I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

This is a Public Service Announcement.

Do not.

I repeat do not.

Go into a business at 6:57, that closes at 7:00 and order drinks for the three of you and take an hour and fifteen minutes to drink them.

And for the love of god do not tip 12% when you do do this.

And please don’t apologize for drinking slowly.

No one cares.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

This isn’t really a restaurant post.

However.

A year ago, an employees mom passed away.

Someone at work suggested we take up a collection to send flowers.

I interceded and shared a story with my staff.

When my dad passed away. We had tons of plants and flowers.

The only person I remeber doing so is my friend Michelle because I still have the plant.

It was 20 years ago.

I just realized that May 17th it had been 20 years.

When my mom passed we asked for no flowers and suggested donations to hospice.

However, someone showed up at our reception not empty handed.

My friend Tonya Hougland Merritt came with a bottle of Basil Hayden.

And it was appreciated.

It was needed.

And I remember the kindness to this day.

And so when my employees mom passed away I suggested we do something other than flowers.

Something that he’d remember.

So an employee suggested Red Sox tickets.

So instead of sending a floral arrangement.

We arranged for home plate tickets to a Red Sox game.

He was surprised by the gift.

And loved it.

And he’ll remember the game.

Which honored his mom.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Witnessed a first tonight.

Table 12.

Server approaches the table and begins to take their order.

She gets their app order.

Their phone rings.

While the server is speaking to them.

Without even an excuse me, they answer and spend the next ten or so minutes facetiming with someone.

With the volume at full.

No apology.

No anything.

Just hucking it up on the phone so all of us can hear.

I don’t understand people.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Was standing in the wait station tonight and witnessed an exchange between a server and her table.

The table was French Canadian.

Three top.

The daughter orders a drink.

She is carded.

She is not 21.

The mother is nice but says the following.

For the life of me I don’t understand why you cannot drink until your 21 but when you are 18 you can walk into a store and buy a gun.

The server says she understands but explains the liability of liquor laws.

Meanwhile I’m thinking that in the states it’s illegal even to give a 17 year old an adult beverage and yet half the south sends out photos of their six year holding their first gun.

The mother was not wrong.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

I was very tired, because it was very late when I wrote last night’s post. I’m not sure what I was trying to say.

It’s Sunday night.

Tomorrow night is my first Monday shift of the summer.

I’ve found that if I stop counting hours and stop counting days and stop counting weeks it doesn’t seem such a daunting task to work 18 six hour weeks.

That being said, it’s going to be a long summer.

Tonight was a great shift.

I was able to take a breath. Breathe deep. And remember why I do what I do, and why sometimes I think I’m good at it.

This morning on the way to work, Adam reminded me that no one comes to work to do a bad job. They are just kids. Doing the best they can.

Tonight a bartender pointed out to me that I’d been using the term strive for perfection, when we really want to strive for professionalism. When you strive for perfection you are setting yourself up for failure.

I also know, from years of therapy, and emulating the opposite of what I grew up with, that a lot of what you go through during the day, the week, the month, the year is a choice.

YOU get to choose how you respond. You get to choose how you interpret the situation. You get to decided your mood. You get to decide.

Today, when I got up. After 6.5 hours of sleep.

I chose to not be tired.

I chose to be in a good mood.

I chose to be happy.

I chose to stop being frustrated with my team.

I chose to have fun.

And I heard Adam’s voice in my head as I started the dinner shift.

Pre-shift was laid back.

I still got the messages across that I needed to get across.

And at 4:30 we were off to the races.

We started opening at 4:30 this week. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but the last three days we’ve sat about 30 people each day by 5:00. Today we sat 10 walk-ins before 4:45.

I spent my night coaching and counseling. To quote my friend Laura.

Instead of being frustrated. I challenged myself to fix the frustrations.

So I met with the host team and gave them notes, direction, answered questions, updated them on new policies.

And the night went well.

I did the same with the food runners.

I had fun.

I also managed the floor for the first time in a bit, and worried less about the door.

It allowed me to see service, and chat with guests.

It was truly a different shift.

I also left early.

When I left at 8:00 to go to the new restaurant to close up, I did not go back to work.

By 8:40 I was on my way to Portland.

On the drive home, I was able to speak with my good friend Laura. We used to chat 4 times a week. But she works days nows, and I work nights. Our days don’t mesh. It’s been almost a month since we’ve spoken.

We talked for 90 minutes tonight.

Finally someone to vent to.

She offered a lot of advice. And support. And love.

She reminded me that opening a new restaurant is like giving birth. It hurts like hell, but eventually there is a payoff.

She reminded me that sometimes I’m too hard on myself.

She also reminded me that I can do this. I have the talent. And just to keep breathing. Keep at it. Cross things off your list and just keep moving forward.

She reminded me that I like teaching. I like training. And to turn to that passion when things get frustrating, and challenging.

