to be treated in such awful ways. He reassured me that we'll be okay financially and quitting is a perfectly valid option. So I made up my mind to quit.
Basically folks, my very short gig as a waitress reminded me why I left this awful profession over 8 years ago and vowed never to return... unless being homeless or prostitution were my other options. Well, for right now I feel pretty secure that Will and I won't be homeless anytime soon, thank heavens, so bye bye waitressing gig.
I called the (WEIRDO) manager up last night and told him today would be my last day, and asked if he would he still like me to come in one last time. He said no, but again he asked if I would be interested in working on the side for him this weekend. I told him no.
Now, while I am relieved that I won't be working there any more, I am also a little bit sad. I had met so many funny, wonderful, kind fellow waiters/waitresses in the two short days I worked there. I think I could have made some really close friends.
And despite the terrible way customers sometimes treated me, the money overall was great. I made well over 100.00 on my first night. So the income would have been nice.
One more thing: I had an interview yesterday with a small, family-owned medical equipment office for an office assistant/billing assistant position. I feel pretty confident with how it went, but I am also admittedly a terrible judge about that sort of thing... so hopefully I'll hear back from them soon.
Until then...
Remember to be nice to your servers! :)
xoxo,
Emme
The serving gig I mentioned in the last post was very short-lived, my friends. Two days, to be exact. I used to wait tables at a truck stop, and waiting tables here in Chicago was different than waiting on truckers at a truck stop, but it was definitely not better overall. So why did I quit after two days? Many reasons.
Reason number 1. The manager was giving me extremely bad vibes. He kept telling me he was glad he gave me a chance at the restaurant (on the first day, when I hadn't even proven myself in the least), and when we started talking about my job as a medical biller and office assistant, he asked if I could come to his house a couple of nights this weekend and help him get organized. Um....that is REALLY creepy. Hell no I'm not coming over to your house at night! Or during the day! Or ever! I also caught him just watching me on several occasions, and it seriously made my skin crawl.
He was also extremely bad at handling customers complaints. I had a table that found a HUGE chicken bone in her chicken salad sandwich. I was so embarrassed. I ran back to tell the manager and he rolled his eyes and said "what's the big deal?! It's not processed chicken, so there are going to be bones!"
Really? WOW!!!!! Awesome customer service! She could have CHOKED or punctured her esophagus or stomach. I'm not even joking. The bone was sharp and large. And the manager thinks it's not a big deal, and he doesn't even tell me to offer her anything else? Or a free dessert? Or a free meal?! Of course, I offered her something else anyway but she declined, as she had lost her appetite. Can ya blame her?!
Reason number 2. The restaurant is brand new, and extremely disorganized. They opened up in mid-February, and they have lots of kinks to work out. Both managers that I met did not know how to run the POS (computer system). There were two servers that were considered "permanent" and they didn't even know how to answer all of my questions about the system, about the menu, about substitutions etc.
Reason number 3. People can be really, really awful to their waiters. I showed up Wednesday at 2:45pm and began taking my own tables. It was super busy, and people were up to their same old shenanigans.
Scenario 1: Making me wait at their table for 10 minutes while they're trying to order because they "don't want to have to wait an hour for the order to be taken."
Awesome. Not like I have 5 other tables waiting that already know what they want.
Scenario 2: Waving me down every two minutes for over half an hour to ask questions about the menu. Literally. I am not joking. Every. 2. minutes.
Then, after I do my best to provide great service for you, suggest menu items that meet all of your diet demands, and refill your hot tea 7 times (yes, I am not joking. This woman drank 7 pots of tea.) And after you sit at my table for well over 2 hours, you stiff me. No tip. Nothing. Awesome.
Scenario 3: Customers calling me racist. Oh yes, it happened. Apparently I'm "racist and don't serve black people." Ummm. Except that over half of the tables I am serving right now are black.
Luckily this awful comment came shortly before I left for the evening, so when the tears began to stream down my face and I began to do the ugly cry, the only person that saw me was my sweet husband, Will. He hugged me and told me that I am a great person who doesn't deserve to be treated in such awful ways. He reassured me that we'll be okay financially and quitting is a perfectly valid option. So I made up my mind to quit.
Basically folks, my very short gig as a waitress reminded me why I left this awful profession over 8 years ago and vowed never to return... unless being homeless or prostitution were my other options. Well, for right now I feel pretty secure that Will and I won't be homeless anytime soon, thank heavens, so bye bye waitressing gig.
I called the (WEIRDO) manager up last night and told him today would be my last day, and asked if he would he still like me to come in one last time. He said no, but again he asked if I would be interested in working on the side for him this weekend. I told him no.
Now, while I am relieved that I won't be working there any more, I am also a little bit sad. I had met so many funny, wonderful, kind fellow waiters/waitresses in the two short days I worked there. I think I could have made some really close friends.
And despite the terrible way customers sometimes treated me, the money overall was great. I made well over 100.00 on my first night. So the income would have been nice.
One more thing: I had an interview yesterday with a small, family-owned medical equipment office for an office assistant/billing assistant position. I feel pretty confident with how it went, but I am also admittedly a terrible judge about that sort of thing... so hopefully I'll hear back from them soon.
Until then...
Remember to be nice to your servers! :)
xoxo,
Emme
I feel for you - I learned a very similar lesson in the retail industry, where I quit one job at a clubwear store after a single day. I'm a firm believer now that everyone, at some point in their lives, needs to have a job in retail and food service in order to appreciate what you have and the people who do it for a living!
ReplyDeleteUgh. It was awful. I can't believe how mean and rude some people can be. I've never worked retail, but I can tell you that I swear to God that I'll never wait tables again if I can help it!
ReplyDeleteYIKES! People can definately be nuts and pyscho, I've learned that from working with people from aLLLLL different backrounds in the medical field, LOL. Good for you for quitting!! Love Ellie
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