Direct response
As I have already let everyone know in the business I have an engagement party to attend today. Therefore, I couldn’t possibly have agreed to a shift today, because I can’t! so, this is my response to his email, in case he goes “well, you didn’t tell me” and considered me as walked out of his business, claiming then that I never had the intention to work out my full 2 weeks’.
Dear Mr X,
You would find, in accordance to the Collective Agreement 2006-2011, I have stated on the 6th of November of my intention to attend some friends’ engagement party on Saturday the 22nd of November, which is this today. This was both in verbal attention to Mr J and Mr L who were both in charge of setting up rosters for floor staffs, and in a written note that you will find in the rosters’ folder. As such, the roster has never included the 22nd of November and does not have me written up at 4 p.m as my next shift after Friday, which held a split shift starting at 11a.m.
As your email is dated at and time stamped at approximately 9 p.m the 21st of November, you have failed to give me the 24 hours notice required for me to be able to work at 4p.m on Saturday the 22nd of November.
Therefore, I am unable to change my plans and therefore there is no failure to turn up for work on the 22nd of November when there was no advance notice given for me to be able to change my plans.
As for the rest of my plans with regards to your business, H Pty Ltd, I will advice you further when I am done with my friends’ engagement party as this is not an issue I want to carry in my head while celebrating someone’s happiness.
On a further note, please refrain from calling me on my personal contact number. Due to your email to me, I am no longer willing to entertain off the records conversations with you directly.
Thank you
I am writing these as it happens so if anything happens to me legally, i won’t forget. please forgive me if you find these extremely intruding and boring
aggravatedloopholes and circles
As everyone hopefully knows, I attempted to hand in my resignation last night, along with 2 weeks’ notice, and was not only loudly told to finish up now, and gtfo of his restaurant, I was told all that at least 3 times in front of my peers and customers at work.
This was written up on the management diary/supervisor planner, including the fact that he’s told me to never come back, and next week’s roster’s pretty much written up without me on it anymore.
In protection of my interests, as well as the fact that he owes me 2 weeks’ pay (as per my notice), this weeks’ pay (since he’s fired me despite my intention to work it out) plus the 32.15 hours that he owes me in annual leave - all calculated at $750 per week or $19.73 per hour - I wrote up an email detailing the circumstances surrounding my resignation and therefore my termination of work last night which resulted from me giving my notice.
This email was then forwarded on to HQ and my boss, firstly to make sure i have more witnesses to my resignation than my current work place, since i don’t like putting people’s jobs on the line.
He then responded with this
Your failure to appear for work on Friday the 21/11/08 leads me to believe that you misunderstood our last conversation. At no point did i tell you your services were not required. This letter is to inform you that your roster is written up to and including the 21/12/08. Your resignation has regrettably been accepted and your last shift is set down to be Saturday the 6/12/08., as per your letter of resignation. Failure to appear for your next shift starting at 4pm on Saturrday the 22/11/08 will leed us to believe after the contents of your letter and your failure to appear on Friday the 21/11/08 that you have forfeited your position here thus forfeiting your two weeks pay. Please be aware that this may be with held from your accrued monies, as per the certified agreement.
While gleefully telling someone he’s never going to pay me out.
I am sorry, but I find it hard to misconstrue “finish up now”, “get the fuck out of my restaurant!” especially with the number of people there, the atmosphere and attitude he was using plus what was written in the management diary thereafter. Of course, he can always “delete” away the evidence on the management planner.
Further more, I was meant to be on a split shift today. I should have started at 11a.m, and Waife brought in my uniforms (so that I would be paid out) as a sign of acknowledgment that I have been fired. No one’s made a single voice of concern about why am I not working, until the email which he read at 8p.m.
Come on, no one’s stupid. it doesn’t take you 9 hours to realise that an employee hasn’t turned up to work. He attempted to call and intimidate me into not asking for my severance payout, of which i didn’t pick up as I was asleep.
He’s also voiced out to someone that he “didn’t know it would come to this! If i had known, I would have let her work out those fucking 2 weeks.” Sorry, it ain’t my fault you don’t know the laws of your land. Fact is, I did my research before I handed in my notice, going so far as to work out a new time table with my new employer so that I could fully work out those 2 weeks despite knowing my boss might be an ass to work for during those 2 weeks.
However, he told me to finish up, get out, don’t come back. With someone yelling at you while you are trying to talk and hand in your notice, and with him insisting that I have to leave, was I about to stay?
He’s now made it a hostile environment to me, so either ways, I am not returning.
aggravated2 weeks’
for people not in the know,
i handed in my 2 weeks’ notice tonight, both verbally and typed on a letter, last date of work was to be on 6th of December. He not only didn’t care to read it, he told me to just finish up tonight and go. Started calling everyone, “hey everybody, cheryl’s handed in her notice” and told me to get out of his restaurant.
so i walked.
i think i am entitled to a bunch of things this week, eh? lotsa karma rain please thanks.
aggravatedsmoking more than harms your health
Today:
There are 2 glass tables just outside the door, which is still within the 5 meters range, without ash trays (hint). and then there are 2 up the stairs, which has ash trays (double hint!). this guy just waltz in, rude as hell, treated us like a public toilet, and then hollered at me for a “coopers red!” coopers red!”
I gave it to him, he sat outside at the glass tables. J, boss’s best mate, walked out and noticed he was smoking, and reminded me i have to be aware that customers can NOT smoke down there. I really couldn’t see, but i walked out and told him to “sir, please move up there, this is a non-smoking area.”
“yeah ok, i will.” he glanced at me, and continue reading his papers.
i just stood there, waiting for him to move, realising he wasn’t even close to “closing” his papers.
“what?” he asked me curtly.
“sorry sir, you have to move now. it is illegal to smoke here.”
“i said i will.”
“yeah, you are still reading your papers.”
“so what, i said i will move”
“please move NOW.”
this went on for about 5 times, each time ending with him calling me rude for telling him to move, and then brushing me off going “yeah, yeah”. he eventually moved, so i would stop nagging. then he finished smoking, and came in to sit down at a table, to 1) smirk at me, 2) stare at me while i work. now, i am not one to take shit from people, so i told him to leave.
