Yay. The Celtics are in the Super Bowl this year.

Hurray.

Do you know what’s not fun?

People who make reservations for the last seating at a restaurant so they can watch the game at the bar.

We were almost empty when you arrived.

My staff wanted to go to a real bar to watch the game.

Alas they are standing around waiting for you to finish dinner, not knowing how long you’ll stay after you are done.

Thank you though.

I was able to get 90 minutes worth of administrative work done tonight while I waited.

I’m almost out of the weeds.

We had a server who was on her first shift tonight.

She did great.

But of course she had a difficult table right off the bat.

First the woman at the table is upset that we couldn’t make a decaf espresso martini.

Then she said her shrimp was under cooked.

It wasn’t.

Then she complained that her tuna was over cooked.

It wasn’t.

My favorite though:

She substituted a regular martini in place of if the espresso martini.

She ordered then began to quiz the server on the olives.

Are they good olives?

Hmmm? They come in a big jar. So yes.

Then.

Are they Maine olives?

Yes. Olives thrive in the balmy winter conditions and short summers of Maine.

In fact.

Just north of Portland you can tour on olive farm. It’s just across the street from the orange grove. They grow avocados as well.

At the end of the night as the staff is finishing up and giving me their cash outs, I check in with them.

How was your night? Any problems? Etc.

Tonight I was checking in with Bob who was waiting on a late table to leave.

I asked about his night.

He said great except for the table he was waiting on.

He said he greeted them, and a lady at the table said.

We are going to be high maintenance. We want you to know before we start.

He said to me: I never knew that was something to be proud of.

I agreed.

I said it’s kind of like being racist. We know it’s out there but you shouldn’t admit it.

They stayed another 20 minutes or so before they finished up.

They were high maintenance!

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Hmmm.

Last Friday and Saturday I charged more people for missing their reservations than the sum total since I started.

The fallout has been huge.

And difficult.

And fun.

And hard.

All at the same time.

First.

I discussed with the owner today about whether it’s worth losing a customer over a 4 top that is a no show.

It’s a hard scenario.

Yes we want to respect and honor our base.

But.

We had a ridiculous amount of cancellations last Friday and Saturday.

But he agrees.

Something needs to stop.

We are hiring, scheduling, stocking, prepping for the reservations we have.

If we lose more than a 100 guests it’s a problem for us our staff and our guests we turn away.

I’m still getting complaints.

Tonight a woman reached out.

She had a reservation for last Friday.

She realized Friday afternoon she couldn’t find the gift card she was given by a friend.

She calls the restaurant to ask how to get the number.

It was an electronic gift card.

Ordered online.

The host relays that we need the last four of the credit card, the amount and the approximate date.

And we can find it.

She is also told that we won’t be able to look it up tonight as service has started and it takes a while.

20 minutes later 15 minutes into service the woman cancels.

I charge her for the reservation.

She is upset that we couldn’t look up the reservation on Friday at 5:15 on a holiday weekend.

She is upset that we can’t just use the name of the purchaser.

She is upset she was charged $50.

She is upset that she has to get additional information from her friend.

She is angry that she can’t find the text message she received since her phone died and was replaced.

FUN FACT:

None of this is my fault.

It’s busy. I can’t step off the floor for ten minutes to look up your card.

We use our POS for gift cards. The name of the purchaser isn’t even collected.

I need the last four of the credit card to do anything.

But.

The most FUNNEST Fact of all.

We don’t ever ever ever ever ever ever ever text a gift card.

Ever.

Ever.

Ever.

It’s an email.

Your phone number isn’t even asked for.

So unless Google has closed your gmail account you can access your gift card.

And somehow.

Somehow.

On Friday night.

Of Memorial Day Weekend.

This is my fault.

Meanwhile.

I need to reply to her email.

And it will be necessary to be kind.

All the while not being my fault.

Thoughts?

Once.

Upon.

A

Time.

There was a General Manager of a restaurant that ruled a small castle in a coastal new England town.

He ruled with a fair but steady hand.

The staff of the castle liked working there and were rewarded nicely.

The guests who frequented the castle enjoyed it immensely.

The the king of the small castle, David was happy with the outcome.

And was loved by all.

Things in the castle were good.

Little did we know evil was lurking in the shadows.

One of the BIG rulers of the country was spying on the castle and staff.

And he did something he shouldn’t have.

A staff member complained.

And things started to crumble.

Slowly at first but two months later the castle was closed.

The king was replaced.

The general manager was replaced.

The staff was replaced.

Everyone was sad.

The guests.

The staff.

The general manager.

The king.

We all moved on as one is wont to do in these cases.

Fast forward 4.5 years.

The king is happy.

The staff is happy.

The guests are happy

All at other castles.

And the general manager is in charge of a castle not far from the original one.

He is happy again.

But.

Minions from the country of the original castle stop by.

And they compliment him on his efforts.

The staff is great.

The service is great.

The candies are lit.

The lamps are charged.

The guests are treated well.

I comment that it’s easy when you treat them with respect and kindness. When they make money. When the food is consistently good.

They are jealous.

They get pushback in their kingdom.

The GM laughs and says it was never a problem when it was his castle.

And he laughs. And laughs.

Because the current leaders can’t manage their teams.

Perhaps he should offer to consult.

Meanwhile.

In the GM’s current castle life is good.

And the evil owners from before stop by and tell him how wonderful his castle is.

And the story will continue.

The

End.

Anyone who knows me I don’t miss a meal.

I am not one to miss a meal.

Except.

Tonight I was sitting at the chef’s table and realized I was light headed. I kept asking myself what the fuck was going on.

And then I realized I never had anything to eat all day.

Not my lunch.

Not my peach.

Nada.

No wonder I was fuzzy.

I remedied the situation by doing something I never ever ever do. I stopped at Burger King on my way home. Whopper with cheese. Small fry.

Yum!!!

Thank you to everyone who checked in today.

I’m fine.

Last night I got 11 hours of very sound, very solid sleep.

I woke up a new man.

Sleep.

It does a body good.

I also had a friend stop by work this afternoon to say hi. She was in the area and thought why not!

It was great to see her and she reminded me that what I was feeling was what all of us in the seasonal hospitality business are going through right now.

The easiness of winter is gone.

We are short staffed.

The realization of summer hours is setting in.

We are remembering that our next real time off is in October.

And most importantly of all that we’ve been doing it for years and that with the stress comes the fun and excitement of volume and crowds.

And that in three minutes from now it will be September and we’ll be wondering where the summer went.

The day at work was great.

All is well on the western front.

I’ve struggled with depression my whole life.

For the past twenty years it’s mostly been at bay. It rears it’s ugly head occasionally. Most recently when my mom died. That was the worst it had been in years.

It has come back.

And.

I can tell you exactly why!

The school shooting did a number on me.

I feel like we live in a country that is the upside down. There are people who are our neighbors that love their guns so much that a dead 10 year old Girl Scout is worth the price of keeping that gun.

There is nothing I own that I feel trumps the life of your children.

Couple the shooting with being overwhelmed at work, along with not seeing Adam much these days, with not having slept well in over a week and I’m feeling it.

The last couple of work days have been a struggle.

I have been moved by the people at work who have noticed how quiet I have been lately. They have noticed I’m not myself.

Tonight at the end of my shift I was reading through our online reviews.

This was the first one I read:

Not sure if he’s the owner, manager, or matre’d but he couldn’t be more friendly or happy to have you there. Been here multiple times and am always happy with the food and service.

I needed that tonight.

Very much so.

I am happy you are there.