We have so many different flavors of booze behind the bar, I could probably make you a different drink every day for a year. In fact, I came up with about 30 different Martini’s just off the top of my head the other day. I make up drinks for the singer all the time…actually…..I make drinks to match the color of her dress…..Silly? Perhaps, but fun.
The boss seems to think all these drink recipes have to come from some secret mysterious place, like other restaurant’s menus. He added a drink someone called Soho Good. (I think he added it because he likes the name) So he runs out and gets yet another new bottle of booze called Soho Lychee. This is some of the worst stuff ever I’ve ever had the misfortune to taste. It smells like rancid perfume, and the taste is even worse. I tried just a couple of drops of it and had to run to get a Coke to rinse the nastiness out of my mouth. I hate Scotch, but I’d rather drink that than this liquid shit in a bottle.
If anyone asks me, I will give them my true opinion of this drink, after all, it’s a reflection on me, I’m the one mixing it, it is not something I would be proud to serve. This drink should come with a warning label: “Danger! May cause serious damage to your taste buds.”
We also have more wine than we need. He keeps featuring new wines, that end up sitting on the shelf…so what does he do? Goes out gets yet another one, and tells me, “This is what all the young people are drinking.” Great. Good plan. Perhaps he should stop to notice the average age of our guests is about 50.
When I first started bartending here, he told me “I don’t know anything about the bar.” Well, he keeps proving that over and over again, on a regular basis.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Okay, more about the weather......
Yesterday we talked about everyone wanting the temperature set to their liking…..well…..what if there is nothing you can do about it?
I didn’t work last night, I live a few miles away from the restaurant, and in our area, we had a brown out. With the sound of a click, the air conditioning stopped working, the television went out, nothing major was working, just the lights (they were very dim) and the ceiling fans, which were moving rather slow.
It didn’t change my plans, I was headed outside anyways to water the thirsty little flowers I had planted that day. My son sat out on the deck with his guitar. Funny thing about when the power goes out, everyone goes outside. People who seldom speak were standing around in small clusters, chatting.
It makes me think back to when I was a kid…..only a couple of houses in our land of 3 bedroom brick ranches had air conditioning, and those were all window mounted units. On hot summer evenings, EVERYONE was outside. Small clusters of people chatting was the norm. My dad would be standing at the corner of the lawn with the hose, watering the grass, the guy next door would be standing out there doing the same thing, and they would talk. Moms were scattered here and there on different porches, also enjoying the conversation. Kids were running all over the place. We all knew each other. We were all in this heat together, and we all lived through it.
So for all those who seem to think the environment should adapt to their liking, I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be the other way around. I think it’s good that these things happen every now and then, to remind us that we are not in control, as much as we would like to think we are. Really, it’s okay to break out in a little sweat, I’ve never seen anyone melt away.
I didn’t work last night, I live a few miles away from the restaurant, and in our area, we had a brown out. With the sound of a click, the air conditioning stopped working, the television went out, nothing major was working, just the lights (they were very dim) and the ceiling fans, which were moving rather slow.
It didn’t change my plans, I was headed outside anyways to water the thirsty little flowers I had planted that day. My son sat out on the deck with his guitar. Funny thing about when the power goes out, everyone goes outside. People who seldom speak were standing around in small clusters, chatting.
It makes me think back to when I was a kid…..only a couple of houses in our land of 3 bedroom brick ranches had air conditioning, and those were all window mounted units. On hot summer evenings, EVERYONE was outside. Small clusters of people chatting was the norm. My dad would be standing at the corner of the lawn with the hose, watering the grass, the guy next door would be standing out there doing the same thing, and they would talk. Moms were scattered here and there on different porches, also enjoying the conversation. Kids were running all over the place. We all knew each other. We were all in this heat together, and we all lived through it.
So for all those who seem to think the environment should adapt to their liking, I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be the other way around. I think it’s good that these things happen every now and then, to remind us that we are not in control, as much as we would like to think we are. Really, it’s okay to break out in a little sweat, I’ve never seen anyone melt away.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
The great weather debate (as though we could do something about it)
The old saying in Michigan is: “If you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it’ll change.” All winter long, and it was a looooong winter, we talk about warm weather and how good the sun will feel…planting flowers, playing golf without a jacket on, hanging out at the pool and so on and so forth.