“on what grounds are you asking me to leave? you’re a rude little girl” (oh yes, his tone was condescending through out the entire period)
“for the fact that you will not abide by the laws? that is enough. i have to ask you 5 times to even move”
“what, that wasn’t 5 times, that was at the most twice”
what, the hell. there shouldn’t even be a second time dickhead. “i still have to ask you to leave sir. you’ve got your drink, you’ve paid. you are not wanted here, there will be no more services for you.”
“i can’t just leave like that. no one walks around with a beer in his hand. i have to at least finish my beer.”
“i can assure you, there are many people who walks around with a beer in their hands.”
again, this went on and on for a good few minutes, him smirking and drinking out of his beer bottle, while i move closer to suggest he is not wanted and will not be entertained. finally i had enough of his smirk. The only way to watch him leave is if i take his beer away. and he insisted on being refunded for it, because he didn’t want to look like some drunktard with his beer in his hands.
i am not about to pay someone for his misbehaviour.
so i grabbed his bottle of beer, and he immediately got angry, and rose up, and tried to whack the beer into my head. Except for the fact that i had a tight grip on the bottle, i almost got hit on the head.
“YOU CAN’T DO THIS, THIS IS ASSAULT!” he said to me.
“no this is not. this conversation has revealed your maturity level, which is non-existent. and has indicated to me that you’re intoxicated. therefore what i am doing is RESPONSIBLE ALCOHOL SERVICE for you.”
“call the police!”
“sure i will, give me your card or contact details”
“no, you give me your card!”
“you are standing right here where i work, i believe you’re not on home grounds here to ask for my card.”
“you are a silly silly girl, this is ridiculous.”
“yes it is, the fact is you are mocking me, you can see i have no other colleagues on at the moment, and you are picking on me and smirking at me.”
“i am just smiling because this is ridiculous.”
“yes, you ARE ridiculous sir, all because you wanted a ciggy in an illegal zone.”
“YOU and your colleagues smoke there too, i saw that last week!”
HAH LOL! “what? sorry to disappoint you sir, you will find by all scientific records i am no smoker, and cannot tolerate much smoke. while i do have the lungs of a passive smoker, i do not smoke.”
“what.. no i mean your staff”
“nope, if they do, it’s out the back or up the top. more out the back and here in fact, because they can’t smoke in uniform.”
“you know what, i am never coming back. and i am letting all my friends know this.”
“if they are anything like you, it’s not a big loss, sir.”
he slammed the door in my face. fucking slut, trying to smack the bottle into my head. all because of a ciggy. yes, i know now it was dangerous. at that time i was more concerned about him trashing the place up than i was about myself. i ended up closing the restaurant until more staffs turned up in case he return.
fuck, i hate douche bags
annoyedthe whitest Asian, apparently
Colleague dislocated his shoulders, apparently. can carry plates, can’t scrape them clean, nor can he be touched around the shoulders apparently. if not, he sinks into a pile of shuddering, pained little animal.
And threatens to stab me just because i gave him a friendly push around the elbows, and apparently hurt his shoulders. This would mark the second time he’s threatened to stab me. shit, you want to stab me, what do you think i was going to do? break down into tears and fucking beg you to spare my life? baby, I’ve had enough of life sometimes - and you caught me on the down side.
“this is the 2nd time i’ve heard you threatened to stab me. Next time, fucking just do it.”
no i wasn’t being brave or anything. I was angry. Angry at the boy who’s trying to be a man, angry for the “Drama” he’s putting up. it’s just a fucking dislocated arm. boo-fucking-hoo. I have broke shit, twisted shit and i am always in fucking pain because I HAVE A WOMB. it’s was just a slight push, get over yourself.
meanwhile, remember this colleague who said i wasn’t white enough for my name? we’ve gotten along ever since then. so, last night i was pointing out to someone our very “first ever real conversation”. everyone laughed, then, the “offender” said: “oh oh!! ever since then, I have changed my mind! “YOU’RE THE WHITEST ASIAN I’VE EVER MET!”
god. sweetheart, if i didn’t know you, i would be offended all over again! since when is your race a personality trait? lol
aggravatedspring, not so spring!
Spring kinda pounce upon us a few weeks ago. to be specific, i suddenly found myself perspiring while trying to do a gentle walk to work. naturally, being in Canberra, I can be somewhat optimistic that the warmth will only last a few days before the cold comes back for another few more weeks than it’s bam! summer.
That said, I was still inspired for a walk today. we live near the city now, so everything is within reach. I still wanted to visit the suburb stores though, and took a nice 30 minutes walk to the shops in Ainslie. Flowers are mostly in full bloom now, and it turns out that those dead bushes in the front are rose bushes! Will take a whole load more pictures before i upload them all.
Sadly, I miss the Floriade Nightfest (mostly outdoor concerts, bands and movie stuff) as they ran mostly when work needed me the most. I guess some things just gotta give eh?
meanwhile, before I left for work (yes, I opened my trap and “volunteered” for a monday night. let’s just say, colleagues-wise, it’s the worst night for the whole week, guaranteed):
*FrustrateD*
Some days, I feel like shit, and I wana quit.
There are customers that are awesome, there are those that make you feel just average, and there are those that make you feel like shit. Working in the same place for 3 years, and particularly in the hospitality industry, I have watched customers get married, got pregnant and watch the kids grow and grow.
I have seen families expand, and, for a particular handful, some deaths. To each and everyone of the regulars, I feel an attachment and just a little part of the family. It is an honour to be such a “part” of someone’s family.
And then, I have seen customers walk in and threatened never to come again. There were so many days, I wish it is legal to kill someone, or perhaps ethically all right to tell a customer to please go fuck yourself.
Today’s such a day.
Today. Today was a terribad day. I found out what a deep debt my mum has thrown me in. I walked in, and realised I have useless colleagues that I am supposed to work as a team with. I then had a “lunch” walk-in of 13 people, and decided to take them in.
Mind you, in the restaurant, if it was going to be a busy night, we normally close between meals to allow ourselves a little calm before the storm. In my decision to take them in, I believe I fucked myself over.
One of them ordered Caesar Salad, and as you would know, Caesar Salads contain bacon, cheese, lettuce, eggs and meats of your choice. With 13 people, in an in-between period, there’s only me covering floor and bar, and a Chef. I say we did it all in good time. All of the meals rolled out in less than 20 minutes while I took all the orders and got most drinks out in under 5 minutes.
