The nightmares.

Date someone who gives you the same feeling of when you see your food coming at a restaurant.

-Anonymous.

Whether you admit it or not, everyone dates at work. As does any relationship, there are going to be problems. Dating at work comes with even more complications though, especially in the restaurant.

There are many different types of relationships. Sometimes work flings can turn into serious committed relationships. Other times they are just flings or hookups. No matter how serious the relationship is, it isn’t going to be just your business. Everyone else that you work with will somehow know about it. There is always going to un needed drama and judgement.

In all honesty, it’s hard not to date at work. You spend an average of 25-50 hours a week at work with this person. You don’t have much time to mingle anywhere else. Depending on where you work, dating your coworkers may not be very appropriate. It may even be against some rules. Unfortunately, in the restaurant business, there are no rules pertaining to this.

There can also be some positives to dating at work. For starters, you will never run out of things to talk about. You can always talk about work. You have to make sure though, that this isn’t the only thing you guys have in common. It is nice though, to come home to someone, complain about your work day, and have them completely understand who and what you are talking about.

When you are working, and things go bad, there is no hiding your true colors. When dating at work, you learn to see your partners true colors. There are always those special types of people, that specifically look for relationships at work. There are people that only date their coworkers.

In the restaurant business specifically, there are a couple extra perks to dating at work. For example, I am a waitress, and I used to date someone that was a cook. When I would make a mistake, screw up an order, or need an extra ranch, it was easy for me to bring it to my boyfriend to have him fix. It is also nice to have someone stand up for you if there are issues at work.

Dating at work can be a great thing. You tend to have lots in common. You find someone that sees the real you and wants to be with you anyways. As long as you don’t make your way around the office, or in my case, around the restaurant, you do your thing!

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.

Martin Luther King Jr.

This corona virus pandemic, has its own individual affect on each of us. In Wisconsin, Gov. Evers ordered that restaurants must be take out and delivery only. This has caused a drastic change. Some restaurant are choosing to stay open doing take out and delivery, and some have chose to shut down completely for the time being.

The number has changed for most restaurants is their hours. For the place I work, we are now open 11am-8pm Sun.-Sat. Whereas, before, we were open later on weekends, and earlier on Sundays for breakfast. Since there are limited hours, and only take out/delivery, the amount of staff we have at a time has changed as well. We no longer have a need for hosts or dishwashers. We now have one server here at a time to answer phone orders, where as before we had up to five. And we now only have 2-3 cooks versus 5-6.

As the days go on, we realize that there are changes we can make and/or things to get rid of or do different now that we are no longer open for dine in. For example, up front, we no longer have to do a stocking list at the end of the night, because we don’t use things (like ketchup, or coffee). We got rid of all of the glass dishes on the cook line because we don’t need them. We only need to go boxes. We unplugged and shut off our ice cream cooler, because we no longer serve shakes. There are just many different things to adjust to.

We also changed our food company order. We no loner need to order fruit for our brunch buffet, or taco shells for Taco Tuesday. We don’t have to order any beverages. We don’t have to buy condiments such as; ketchup, syrup, or steak sauce. We don’t have to refill parmesan or salt shakers, because no one is using them.

We also have to clean and sanitize more than ever, which I assume everyone does at the moment. Each time a customer signs something or opens a door, we sanitize the pen and door handle. I sanitize all the phones after a call order. We have gloves, masks, hand sanitizer, and wipes at the front counter for people to take if they need. When we take an order, we must offer the option of curbside pick up, which is where I bring the food directly out to the customer’s vehicle, so they can avoid coming in.

This corona virus has caused a huge change in all of our lives. No matter where you work. I think the best thing we can do, is to follow the guidelines. Please, I urge you, do not go anywhere unless you have to!

Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity.

Nat Turner.