Most of all she reminded me that I am human. The cracks are going to show sometime. You are going to disappoint people sometime. You are going to get frustrated. You are going to lose your cool. You are going to make a wrong decision. You are going to make mistakes. You are going to drop the balls you have in the air.

All of those things are okey.

Keep your chin up. Take care of yourself. Breathe.

You’ll get through it.

You have before.

You will again.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

We had our second show up with two reservations and want to sit together table. At the bar.

I told I could put them together but they had to be up by 6:30. They got mad. Couldn’t understand what I was saying.

Fun fact.

It’s far better for a restaurant to do 5 two tops than one 10 top. The two tops are in and out in 90 minutes. They get three courses. They get cocktails. They get wine.

The 10 top is three hours. Once they sit down.

This is why I try to only take at most two 3 tops at the bar. The rest are kept to 2’s.

Fun fact.

I’m glad you are a third generation cattle farms.

From Iowa.

And thank you for pretending to ignore me when I asked what part of Iowa. I learned all about Iowa geography watching tornado warnings during the 4 months I lived there.

She’s about 20 miles from Grinnell.

Here’s the deal.

Do t approach the chef at 9:30 on a Saturday night to sell him steaks.

He’s not interested.

I’m not interested.

We both just want to go home.

Also thank you for staying 3.25 hours. We appreciated that as well.

I managed to annoy more people tonight.

The cracks in my facade are showing.

I’m mostly just frustrated.

And sometimes I can’t keep it hidden behind the mask. It’s come out the last two nights.

Last night someone accused me of being rude.

Today she sent Chef detailing my rude behavior.

I stand by my question that she considered rude, why are you doing that?

Meanwhile.

I try to keep it together.

For my manager friends.

How do you respond when you have one instruction for the shift and everyone pretends you didn’t say anything?

PS. It’s a full moon tonight.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Worth repeating from a year ago.

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.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

First.

I just re read my posts from the last few days.

Please know I’m not stupid.

But I reverted to writing my posts on my phone. In bed. So I don’t end up at my computer for 4 hours.

The autocorrect is the worst.

Now.

I guarantee that my staff’s interest is peaked.

I had a tough shift tonight.

It was a comedy of errors.

Seriously.

And I managed to offend everyone.

But that’s not what I’m writing about.

We had our first table with two reservations wanting to sit together tonight.

I was at the new restaurant when they arrived so they were accommodated.

They sat at 8:30.

Everything was fine except the who table would go out to smoke.

Every 15 minutes.

And they were gone for forever.

6 of them.

It took forever to get a dessert order because they smoking so long.

At 10:30 the moved from their table to the bar.

They’d been the only table for 30 minutes.

The bartenders has been gone just as long.

They were chatting. Making out. Going out to smoke.

I gave them till 10:45 and then did some thing I’ve never done before.

I got up, turned around and said, okay folks. Time to go.

They were very nice.

We packaged up their wine.

Said good night.

And they were out the door.

I don’t feel guilty.

Now back to the comedy of errors.

It’s almost a full moon.

And we’ll leave it at that.

PS. Thank you for not quitting. 😀😀😀

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Here was my day.

Alarm was set at 8:00.

A/C guys woke me an hour before that.

Did I mentioned that yesterday Adam called me to the window to show me how cute they all were.

I went to bed at 2:00.

Turned off the light at 3:00.

I get up and go to get to my appointment.

I’m exhausted.

My appointment goes well.

I can have one more shot before surgery.

I stop for a soda water at McDonald’s.

And start toward work.

I can hardly hold my eyes open.

I decide I need a nap. Or I’m not going to make it.

I end up parking at a park across from the restaurant.

I’m in the shade.

I turn up the A/C, put a jacket over me. Put my seat back and nap for 90 minutes.

I’m still napping when I get a text that some gas come for an interview.

I tell him I’ll be there in 30 minutes and nap some more.

I get to work.

My interview is there.

All goes well till he tells me he is going to Scotland for 16 days in July.

I thank him but say sorry.

I get caught up.

My emails are answered.

The calls are answered.

A girk comes for an interview. She’ll get hired tomorrow.

Then a guy comes in. He is not on my calendar. Perhaps I made a mistake.

I interview him.

He doesn’t have experience as a server.

I them tell him what I’ve told lots of people.

I don’t/can’t/won’t hire people to serve without experience

I don’t have the bandwidth.

Or the dollars to give someone basic training.

You need to know about food and wine. You need to be able to open a bottle of wine. You need to understand the principals.

I go on to say GO TO THE MALL.

So many people I know got their starts at the mall.

Me.

My first real waiting job was at Bennigan’s.

A server at work started at Red Lobster.

Corporate restaurants have trading dollars.

They can teach you the basics the spend a week making sure you can do it.

Corporate restaurants also have steps of service you must adhere to. I don’t like them all but it servers understand when I say make sure the bread basket is off the table at the end of the meal.

He seemed annoyed when he left.

But he’ll never work in a high end restaurant unless he gets the training.