The problem was, the chef didn’t realise the bacon and eggs were “relocated” and mistakenly told me he had no more bacon or eggs. Reporting that to the customer, he decided to change his mind to something else. The entire table, other than the customer in question, decided this was “lying” and “false advertising”.
At the end of the meal, when they have seriously FINISHED EVERYTHING, they asked for a manager on duty (lol). They then proceeded to complain about the mash potato being cold, how it’s frozen and blah. This wasn’t the issue the whole time.
They demanded compensation, and discounts for the whole table.
Frustrated, I mentioned, “i understand it’s wrong to send out a salad that’s only half done. I have compensated his meal, and I don’t mind compensating you guys for the cold mash. but only 3 of you have mash potatos. There isn’t anything wrong with any of your other meals.
Lunch is usually handled by 2 people: one in the kitchen and one on the floor. Things can go wrong, so I apologize. However, this does not mean everyone’s going to have discounts”
They started whining even louder. They twisted my words to say I said the Chef was bad, and not to come in for lunch. They insisted I was passing the buck, and I was scared to take on responsibilities, and now insisted for ONE FREE MEAL AND 12 COMPED MEALS.
hell
no.
argh.
the rest of the day was screwed up twice over because of that. I utterly lost my patience thereafter, and anyone else that screwed up coped a little from me. It was a bad night because of the mistakes, i think i made it twice as miserable for everyone else though. My apologies….
aggravatedPhew! Vs 2.0
so, i signed up for a specific course. It was cancelled due to lack of interest, which means i was running around like a headless chook signing up for alternate courses. This also resulted in me being the last few people in class to sign up for tutorials and therefore have terribly undesirable classes for tutorials: ones that ends at 8 or 9 pm at night. Looking at my time table now, my timings are something like:
9a.m to 2 p.m, and then 6-8 p.m
for most days!
Last week was the greatest testament to my endurance. I am extremely sore all over now, and just want to flip the finger at everyone and anyone in particular.
Work wise, I kind of went stupid and got too worried about labour costs and people’s opinions. In reality, I think my care factor was a huge 0, at the same time I have seen some of the emails being sent off in the heat of the moment from my boss to others. I felt like he feels everything’s being shitty because no one cares about him. So, I bite my tongue about others in management and just do everything myself.
Last week, with the combination of classes, I have been going home from work at 3a.m.
Albert, one of my boss’s mates, decided to pull me aside to have a chat. He thought it was for some “glory” or something. In all honesty, if not for the fact that I lost the key within the restaurant, or because an asshole decided to be an asshole, I wouldn’t have mentioned anything about me staying on late. So, it wasn’t about glory because cleaning toilets is a sure path to shit-dom. I was just trying to cut down on colleague friction, infighting, inbitching - whatever you want to name it.
oh, and not to mention labor costs.
Let me explain. The week after World Youth Day, in, what I thought was a very fair decision, I was made to close every single night I worked for the week. At one stage though, Albert did mentioned he was going to close it instead of me, but for some odd reason made me stay on and clean on. So, an anticipated 10p.m finish ended up being a midnight finish.
On the friday night of that week, we had a massive crowd: an office party was held that booked out the entire 6 tops section and had a bar tab of 1500 minimum running. We had a shitty lunch that day, so I decided to leave the tab on for a little longer and then close it at 1600. It is not in my work ethic to ask a customer to “please leave now that you have paid your bills” and blah. I think it’s fairly rude, and for a group that’s pretty much forked out 3k in meals and drinks by the end of the night, I wasn’t about to raise their ire by chasing them out (even though they were probably too drunk to even know).
But, I didn’t want to keep more staffs on than I need, to cut on costs. So I sent them home at 11, and stayed till 2.45 a.m cleaning up after them, the toilets, resetting the tables, not to mention all the wonderful delightful vomits they performed. It wasn’t till someone called me, and notify me that If i don’t leave in 15mins, the security WILL CALL MY BOSS, that I ran for my life, leaving about half a section unmopped and the bar with 3 trays of dirty glasses.
Obviously, I overslept. Dan, a manager who is one of those people who comes and goes from the business depending on his personal life and job offers, decided to throw a tantrum. Partly because I was late, partly because I left shit un-done for him in the morning. I apologized when I arrived (even though I highly didn’t need to and didn’t care to), but he just hrmphed at me, and sent everyone off. leaving me without being properly handed over and half a restaurant worth of customers to “fly solo”.
And it’s not that I can’t manage flying solo, because that’s what I am used to in the afternoons.
It was the bitching thereafter that, through the grapevine, that I overheard. Oh, the bitchiness and vindictiveness.
Albert reckons we should stop being children and start working as a team, and stop bitching about each other. I find it just a little bit hard after all these. Aside from the lack of professionalism (which I suffer from time to time anyways, so let’s not pot call the kettle black k?), I absolutely adored how he flies down and tells me how stupid I am in the middle of service, between staffs and customers. He’s been here a grand total of what, a year. Flusters at the slightest crowd or lack of staff, refuses to get his hands dirty, is constantly late if the bosses aren’t around and take smoke breaks the equivalent of lunch breaks.
Meanwhile, when I do occasionally turn up late, there’s a massive witch hunt, finger pointing and bitching. I pay half of my “staff meals”, cleans up whenever I have to, fly solo or run 3 sections by myself because the business needs it and since I don’t smoke, I don’t get smoke breaks. I make mistakes, but so does he. I make mistakes that I can fix myself, but he flies into a rage when he makes mistakes or just apologize and runs away into a corner.
So tell me, how much patience do I need, and how do I work as a team with someone who’s not consistent with his work ethics?
I should start making this the “Panda work bitchings” blog, because it’s turned into that lol… in the interim, I shall refrain from trying to stab everyone i see :p
you’ve got served
Ah, real life chewed me up. I know i promised some sydney pictures, but my net’s capped at the moment so i can’t do anything about it (unless wade surrenders his keys to me!!!) so let’s go through them one by one:
Work:
Mr Douche Bag got the boot. Again, i am not quite sure what happened there, but i think it’s the Feng Shui of work place - most people who get treated well gets this big ego all of a sudden, altering whatever was good about them into a vice. I don’t like to see people get the boot, and it hurts me that i have to take someone’s job away from them. but work’s work eh?