Throughout the past couple years, while working in a restaurant, I have developed some commonly used sayings, or phrases, that my coworkers say I’m known for. Whether it be something I am always yelling at other employees for, or something I constantly mumbling under my breath. Here are just a few that I can remember and am going to share with you:

“If you want something done right, do it yourself.”-
Often times, at work, I am a waitress. There are days that I will fill in as a dishwasher, or host, but for the most part, I waitress. As a waitress, my sole job is to serve my tables, the hosts job is to do the extras. Like stocking, cleaning, or setting up for the next day. There are often times when I will do those extra things, because it didn’t get done, or someone doesn’t know how to do it. Whatever the reason may be, the other staff members will question me, as to why I am doing it instead of the host. My response is always, “if you want something done right, do it yourself.” I am the type of person that would rather do extra work, than attempt to teach someone else how!

“Leave it at the back door.”-
As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, there is plenty of drama at work. Sometimes, yes, drama occurs within the workplace. But, often times, it happens before work, and people drag it in with them. If an employee is crying, or complaining, or not wanted to work because of some drama that happened before their shift, I tell them to “leave it at the back door”. When we get to work, we all wack through the back door. So, what I mean by this, is leave the drama at the door, don’t bring it into the work place with you.

“You don’t work up here.”-
I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but my dad works at the same place I do as a cook. This, of course, causes drama, but it always is a nice convenience. We don’t actually work together, because I work up front and he works in the back. That doesn’t mean we don’t get in each others business though. If there is an issue up front, whether it be with a customer, or another waitress, whatever it may be, my dad always try to get involved. So, what I always say to him is, “you don’t work up here.” Meaning, that he is not a front of the house employee, and shouldn’t be worrying about what my issues are, just as I shouldn’t be worrying about the kitchen’s issues.

I guess you don’t really realize how often you say certain things until someone points it out.

Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.

Lin Pernille.

Being a waitress and working in the restaurant industry has taught me many things. Some important skills that I hope to use elsewhere, and some important, valuable life lessons as well.

Multitasking:
Waitressing has taught me the important skill of multitasking. Whether it is the literal sense, where I have to wait my tables, make malts, answer the phone, and seat tables, or it is simply being able to manage work and life at the same time. Multitasking is an important skill, that should be mastered.

Prioritize:
Waitressing has taught me how to prioritize, in a couple ways. At work, there are many instances where I have to prioritize. In my place of work, there are two things that come first, always. #1, FOOD! If you have food in the window, that comes first. I don’t care if table 17 is waiting for a Pepsi refill, at least they will get warm and not cold food. And #2, the phone. If the phone is ringing, for goodness sakes, just answer the dang thing, even if you have to answer it and put the person on hold for a minute, at least they were acknowledged. The other way I have had to learn to prioritize, is between life and work. For example, your sister has one of her many dance recitals this weekend, you have to decide if you want to take off another Saturday from work, or miss the recital.

Acting:
Not only am I a waitress, I am an actress as well. One of my number one rules I’m always telling employees is, “Leave it at the back door!” What I mean by that is, I don’t care if you’re hungover, or if you and your boyfriend just got into a fight. Don’t bring it to work with you. No, I’m not heartless, I care about all my coworkers very much, but there’s a time and a place for everything. And work, is not the place for personal drama. That being said, things happen, life sucks. But the second you clock in a walk up to your table, you put on that fake smile and make your acting skills come to life.

Working in a restaurant may not always be ideal. Nor is any job. But you can learn a lot, if you choose to!

Knowledge is only given to those who are willing to seek it.

Socrates.

Everyday may not be good, but there’s something good in everyday.

-Alice Morse

I know, my past blogs have been a bit negative. In reality though, I love my job, and wouldn’t trade it for the world. So, this time, I’ll share with ya some of the things on the ‘bright side’ about working in a restaurant.

In the past I have complained a lot about my coworkers a lot, especially the cooks, but, the truth of it is, my life would suck without them. I have worked at the same place for almost four years now. We have gone through dozens of employees, some are life long, others, just don’t work out. The ones that do work out though, become almost like family.