PS. As I said to someone today. No one wakes up and says I want to be a restaurant manager. They don’t say they want to be a server.

But serving will pay for a master’s degree.

Server will send you to Greece on vacation.

And serving us a respectable way to make a living. I know servers here in Maine making six figures working as a server. I know servers making more than me work 25 hours a week.

So get the experience.

Grow.

Be best.

My staff arrives.

It’s a good night.

But this time of year. With the patio open. The inside business is quiet because we split it with the patio.

That being said.

It was a long but easy night.

My day was really capped off with my meeting with Chef.

I told him about my anxiety.

I told him about my concerns.

I told him about the things that keep me up at night.

He was very kind. And reminded me of why I work there.

We addressed the things we could.

An assistant is the most important.

I have another interview on Sunday. A candidate from a restaurant group I should write about. interviewed there in 2018.

All in all a great day.

Talking about my struggles right now is freeing.

And many of my staff read this.

I just want do a good job. But when you have 543,865 balls in the air. You drop one every so often.

And I’ll end by saying my team is my saving grace.

They get me coffee so I don’t have to negotiate stairs.

The get me soda water.

They work hunches at the new restaurant as supervisors so I can get caught up.

They move my laptop from my car to the office to the car again.

And last but not least they know about the phone call and stick around to escort me to my car. So I don’t get hit over the head.

Actually last last but not least.

We’ll two actually.

Chef told me to stop running at work tonight. When we have a re-cook. I run it. So I can check in and make sure all is well. It means moving quickly. He told me to stop tonight. And protect my knee.

We also changed parking rules tonight.

I offered to park farther away.

He told me to park closer.

To park hugging the line of the dodge the runners use to get to the patio. They can still get by. And I’m next to the back door.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!!

Today.

Was.

A.

Day.

It started out in the shitter.

And ended awesomely.

First.

I’m fucking stressed.

And I’ve learned in the past 58 years, but mostly in the last two, that to hold on to it makes it worse.

I don’t hide it. I don’t pretend it’s not happening.

I just say It’s all good. Which is how everyone I work with knows there’s a restaurant called Saul Good in Kentucky.

That being said. I’m stressed.

I had the mother of all anxiety attacks last night getting ready for bed.

Heart racing.

Nauseous.

Cold sweat.

Shaking.

I shared all this with Adam when I came to bed.

Share it and it will get better.

He talked me off the ledge

Mostly by reminding me that in 12 months we’l be saying remember last year when everything was a disaster.

I finished my bourbon. Turned off the light. And had work dreams all night.

I got to work still off kilter.

I said good morning to everyone at the new restaurant.

It was 11:08.

I have a supervisor who is cover lunch shifts as much as he can.

Then I headed to my old restaurant.

I have not been there during the day in three weeks.

In fact the lovely woman who cleans for us, was so excited to see me. It’s usually just the two of us for at least a few hours each day.

She told me how much she missed me and how lonely it was without me.

I made coffee.

I set up my computer.

Only to realize my battery was dead.

My charger was at the new restaurant.

I decide I’ll check and write down all the messages first. Then head to get my charger and then return calls.

I hit play.

It’s a woman wanting a reservation for Saturday.

I record her number.

Hit delete.

The next message starts.

I listen.

2 minutes later it finishes.

I start it over.

I listen.

2 minutes later it finishes.

Who had Jeff getting called a F*G on voicemail today on their bingo card.

First.

This hasn’t happened in a long time.

Second.

I was taken aback.

A little frightened.

And a bit fucking mad.

Here’s the thing with a phone today. Especially one with a 1996 answering machine attached.

It has a recording. That is saved till I erase it.

It also has called ID.

Fun fact.

Before the message started I knew who you were.

When I recorded the message on my phone 5 minutes later I knew who you were.

I knew who you were when I told Chef about it.

I knew who you were when I followed Chef’s advice and called the police.

I knew who you were when I shared the recording with the hot detective (chef’s words or mine).

He knew who you were as well.

He knew you very well.

Here’s the thing.

You are probably harmless.

But so were lots of other people.

Till they weren’t.

I’ve written about the person three times.

But now there’s a public record of their harassment.

But.

That’s not why I shared this story.

Not at all.

I shared it because I was impressed with Chef’s defense of me. His employee.

He thought I should press charges. Phone harassment is a crime.

I chose a warning.

Most of all. It was a distraction.

And when I looked up at midnight tonight from my computer.

I realized it was a good day.

I’m caught up for 45 seconds.

And everything is good.

And my anxiety is at bay.

And I’ll have a/c when I get home tomorrow. M

And as I told the cop, I’ve been called worse by far smarter people.

And in truth.

I am a F*G.

With a capital F.

I hate that word.

But for the last 30 years I’ve never let it be used to degrade me.

Fuck that shit.

Now. It’s 3:00 am.

I gave to be at my knee doctor at 9:30.

I’m going to ge tired.

But it will have been so worth it.

PS. No editing tonight.