On the other hand, i might also get the boot soon at some stage. about 3-4 months ago, i called in sick because i genuinely was down with diarrhoea. I got pulled aside to be talked to, like a new staff being rebellious. Yesterday, i thought i sprain my ankle coz i kinda rolled on it, sparked some kinda sudden shocks all across up my legs towards my ass, so i called in sick again. hey people get sick yo… and i got a call back from my boss, claiming that he wasn’t happy, can i just come in and just stand at the till and blah blah…
Look, i know my personal health ain’t the business of my bosses… but again, i would like to say i have always proved myself to be reliable when they need me the most. I haven’t dumped them on their asses, i haven’t deliberately walked out on them when i wanted to. I even worked on my birthday and through half of my allergic reaction to alcohol.
and yet, despite the fact that i have legal annual leave accumulated, it seemed i can’t just take a break without someone being mad at me for taking a break. i can’t ask to be an hour late, even though there were many “golden
And, you know what? with the visit to the doctor today, we discovered also that my stomach was badly wrecked by my food poisoning, so i don’t think i can have dairy products anymore - which is what half of the abdominal pain was about the whole week - and so basically, i have been working the whole week in pain. and i haven’t once complained or dared to.
so again, my question lies in: why am i still here? i can find better conditions elsewhere, so why hang on to all this wonderful memories of has beens and what ifs? *shrugs*
School
ROFL exams!!! I win!!! /dance (don’t ask, it’s behind now)
Games:
That deserves an entire post to itself!!!!
housing:
we got served the four weeks notice!!! damn having to walk on a crazy leg!
This ain’t a scene
I don’t understand. Despite working in this service & hospitality industry for the last 14 and a half years, i have never quite got over how some of the better.. customer service people are SOOO shitty towards their fellow colleagues. So here is my angst-release to the fuckhead at work.
Dear Baldy,
Take your head slowly outta your ass, this might hurt a bit k. The only good thing about you is the fact that you sell real good and form good relationships with customers. With your inability to focus, not to mention your gigantic ego blinding you that often, you fuck up so much that your positives cancels out your negatives… to the point where if i am supposed to give you a scale of 1-10 now, i think you rank like a - 5.
Add your attitude into all those factors, fuck you’re another nightmare to work with, and you’re almost 21! /wrist
first off, i am your manager. Don’t fucking tell me what to do, or how to do my job. I have 2 phones on me for a reason. One’s my personal phone, which i am ALLOWED to carry because i might decide to call stupids up and check if they were lying about being sick/dying/slapping themselves silly; the other is WORK PHONE. ya, keep that in mind. i carry work phone, you carry your own personal phone to pick up chicks in the pretense of serving them. So don’t tell me i ain’t allowed to carry them. I was the one that made that rule because it was precisely self entitled tools like you that prompt me to make such a rule.
Secondly, I know you have been stealing drinks that you were not entitled to. I have always closed an eye to staffs taking a couple of drinks because you know, people deserve it. However, if you are going to make a fucking coffee explosion at the coffee machine, you WILL clean up after yourself. I didn’t hire other people to serve you, princess. And until you learn to be just a little less of an asshole, i WILL call you princess.
And no, just because you showed people how to make coffee doesn’t automatically make them subservient to you. Again, i hired them to work for me, not to be your minion.
Thirdly, don’t you dare come and ask me for free food. I hate you, i don’t like you, i don’t think you deserve anything FREE for all that you have been behaving and your mistakes. We all make mistakes, but we stop and try and improve. you have went from 1 forgotten meal now to a WHOLE function’s worth of forgotten meals. That’s 500 dollars potential profit worth down the drain. Patronising me, and trying to teach me how to put in a free meal for you ain’t going to take you very far either.
Fourthly, you may have worked 4 and a half years in this industry… so… what? Want a pin on your forehead? wait, maybe a medal of honor? I have worked 14 and a half, some of the girls have worked 6-8 years. Of all the things we have learnt, the most important is “do unto others what you (would) unto you”. that’s how to treat customers and colleagues alike. you haven’t quite mastered it yet, so please, go back to your little underground cavern and re-work those 4 years.
So suck my dick and get over it. You do have an entertaining factor, and a good source of “negative chi” release, so i am keeping you just coz i like to yell at you for being an ass.
-me
sometimes, just sometimes, i wish COD4 is a real life thing, and it’s actually legal to kill someone. then i would run around with an mp5 and just go crazy.
Gawd, more dramas
I wish i can say tonight was a wonderful difference.
It’s not.
Said drama queen apparently ran off in tears last night… to nowhere. She did not return till this morning to her own home, because she had panic attacks and was in hospital. Apparently one of our co-staffs was with her, apparently, as she claimed, as her boyfriend. The boy is a cute young man in the army - but he’s definitely, sure as hell, not her boyfriend (yet another lie uncovered in this whole shit).
Her very worried mum was on the phone to us since last night, unable to work out what could possibly cause her young daughter so much pain. and at this stage, i am quite at a loss as to what to say to her. “your daughter is a lying drama queen” or “your daughter make you out to be her life’s pain in the arse to all of us, and then turn around and tried to make us out to look like bitches”. The truth is, the girls she bitched about were her friends as well. They listened to her personal problems and comforted her.
Then she turned around and tried to stab them, claiming she thinks the other girls hated her. what. the. fuck. psychotic little bitch.
In the mean time though, her mum was worried, as i mentioned. This whole little drama just blew its way out of proportion, and my restaurant manager actually sat us all down (3 chicks, me and the supposed boyfriend) and told us to stop terrorising her. Holy Fuckaroni. He wanted us to be the mature ones, live and let live since she’s immature and can’t handle life. To not try and confront her on her lies, and not play the “he say, she say” game.
Ok, here’s my take on what happened, sir. She came to me in TEARS. i did what i thought was the right thing to do: Solve workplace conflicts. Obviously it all went to hell because she lied and the girls knew she was trying to bring them trouble. I can’t help it if she lied sir, and brought herself hell.
Sir, personally i really don’t think it was harassment. All the girls did was ask her why did she lie. Instead of coming straight out and saying, ok i am an attention whore, she burst into tears, ran out into the night and cause herself panic attacks. Not to mention possible suicide attempts (if that part is real too). It wasn’t meant to be an intimidating action, it was, “hi, you wanted me to be fired, but why? what’s your problem with me?”
