The big question…

for me anyway, is how many times can you hear the phrase "boof junks" without going insane?

I hate my job. Plain and simple. Being a restaurant manager has some good points, and I really like most of the people there, but every day I feel more and more that I wasn't meant to deal with people in this type of capacity.

"Yo, let me get that boof junk over by the window." Over and over. Every day. And it's not just that phrase in particular, although that's one of the most annoying. It's just a general level of rudeness and lack of respect for fellow human beings (not to mention the english language).

By the way, before anyone jumps to any unnecessary and inaccurate conclusions, this is not, in any way shape or form, about race or any particular ethnic group of people. Some of my best freinds at work (and outside of work) are black, one is vietnamese, it makes absolutely no difference to me. And by the way, the next time I have to listen to a story about how nascar is a sport just because I'm the manager and I'm making a table visit, I'm going to kill myself. (As far as I'm concerned, by the way, it's not, unless the car is the "athelete").

I'm starting to get off track here a little, even though part of me thinks that's what these posts are for, so I'll try and consolidate a little. My point is that very few people understand what a server in a typical restaurant has to go through. First of all, if there is any misconception, a server gets paid two dollars and thirteen cents an hour. NOT MINIMUM WAGE I don't know how many times I've heard "I don't have to tip them because they make like six bucks an hour." And yes, that also pisses me off every time also.

Also, they have to tip out, usually around three percent, to the support crew of the restaraunt. What that means basically, is that if you check comes to fifty dollars, and you stiff the server, they just paid a dollar fifty for the priviledge of serving you, and it really adds up after a while.

To further add insult to injury, some people think that they can treat servers as rudely as they want to. Had a bad day? take it out on your server. Not to mention the tables that mumble, get pissed off over tiny things, and just try to get things for free.

So basically, their job sucks, often. My job, by extension, which in a large part is to keep them happy, also sucks. There are actually tables that come in every week, eat half of their food, and complain about it to try and get it for free. The problem is, most of the time they get away with it. They lie, scream, and just generally are obnoxious until they get what they want. I will, in a later post, describe some table visits I've had since some are really hilarious, but this is getting a bit long.

The only good thing that does come out of this is that it creates a sense of unity amonst the staff. Some Friday and Saturday nights are, on a smaller scale, almost like surviving a tragedy, and when it's over, you come to respect everyone a little more for making it through. But the next time I have to listen to a grade school kid order the "rib junks with the mashed potatoes with the peels in them junks, while his Mom looks on and doesn't even try and correct him, I think I'm going to snap.

This, for me, is about five or six years of information, experience, and feelings crammed into these posts, so forgive me if it gets a little cluttered, topics run over each other, etc., I'll try to keep these rantings somewhat short and to the point, so that anyone who happens to read all of my posts, if there is any such person, will come away with a better understanding of the big picture. So thanks for your time, to be continued, you get the picture.