I have met some of my best, and life long friends at work. When something tragic in my life happens, the first person I want to run to, is one of the old ladies I work with. She’s always got the best words of wisdom for me, and gives me the best advice.

Most people don’t get along the greatest with their managers, but mine, is my best friend. I tell her everything. It is amazing how comfortable you can be with your coworkers. They become almost like family.

Work can also be lots of fun. When you have a slow night at work, you can get real creative. We make up our own fun games, out of random stuff in the restaurant. At times, we even like to pretend we are Starbucks, and whip up our own fancy concoctions.

Another fun thing at work is the drama. Yes, your goal should usually be to stay away, and stay out of the drama, but sometimes, it is just too dang hard. There’s always something going on. Whether it’s the dishwasher taking the hostess out on a date, or Felicia calling in for the 5th time this week because her cat died. The drama never ends!

So yes, the restaurant industry can suck, what job can’t though? I love it though. My coworkers are like family, and there is never a dull moment. I wouldn’t trade this life for anything!

Chose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life.

-Confucius

Power is gained by sharing knowledge, not hoarding it.

Maria Kahn.

As does everyone, waitresses have their own language. There are words and such that we use that other people might not understand. So, here’s a few;

WINDOW: [win-doh] noun
the ledge in between the kitchen and wait area where food is placed and kept warm under a heated lamp
Ashely, your food has been sitting in the window for 6 minutes!

FRONT OF HOUSE: [fruhnt] [uhv] [houz] noun
waitstaff; hosts; waiters; waitresses; bussers, dining area of restaurant; FOH
I’m Patricia and I’m the front of house manager and Penelope’s.

BACK OF HOUSE: [bak] [uhv] [houz] noun
kitchen staff; cooks; chefs; dishwashers, kitchen of the restaurant; BOH
Welcome to your first day Andrew, your job takes place in the back of house over here!

DEAD: [ded] adjective
when the restaurant has no business, empty dining room, slow night
OMG it is so dead in here, the entire dining room is empty.

CHEF MIC: [shef] [mahyk] noun
what we call the microwave when it does all the cooking haha
My table only ordered some mashed potatoes, chef Mic can cook that all on his own.

I hope after reading you now can understand my vocab a little better!

It’s better to Peace Out than Pace Out.

Gupta.

A recipe has no soul. YOU as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.

Thomas Keller.

As we all know, you can’t run a restaurant with just the waitstaff (although most wish we could). It takes two to tango. Two as in the front of the house staff, and the dreaded, back of the house staff, as in, COOKS.

Now, not to bash on the cooks, because like I said, you couldn’t run a restaurant without them. But, they are awful! They are manipulative, rude, sexist, disrespectful, and don’t let me forget, LOUD!… They. Are. Always. SO. Loud. Whether they are yelling at the dishwashers, yelling at each other, or yelling at us. Don’t matter. They are just always yelling!

I mean, I guess I wouldn’t care so much about what the cooks do, if it weren’t for the customers. My customers can constantly hear how loud the cooks are being. Everything you do in a restaurant industry, affects the customer in some way. For instance, and this is one of my favorites 🙄, when the cooks refuse to give you things. Let’s say, I go up to the window, and ask for a side of ranch. The answer I always get in return is, “get it yourself”, “NO”, “don’t you need to charge for that”. Like come on, just get me the dang ranch.

Let us not forget, just how downright rude the cooks are. First, what you need to understand is, I work in a very laidback restaurant. So I don’t want any comments saying “why not just go to the boss”, well, smart one, because that’s not how in works in my neck of the woods. Now, back to what I was saying. Rude. The cooks we have, are some great pieces of work. They always have something to say. And it sure as hell is never anything nice. I could be the best waitress in all the land, and they would still pick out something I was doing wrong, and never let it go.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my job. I really do. And at the end of the day, I guess that cooks aren’t always as bad as I make them seem. We truly are a family, and work well together. I just wish they were a little bit nicer at times.

It’s all about quality of life, and finding a happy balance between work, friends, and family.

Philip Green.