So, i don’t get 1) where i made it hell for her, if she was the one APPROACHING ME with her “problem” and wanted me to help her and 2) Since she was the one who lied, how the hell did we harassed her? or, fuck me, TERRORISED her?
maybe i should go commit suicide too, perhaps i might NOT meet her for real.
seriously.
a load of bullshit
We hire alot of young girls because our pay rates are on the low side. There’s budgets to be met, and it’s all metted out by HQ. So, to meet those budget lines, we often lower wages, as well as certain costs. This obviously leads to different qualities, and usually on the low end, of both floor and back-of-house staff.
We have this chick now, called May. About 2 months ago, she moved here and applied for the job. For a 17 years old, she has a wealth of hospitality experience behind her (or as much as Australian laws would allow anyways), a personality to boot AND a strong desire to stay within the hospitality industry. That, to me, is a kickarse staff to have. She wishes to do a traineeship too, sounds wonderfully awesome.
Now, with the 2 bitches gone, whenever i do a trial, i also sit down and have a chat with the potential employee. I am not one to beat around the bush. the first few things i mention would be the few house policies we have, what they can do, what’s available, and what’s a definite no-go. One of them policies: a drama free employee.
I mean, i understand she’s seventeen, she wants to have fun, the laughs and giggles. With them sometimes come a whole load of trouble too. So, once or twice, sure. But please, keep it to a minimum.
It’s been 2 whole months now, and while she was awesome the first month, the last 3 weeks have been anything but. I have had to deal with:
- constantly lying her ass off to cover up her mistakes. That in itself, if well used, is not a big issue. But her fuck-ups aren’t small, and sometimes, in defense of her, i had go up and tell a customer to man up and pay for their wrongly ordered items - which in reality was HER fuck up and which was so bad a customer would and could not communicate with her any longer.
- Constant whining. “i don’t want to do this section” “i want to work with Sam” “I need to go home early because i am catching the bus (but in reality she went to another staff’s house warming)” Once, sure. Twice, no problems. People get bored after a while you know. But every single fucking day i have to hear it from her.
- Ordering food and then not paying for it.
- Constant drama. One week, her mum’s giving her shit. This week, she told the whole restaurant and a half that she’s tried to commit suicide.
- disrespectful of superiors. I have seen her yelling at 2 managers now. While this is a granted dismissal in my eyes, apparently the laws have shifted and i have to give her 2 warnings before the final boot. fuck me.
- More totally work irrelevant lies to create more dramas.
I think i just about snapped tonight though, and i am glad i sent her home early. Saturday night, she asked to speak to me privately about some things that were bothering her. And as we spoke, she teared up, and said the other girls have been picking on her. When she mentioned she wanted to work in hospitality, they apparently told her that’s not what she wanted, and go do something else.
What they do in their private time is none of my concern. However, if it affects her working attitude, her level of comfort within the working environment, it is my concern. So i pulled one of the girls she mentioned aside tonight and discussed this on a casual manner. While on a personal level i don’t quite believe they would have said that, on a professional level i have to address it before it becomes a major issue.
The girls were HORRRIFIED. They have never even heard her say that she wanted this as a career. The whole conversation was but an attention seeking LIE. If i have been anything less understanding, and the girls as well, this could have potentially been a stupid situation where the girls would have been warned for condescending attitude towards other staff members.
i wanted to wrangle her neck, but i got caught up with something else. Next thing i know, the girls confronted her with her lies and all she could muster was, “i didn’t tell cheryl that” “i thought you guys hate me, that’s why i told Cheryl because she’s my manager”.
The girls knew that i wouldn’t lie to them about something like that, thank God. and they also told her what she should have known before: If you think someone hates you, FIND OUT WHY. not make up bullshit attention seeking lies instead.
Of course, the end of this drama was 3 very irate girls and one sulking in tears at the drama she herself created with her web of lies.
Mother’s Day
it’s no secret how much i hate my mum and our wonderful “relationship”. Although, some friends who have met her felt she’s just a poor, uneducated little thing that needs to be understood, i beg to differ. The cunning that she employs, the pain that she enjoys causing… her every sentence about her own family and herself is laced with poison.
When i was young though, i looked up to her. someone who would love me, someone who would be all loving like those mothers on TV. To a certain extent, even now i hunger for a mother i could bring out with on mother’s day, and have a conversation with like some normal human being.
But i am not delusional. Mum and i will never be that way. This relationship broke long ago and i have no intention of caring about it. Mother’s Days, meanwhile, goes by leaving a bad taste in my mouth every year.
And working today utterly opened up my eyes to various other matters as well. I don’t think i am alone with stupids that call themselves mum. I have had:
- women with children, who comes in and first priority was, “I am a mother, it’s mother’s day, do i get a free meal?”
- Women who were like “my kids are not even 12! they don’t eat much, plus it’s mother’s day! make it really MY day and give us both discounts”. so basically, because you are a WOMAN with KIDS, you should have FREE round of meals, plus the additional service of cleaning up behind your ass. great job.
- Women who insist to the point of yelling, that their kids should be polite, but jab their paycheck folders at me, saying curtly “PAY THIS”. ya ok, great example.
I am not delusional, no one’s perfect, and i am pretty certain i would be a very aggro mother. These people just irks and irks and irks me. And tonight, i wanted to strangle just quite a few self entitled bitches.
NO. You became a mother by choice. When you spread those legs, children can happen. It’s not entirely your responsibility that you have children, it’s a shared thing, so this applies to fathers as well. So, it’s not up to the community to be responsible towards your kids. It should be you, first and foremost, and the last one up should be you!
And it’s not like i disagree with discounts, it was the way they phrased it, like the world owes it to them to give them something for “tolerating” something. hello? they are your kids.
so aggro right now heh!
Phew!
Finally. I get to breathe. It’s been a crazy 2 weeks. On top of hassling and harassing Dell to be a little bit more responsible with their customers, i have had to run my fair share of responsibility at work too. The last 2 weeks were anything BUT quiet at work. So, my wonderful plan of relaxing during the school hols and doing my essays were badly dashed (not that the essays were badly ignored).
So here’s a few things that happened in the past 2 weeks, because i am too lazy to go into sordid details
- minimum of 200 pax per night, exploding into almost 400 at one stage.
- Reading the 2020 ideas Summit, and just totally overwhelmed by the immense pressure on the Government to change, and the Government’s willingness to even listen - obviously whether they will act on it or not is yet to come. But… listening, wow… i have no words to describe how i feel, about the weight of responsibility on the Government to perform and how they have reacted accordingly.
