Shameful

So I made the worst mistake of them all today, and I suppose I'm going to immortalize my shame over the event by sharing it here. I threw away someone's food!

He ordered a lot of sushi (and I had been told beforehand what a great customer he was) and couldn't finish it, so he told me he was done and when I asked if he wanted me to take it he said yes. I asked him if he was sure and he said yes again. I took it into the back and set it down--which is a story in itself--and when I brought their checks him and his friends asked me where it was. I told him it had been thrown out. He thought I was taking it to box it up?! We don't do that! We bring boxes to customers! He didn't ask me to box it up, he said he was done, so I assumed he meant just that. Well I felt completely awful so I tried to pay him back for at least half of it and he wouldn't let me. As it turns out, he left me a better tip than his friends did (and they ordered more sushi). He was very easy-going and our sushi chef said he would hook him up next time.

So--regarding the other half of the story--when untouched sushi is to be thrown out...staff often set it aside to eat. Well one of the owners caught someone doing this today and she went off about how if the Health Department knew about that they would be shut down. Apparently something about customers possibly being sick and then passing it on to us through their food and then us passing it on to someone else and so on and so forth. But honestly...I think the thick, hot, greasy air, cockroaches running a muck, trash bags that have been emptied but not changed for months, dirty toilets, dishes, sticky floors, and a number of other things should be more cause for concern than staff eating leftover sushi. But what do I know?

Worked with the new server again tonight. Things were already slow as Tuesdays tend to be, so there being four of us on shift only meant less money for everyone. Yay. She doesn't think she's going to work there for long, though. Being a bartender, she's used to making in a couple of days what we make in a couple of weeks and she finds the tip sharing policy appalling.

I also met a chef who used to work there and I guess is just starting back for a couple of days each week. He's cool. He asked me if I play basketball. I get that a lot--comments about looking athletic and especially like a basketball player. I was raised playing, though, so I guess it makes sense.

In other news, I'm absolutely adoring the weather today. It wasn't humid, it was sunny but not too hot, and this and last night it has actually been cool! I just want to be outside constantly! And I don't work until tomorrow evening, so hopefully the weather will stay nice and I'll get to enjoy it a bit. That's all for now. Oh! And I made $22 even in tips. Lame. Good night, everyone!

What an Odd Morning

Today's lunch was /weird/. It wasn't really slow, but it wasn't really busy either. It was like...kind of slow-steady, but more like slow and then suddenly steady. It caught us a bit off guard, but everything still went smoothly. The only thing that sucked was the fact that we kept ending up not having ample time to fill out checks until it was time for the parties they were for to go. So yeah, that sucked.

Speaking of checks--or rather--speaking of what checks are all about--money--I have a little something I want to talk about this afternoon. Today while paying a check a customer gave me money to give to the chef. I handed it to the owner, told her it was meant to go to the chef, and she went back and handed it to him. That's fine. What bothers me is the fact that on top of that, he got almost half of whatever they tipped me as well because we are required to share regardless of whether they've already been tipped or not. This happens all the time. Chefs get tipped before they leave the table, the sushi chef has his own tip jar for people to put money in, and they still get a huge cut of the tips customers generally think are meant for us.

Now I do not hold any negative feelings against the chefs because they work hard and they do not make the policy. I do think the policy needs changing, though. Tips are generally for staff that interact with customers. If something has been cooked in the kitchen, I've delivered everything, and I bus the table, why do I have to share my tip with anyone? As servers we already make the least and we still have to pay the other staff regardless of whether they do their job or we end up doing it.

That may not have sounded like much of a rant, but I guess that's what it was. And it is currently over. I work a double today, so I'm going to try to spend a few minutes not thinking about the serving of Japanese cuisine. Thanks for reading.

New Server

I've been getting really bad about updating and I think the posts are getting way too boring (or maybe they always were boring). A new server started working last night. She's nice and seems very proactive. Of course she was being trained last night so she didn't get to do much herself, but I do believe she did more than I did on my first night (which was a crazy Saturday). She asks lots of questions and wants to get things done--good qualities!

