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Showing posts from March, 2006

I know I just posted, but. . .

I decided to do two separate posts, one for my rant about work (see previous post) and one for updates about our family and my own random musings. My husband has accepted a job offer in Khon Kaen, Thailand ( www.khonkaen.com ). They've also offered me a job, part-time or full-time, whatever I want, plus free daycare for our daughter. And they are paying our housing and utilities. We'll never get rich in Thailand, but it will be a great experience. Also, I received my grades on the last three papers of my undergraduate college career, and they were all very good. I was a little worried that I'd forgotten how to write, being out of school for so long, but apparently I can either still write or the professor just didn't care. I have a final exam to take and then I will officially be done with my degree! Yeah! There were a lot of times I almost didn't finish, but now I'm so glad I did. It means a lot more to me now that I have had to struggle for it. And my husband

Customer Education Week

I've decided that every restaurant needs to have a Customer Education Week. It might be helpful if everyone were on the same page when it comes to expectations. Maybe I'm just saying this because I've worked four days in a row, and people tend to get on my nerves more when I work a lot of hours, but still. . . if we laid a few ground rules it might make life easier for everyone. A few suggestions to improve your future dining experiences: 1. Don't expect a server to be able to give stuff away. What makes a customer think that I can substitute lobster bisque for a salad at no charge? A guest asked me this on Friday, and when I informed him that there would be a charge, he said "I'm sure you can work some magic there." Actually, I'm a server, not a magician, and since this soup has to be ordered from the kitchen I can't get it without ordering it through the computer and charging the guest. Even if I could get it, I would be risking problems with my

Drunk People Give Great Tips

Had a very a interesting Saturday double. Luckily, the Hermans didn't come in (they did the Saturday before, and I did a less than stellar job as their server, so maybe they gave up on me). The day was going fine, nothing awful and nothing spectacular, when I was seated a family of six people. They proceed to order a bottle of wine, a beer, and two sodas. Then they each ordered an appetizer. This is very quickly racking them up a large check, at least by the standards of the "Crimson Crustacean" where I work. Then, the father decides he doesn't like the wine, so he orders another bottle, this time a Pino Grigio (the first was a white zinfadel). He was super picky about the way I opened the wine, poured the wine, etc. Maybe this is a bad attitude but, you know, it's a two-star restaurant, and these are $18 bottles of wine - I didn't break the cork, I didn't make a loud pop when I opened it, and I didn't spill it. What more do you want from me? Long stor

Saturday double

I worked a double today, which means I arrived at work shortly before noon and left the restaurant well after midnight. But, I made decent money so that makes it worth it, I guess. This couple came in today, I'll call them the Hermans. The Hermans come in every Saturday afternoon. They have a favorite server and always request her. Unfortunately, she was fired last week. So today they request me. I've waited on them once before and I remembered several of their preferences. What I didn't realize was that the $5 tip on a $30 check last time was not, in fact, indicative of their ability to figure 15%. Today they tipped $5 on $50. There are an amazing number of people in this world who still think that $5 is a decent tip, regardless of what the check amount is. Grrr. They had better not start requesting me, or I may become the worst server in the history of the world for one hour every Saturday. Other than that, it was a fairly normal day. Usually Saturdays are great fodder fo

Getting Started

I've wanted a blog for a long time, but couldn't think of a name and never seemed to have the time to start. I've finally decided on a name that wasn't too lame or too limited to circumstances - I didn't want anything that incorporated my current occupation or location since they are bound to change soon. But sleep deprivation, that seems to be a constant theme in my life. Maybe it's because I seem need a lot of sleep, or maybe I just don't sleep soundly, or maybe I'm just a chronic worrier. Or some combination thereof. I've already taken my generic Tylenol pm so I'm just waiting for it to kick in. I could seriously get addicted to that stuff, but I only take it when I've had a particularly stressful night at work or when I have to work the next day and don't think I'll be able to sleep. Since my sleep schedule is all out of whack, I don't feel tired and I have to work a double tomorrow (Sat), I need a decent night's sleep ton