- Having to train a few new people, a couple of whom were way older than me, and one of whom is a special needs person. In many ways, this is very challenging to me, as i highly respect older people and trying to “tell them what to do” sounds just a little silly. The special needs person needs a great lot more patience, and amazingly, i found myself more patient with her than with the retarded -100000 iq under 16s we have been getting.
- New 17 yr old chick started work with us, with an impressive resume of working 2 years in a mexican restaurant. However… she didn’t seem to have some basic… hospitality common sense. After an intense week, where she didn’t show up to work, and yet didn’t produce medical certification (mum didn’t let me outta the house!!), and still wanted to leave at 9.30 on a busy night (we ended at 11 that night) because she still wasn’t feeling well.. i kinda asked her where her priorities out. to which, she sulked and sulked, and was like, “so i can’t be sick?”
Sure you can, but you have only worked about… 4 shifts. and so far, you have already pulled one with no proof you were really sick. to the eyes of the new employer, it’s shoddy at best. but to ask to leave early when everyone’s busy? and then sulk like a 10 year old when refused?
Then she lost her bag, and i tried to hunt it down for her, even when my boss told me not to care (”tough luck chuck”). She found it somehow, and didn’t care to tell me and walked out. when i called and asked her, she was like, “oh you were talking to a customer, so i just left”. she could have left a message, and i was actually telling a customer to hold on… so i can find her bag. so, i told her exactly what i think of her. “That was incredibly rude and inconsiderate. i was actually worried, and you walked out without a word?” she giggled. GIGGLED. so i told her that’s not funny, see you next shift, *clicked*.
she resigned the next day saying i was rude and bitchy towards her and that is not the way one should treat an employee. maybe i was, but i think spending a whole hour doing something for her, and not even being waved bye at, so i could stop finding her bag, was something i don’t need.
- set up laptop to be gaming compatible. now i just have to find those cd-keys ~.~ Loving it though.
- One of my best managers resigned, bad working conditions so he says, reignited my questions to myself if i should just try to move on.
- One of my best mates got hitched and then ditched in Canada, so i went from feeling ecstatic but sad that she’s staying in Canada, to feeling sad but ecstatic that she’s coming back. :O
- Meow’s deciding water bowls ain’t good enough for her mouth. Damn cat.
I think that covers most of it. Needless to say, i am absolutely fluffed out and it’s already first day of the term -.- fuck me!
some quick and tired confessions
Lately, work has been running me down. i know, it’s the holidays, but goddamn, i thought people go away during holidays. so in my tiredness, i have done many a stupid thing:
- Walk around the house with one sock on for a whole day, only realising it much much later.
- dumped a whole pot of mushroom sauce on my head thinking it was my headphones (no it’s not funny!!!)
- walked into a few door frames
- snapped at some (quite deserving though) employees (but i still haven’t mentioned the word “stupid†or Vapid†or “lazy†just yet)
- squished Truffle into my armpits, and telling her to take the smell away.
ya ok, back to work.
Behind everything
When i turned up for work today, i was startled as i walked out the back to check the air conditioning. There, underneath the portable unit, was an old aboriginal man, giving me a toothless grin. Don’t get me wrong, he isn’t the first homeless person, i was just shocked by the sudden appearance of a person in the first place, at the most… “unliveable” corner of the carpark.
In his arms, as i found out later, were bags of doona, pillows and a sleeping bag sponsored by some of the staffs that saw him out the back the night before. no one was going to chase him away, but no one dared to offer their own home and this was, perhaps, the easiest way out.
It has suddenly turned cold here, and to see this poor guy sleeping out in the cold… i am glad no one thought of chasing him away, and even offered him something warmth. <3
to plan illness on any other days…
Last saturday, my stomach started cramping up. I spent the whole morning sitting on the toilet bowl while trying not to doze off. for some reason, i have been extremely exhausted in the past couple of weeks, so every single minute and hour counted when it comes to bed time.
I couldn’t find the medication, and felt too weak and tired to get out of house, so i just called work sick, and went back to bed. Considering the past few months, not to mention the busy seasons… this shouldn’t be a problem right? I mean, with my new boss i have no history of deliberate missed days before. zilch, nada… not to mention, i have no life outside of work and school + some gaming.
About 6 hours i later, i woke up. I was still exhausted, and also realised i probably slept anywhere between 12-16 hours. and… i was still tired?!?! stomach was now churning air inside me, and whilst i do have pills for digestion and stuff, i highly doubt they would help. People who know me, also know that i am highly susceptible to stomachaches, diarrheas, in and especially around my PMS time.
The next morning, i found a missed call and a text message for work, asking me if i could come in to work *the night before*. Those messages were placed about an hour after i called into work sick. I must have missed it while i slept. It shouldn’t have been a problem though, but i called and apologise anyways for not picking up the phone.
When i got into work, after setting up, i was pulled aside to be talked to. They were disappointed and felt stressed by my absence. That i would do so when i knew the boss was going to be away, on a Saturday night no less, was the biggest disappointment and let down. “Your absence caused some stress on the team.” I was told. and the other problem was, i didn’t pick up the call from my Restaurant manager. And every time i tried to say something, “don’t argue with me, i am just passing on a message from the boss…” no, i can’t defend myself, but when i tried to explain stuff, he told me it’s a load of shit.
Sirs, i don’t know about you, but people fall sick. We don’t choose when we fall sick, we just fall sick. No one in this restaurant is indispensable, not even you sirs. I could be the first to go, but at no point in time would i be sorely missed. The business ran well long before my existence, and so it should run along fine after i have left. If by my absence on one night out of so many, could cause “stress on the team”, then some things have gone wrong, and someone’s not doing their job.
I have, on record and through everyone’s knowledge of me, do not go out, come to work most days on time and have never needed to call in sick for any other reason but for being really sick. I love my workplace, there is no need for me to be anywhere else but home and school and work.
The fact is, I have let you down less times unknowingly than you have let me down knowingly.
And it is heart breaking that i can’t even be sick, and not have to come to work.
My knees shook on Sunday night when i work, from dehydration. and yet you were still so hung up over thinking that i possibly faked my illness on Saturday night that you failed to see that. Instead, you keep harping on the small mistakes that happened, that were never big on your agenda before.