Last night--being a Monday--was fairly slow, but it seems that the one older cashier who works once a week still doesn't think I know how to do anything. She doesn't like giving me tables and at the end of the night she asked me if I was okay...if it was too many people or not. It was a Monday night--of course I was okay! I know she is just looking out for me. She wants to make sure I'm doing everything properly and am capable of doing everything properly which is good, but she's doing so from the point of view of someone who has only seen me work like four times when I've worked almost every single day since I was hired. I was hoping that the attention would be off of me since there was someone new working, but that wasn't the case and I still felt very self-conscious and uneasy last night. I think that's the one thing I don't like about Mondays.

Despite the fact that it was slow and I barely got any tables I /did/ get the Shirley Temple family, and they tip awesome, so I made almost $30. I've got to work a double today so I'd better start getting ready. I think I'm actually glad I work a double. Keeps me busy and gives me less time to think, which is exactly what I need right now.

First Sunday Brunch!

Wow. So as I mentioned last night I covered for someone this morning, giving me the opportunity to work Sunday brunch for the first time. It runs from 1100 to 1400 and is buffet style--we serve drinks and clear plates off of tables and after everyone is gone we get to help ourselves to the leftover food and clean up for dinner.

Let me say. It was really scary at first. I was a bit overwhelmed as it is completely different from the usual lunch and dinner shifts and it is extremely fast-paced, but I got into the rhythm of things and I can understand now why people like that shift. It was crazy though--we ran out of Pibb, sweet tea twice, and glasses a number of times.

I made about forty dollars and I am now exhausted! But I've got other things to do so...no rest for now. I'm trying to think of some more types of posts I can make here aside from just the general day to day updates. My thoughts on serving? tipping? employer/employee relations? work environment? More about the things I have a tendency to screw up? I'm curious to know what everyone would be the most interested in reading, but I don't expect anyone to actually comment. I would definitely appreciate it if anyone did, though!

As usual, thanks for reading!

There Goes My Day Off!

Well it's been a few days since I've updated--things have been a little crazy. Apparently everyone forgot the rules--Wednesdays are fast, Thursdays are slow. Thursday was crazy. I ended up working an unscheduled double for which only half of us showed up for. And we didn't make nearly enough money for it to be worth the trouble. I committed yet another mischarge and, for some reason, I've been really distracted at work and easily forgetting about the tables I have. That's bad.

Friday morning was a drastic improvement over Thursday and to make up for the less than great tips I've been getting...I'm working my first brunch tomorrow! So no day off, but I'm looking forward to the shift! That being said I'm going to keep it short and try to get back on track tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Ramp It Up!

This evening tried to trick us! It started off all slow and after a while we expected it might stay that way. Then everyone decided to flood in! Nah--it wasn't too busy, but it was on the upper steady end of things. Everyone I helped was really nice and there was a birthday amongst a family that I had served before! They were so awesome--they shared their cake with me! And I shared it with the other servers, haha. I came out of the night with $35 which I used to buy stuff for my mom's birthday--Happy Birthday, Mom!--and I made like...$15ish this afternoon I think.

I broke down and ate makanai again tonight...it was fried rice. I hope I don't regret it. And the soup has smelled weird the past few days...it tastes different, too. And I wonder why I'm almost always last to finish all my chores...

I might be dining at work tomorrow and I only work dinner, so there will be at least one update!

Unusually Slow

Today was. We only used two tables! But we didn't really get to benefit by leaving earlier because a regular came in five minutes before we closed! Then I got dragged around with my mom to run errands for a bit, so I wasn't happy about that. I feel kinda blah and have to be back at work soon. Oh--speaking of my mom, a group of Japanese ladies asked me if my mother was Japanese! That's all for now. I'll try to update in a timely manner tonight!