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….
aggravated