So, whether you were just having a big weekend, or truly felt i was doing something else that’s not work, please… just sit down and think through by history with this company. And then grow up. Don’t tell me people work despite being “crooked”, because we serve food sirs, not lingerie, and because I would never let you guys down when it’s really that serious, unlike yous.
It’s never good
When she first started, Leila had the biggest smile when she does smile, and was a quiet little battery of a worker. Maybe she realised she was on trial, maybe she realised she was being watched; but regardless of what it was, she zipped around the restaurant for at least 2 weeks before her first real conversation with the rest of the girls, and before she relaxed.
As the weeks wore on though, she stopped being a battery of a worker. More often than not, i find out chatting in a corner, staring into a sky or, when faced with a customer, with the dirtiest look ever. It wasn’t something the industry wants or need. And as more things rolled along, she had come to work being totally uncommunicative with some people, with an attitude that shouts “i can’t be bothered”.
So, it’s been about 6 weeks or so since i hired her - that was such a short time frame though. it wasn’t enough for me to tell if it was a personal issue that suddenly cropped up, or just her. It definitely wasn’t enough for me to go “let’s give her a pay rise” - and then i hear her complain about her pay.
I finally snapped last night, when all i see of her during busy periods, was NOT what she was told to do.
“I need her out of here, tonight. She’s not doing anything for this business, and honestly, there’s no point paying for her to just exist here.” I told my peer angrily. That was approved and left for me to right out tell her.
No matter how I wanted it, it’s never good to fire anyone. It’s never a good feeling. And despite her not caring that she got fired, i still felt bad.
Then i walked out.
and heard the rumours.
“oh! Leila got fired because she wanted to go for a party.”
“Hey, Mia, stop fucking telling lies, and get back to work.”
“what?”
“Don’t tell things you know no truths about, and spread your own shit. get the fuck back to work.”
It’s never a good thing that someone’s fired. Don’t buoy on it like it’s a great gossip point - especially when your own job security isn’t quite there.
astonishing…
it’s been an amazing week and a half. no, i didn’t go on a holiday. i have been postponing my “week or more off” week after week after week. if it wasn’t for shortage of staffs, it was because something important came up and i can’t just leave work.
i finally settled for valentine’s day week. i asked for a week off. to be honest, it sound like he wasn’t happy about it, but we joked about it and i think he said it’s ok. but it’s been a few weeks since. so, i don’t know if anyone remembered. oh wells. if it’s not approved, i will just get another one later on. i so need a break from work. i have just been dreaming of work while sleeping too.
what was so amazing anyways? this young girl came in for dinner and ran off without paying, for the second time. i think the stupidest thing about it all is that - we know who she is, her name and address. and yet she did it again, and somehow still found a way out of paying it. so we called her up this time and insisted she pay or juvie it is for her.
and then, she decided to tell her mum our manager sexually threatened her. and not only that, she claims that we didn’t check her id and gave her alcohol.
now excuse me. i checked her id. it claimed that she’s 19. secondly, i heard the entire conversation on our side. all he said was, “this is what i am going to do if you don’t give me back the money - go to the police”. her first few questions were, “are you threatening me?” erm, no, this is what we should have done the first time you came in and ran, you dumb bitch.
and regardless of all that, her mum called us and tried to BARGAIN with us, using those 2 points, so that she doesn’t have to pay that $500, and saying we provided terrible service within those 2 points. no ma’am, that wasn’t a service, especially since your daughter came in with NO intention of paying. no money = no service, all right? you are not so special that i had go out of my way to entertain you.
i am still totally bowled over. what right does a thief have to come bargain with us? why would a sixteen year old lie to the one person who’s struggling to save her? sure, we all keep secrets from our parents, but to go so far as to change the story of what really happened (she told her mum the guy was meant to pay, she left earlier to catch the bus)… when your mum is trying to save you from a juvie record, that’s so not helping yourself.
and the poor delusional mother. she insisted her daughter wouldn’t have a fake ID. she knows her daughter really well, yada, yada, they are really close. i am sorry babe, but if that’s entirely true, then you KNOW she planned to come and have a free dinner on us, and then didn’t stop her. that makes you an accomplice.
on a personal note though, seriously, think about it. when i was sixteen, i did many things i wasn’t proud of. i still haven’t told my parents about those “yesteryears” yet, much less the recent events in my life. just coz you go shopping with your daughter doesn’t make you a “special best friend” to her either. you are STILL her parent. there are still things that they would NEVER tell you.
it’s time to smell the roses and grasp the thorns. geez.
annoying stuff…
ok, so i got bored at work.
anyways, here’s my open letter to potential recruits. this is something i think people should do at interviews and trials, regardless of the job you are applying for.
Dear Potential Recruits:
There are ads everyday to look for people to hire, and i will tell you why. of the 10 or so people that applies, about 8 will be given a training/trial and then only about 2 will go on to be hired. Some of you are outrightly not suitable for the job, be it personality or schedule wise. i am not trying to be a wise-crack - some companies, particularly like ours, have a strict policy on the PERSONALITIES that we hire.
we do occassionally get some that falls through the crack, but stayed on because they push the rest of us along. so, here’s a few things NOT to do. i mean, seriously, during a trial and probation period, the last thing you want to do is to fuck things up, particularly if you want the job. so here’s a list of pet peeves of mine that i was watching in the last 2 weeks.
1) mill around like there’s nothing to do. currently, i have 3-5 experienced staffs on per night, as compared to 5 newbs like you. sure, there’s nothing much to do when all of you are on food and clearing. but… if *I* can find something to do, and i am supposed to delegate my jobs away, SO CAN YOU. please don’t do nothing, it’s a sure sign of “this person doesn’t need a job”.
2) lie to me. seriously, i didn’t hire people to tell me tall tales. i have my mum for that. when i tell you to clean something, CLEAN IT. telling me “everything’s done!” when there’s a blatantly dirty table in front of me is about as impressive as a zit.
3) walk around in groups to talk. hello… again, it’s almost the same as point 1). you are hired to work. if you can talk and do nothing, then the money is better spent coming to me, since i can expand myself over 3 sections as long as i have 1 person as a busser.
4) Lie on your resume. This is slightly different from point 2), and here’s why: Canberra isn’t a big place. seriously, my left foot would have met your great aunt’s best friend’s sister’s cousin’s colleague’s husband. telling us “omg, my boss at my other work place gave me an iphone as a reward for christmas” etc etc, sounds impressive UNTIL we found out your boss is your mum. plus a few other factors… you don’t need the job.
5) don’t think you are indispensable. ya, we hired coz we are short staffed. we aren’t desperate either, which is why i haven’t gone on leave yet. the moment i feel confident, i will. meanwhile, i am more than willing to cover a zillion sections whilst people train up or get fired. so, don’t be too cocky. this is hospitality. NO ONE IS INDISPENSABLE!
6) doing something you have been explicitly told NOT to do. don’t use that computer, don’t leave tables dirty, don’t forget to clean the high-chairs. darlings, these aren’t hollow commands, i need things to run like a clockwork. i need you to queue up behind people, so there’s breathing spaces between meals for the kitchen to cook the food. i don’t like any one of you touching the tills coz i have been losing money. babies are highly sensitive to dirty crap - as customers should be anyways.
i DO check on your jobs, and again, you are hired or fired based on those little minute things. they may mean nothing to you, or seem nothing to you. but little things add up to big impressions for customers. tonight, i have complaints that stemmed more from bad attitude than bad food. people return to places based on their previous experiences there. so, IMPRESS me.
just because your mum hired you, doesn’t mean i will hire you. just because you are great at customer service, but suck at doing any other work, doesn’t mean i will hire you.
i like -
- friendly people
- hardworking people
- honest and trustworthy people
I mean, the world’s not perfect, so i don’t expect you to be. but surely. surely surely, you as a 15 yr old applying for a job, or 17, would understand that if people hire you YOU HAVE TO BE WORKING, RIGHT?!?! good. thanks.
love, sometimes,
shazz
There is a God!!!
THE 2 BITCHES QUIT! OMG OMG OMG!!!
and it’s all because one of them wasn’t allowed to wear her “pretty” skirt to work. LAWL…..!!!! (although, to be fair, the last 2 - 3 months haven’t been quite their months since they had to endure me being their manager, and then they were told to adhere to other rules that they use to ignore)
shirking work
Dear Little Bitch at work:
Tonight, if everything had went as planned, you would have been the third person on the floor. Inexperienced as you are, i probably wouldn’t have given you anything to do beyond clearing the place up and bringing it food.
Someone was asked to come in tonight - and she did. so in reality, you would have been a helpful fourth really, because then all we need to concentrate our efforts on is getting orders in and meals out. Sunday nights aren’t usually busy, especially on the off-pay weeks.
At 16 years old, i guess i can hardly expect you to have any work ethics. i just find it rather amusing that the other 16 year olds, and even the 15 year old that came right after you, knows how to read the roster for the next week. You on the other hand, expected me to call you and tell you the roster on a weekly basis.
After the initial “you have your own responsibility to find out your own roster, not anyone else’s” call, you managed to realise that for a week, before you went back to depending on me to tell you the roster - albeit this time you call me at work to tell it to you.
I know too, that you have a fear of public speaking. there’s a few options for you:
1) suck it in, and talk to customers.
2) quit
3) learn public speaking elsewhere and come back.
You know, i can’t do public speaking very well either. that’s why i rush through my convos with customers half the time. but, like you, i applied for the job, and everyone knows what a waitress do - talk to customers! so if you think you can’t handle it… QUIT?!!
DON’T YOU EVER DARE TELL ANYONE THAT I TOLD YOU YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO WORK, ON A NIGHT WHEN WE ARE ALREADY SHORT STAFFED.
you fucking little bitch.
i am specially coming in on my day off to fire you.
yes, i did and will always be able to handle multiple tables/customers on my own, but YOU are something i don’t need to handle. i don’t need anyone LYING to my immediate superiors that i fucked up when i didn’t. i can tell them i fucked up myself, if i did. so go away, and go hide in macdonald’s.
fucking cunt.
lawl alcohol
so, as a part of my new year “rites” i decided to try drinking again. this would mark my 2nd attempt since christmas - where i attempted to down some champagne but failed so miserably.
the result? i chose to drink some lemon ruski, and now i have a massive reaction to it - my skins all hot, red and itching like i just got sunburnt.
THANKS!! STUPID VODKAS!
crazy/disappointing week
i don’t know why, i often look forward to silly season. it’s when people in suits dress up, and loosen up, boogies to crazy music and they start dancing, tapping and what have you. it hypes me up.
This year though, it was a little disappointing. we have had bookings of the 50s sort cancelling out on us last minute. if not, half of the lot turns up. it’s a damn quiet silly season for us - and i don’t even know why. i can see the disappointment in my boss’s face too but as with all businesses, sometimes you get it good, sometimes you don’t. that’s business for you.
mentally, i was prepared to work as much as i did last year - albeit this year things have changed so much. i am now in a crazier position than before. i am now.. a manager?
the funny thing is, you would think the way Don and Josh treats everyone earlier on meant that their job was a tough one - with tonnes to do and so on. as the weeks wore on and i learnt more, they are beginning to look more and more like slackers and morons.
this is the list for me:
- payroll: 20 minutes, if there’s no one new. 35 minutes, if new people’s stuff are organised. about an hour max if not.
- counting the overall cash: easy nights = 30-40 minutes. busy nights = about 1 hour.
- sweeping and mopping the whole restaurant: an hour or so
- cleaning toilets: 30 minutes?
- setting up for the day: 15 - 20 mins for the outside. 15 minutes for the floor. probably 20 mins for the bar.
and, if someone else’s on earlier, the little tedious bits can be delegated. and therefore, it’s really the serious paper work that needs to get done. that’s it. but despite that, and despite being untrained, both whine about how little they get paid as compared to their friends (aka, uhm.. military personnels -.-;;) and so on and so forth.
Josh ended up deciding to slack off until Boss pays him more -Â a usual no-no. he doesn’t even have basic past experiences. after so many months of whining, my boss finally had enough, and told him to go home yesterday night and to think over what he really wants out of this experience and come back to discuss his future in the company.
instead…
josh brought his mum.
he claims “i know how bad sometimes Boss can yell at people”.
Josh’s 24.
ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!?!
so boss laid down 2 options. We can give him the notice, or he can give us his notice. he chose the later, got demoted to bar man for 2 weeks and it was over.
i still can’t believe he got his mum. oh my God. if i had ask my dad to come along, he had died laughing and told me to go get a new job, and work harder next time. LAWL