How quickly we forget. Summer showed up all of a sudden this year, and it’s hot. Instead of hearing “Turn the heat up, it’s cold in here”……we hear, “Turn up the air, it’s hot in here.” Or “The air is blowing on me, can you turn it down?” “Is the deck open? Can we sit outside? Is there shade out there? Are there any bugs? Can we move inside if it’s too hot? It’s hot out here, my beer is getting warm.” This is no strange phenomena, have you never sat outside before on a hot day?
I am always amazed that people seem to think that wherever they are, the temperature should be customized to suit their exact specifications. For as long as man has been walking the earth he has had to deal with the weather, with far less conveniences than we have now.
If you are sitting outside and tell me “A bug just flew by,” my initial response is “So what!?!” Did you never learn that they live outside, or were you absent from school that day? Tell ya what….let me go get a can of Raid, and I’ll spray the whole area. Now you’re gonna freak out and say we’re trying to poison you.
We are an adaptable species…and that includes all of us. Did you ever stop to think about the people (servers) who are running around getting your drinks and food, sweating bullets, having to spend time in a very hot kitchen…or what about the cooks who never get to leave the kitchen and get no break from the heat, at all?!?
So as you sit and wallow in your self-centered world because Mother Nature deemed it should be hot out, I have but one comment, “Screw you.” In a perfect world, you wouldn’t have to deal with the heat, and we wouldn’t have to deal with you.
How quickly we forget. Summer showed up all of a sudden this year, and it’s hot. Instead of hearing “Turn the heat up, it’s cold in here”……we hear, “Turn up the air, it’s hot in here.” Or “The air is blowing on me, can you turn it down?” “Is the deck open? Can we sit outside? Is there shade out there? Are there any bugs? Can we move inside if it’s too hot? It’s hot out here, my beer is getting warm.” This is no strange phenomena, have you never sat outside before on a hot day?
I am always amazed that people seem to think that wherever they are, the temperature should be customized to suit their exact specifications. For as long as man has been walking the earth he has had to deal with the weather, with far less conveniences than we have now.
If you are sitting outside and tell me “A bug just flew by,” my initial response is “So what!?!” Did you never learn that they live outside, or were you absent from school that day? Tell ya what….let me go get a can of Raid, and I’ll spray the whole area. Now you’re gonna freak out and say we’re trying to poison you.
We are an adaptable species…and that includes all of us. Did you ever stop to think about the people (servers) who are running around getting your drinks and food, sweating bullets, having to spend time in a very hot kitchen…or what about the cooks who never get to leave the kitchen and get no break from the heat, at all?!?
So as you sit and wallow in your self-centered world because Mother Nature deemed it should be hot out, I have but one comment, “Screw you.” In a perfect world, you wouldn’t have to deal with the heat, and we wouldn’t have to deal with you.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Another weekend goes by......
The weekend went as usual…..there were two of us behind the bar on Friday night, and only one server in the lounge, so we took some tables. Actually the lounge was filled with reservations. We had a group of 12, a group of nine and a group of six. I ended up taking the nine. When I heard there was four kids in the group, I did what we all do upon hearing new like that, I groaned. However, I was met with a pleasant surprise…..these were some of the best behaved most polite children I have ever waited on. They said please and thank you for everything, and never once attempted to get up and run around. How refreshing!
We finished out the night with another Conga Line around the lounge.
Saturday night was a little slower, but it was gorgeous outside….so I’m sure there were a lot of bar-b-ques going on.
Sunday was another story….there is no bar crowd on Sunday….so I usually meander around, go chat with the hostess, do whatever I can to kill time. But yesterday, I found a mission. I decided to defrost the condensers in the beer cooler. We decided the best way to do this would be with a propane torch. I figured it would be a pretty quick job. I figured wrong. It took over an hour. I sat on an upside down milk crate…thought I was making a lot of progress…the I realized as the ice was melting, it was also getting incredibly clear. Where I thought it was all melted, I was actually looking through the ice….I reached over to see if I could feel the metal on the condenser, no just more ice….kept going…..but then, there really wasn’t much else to do….so I kept at it. At least when I was finally finished, I had a sense of accomplishment.
That was the same sense of accomplishment I felt when I unclogged a sink in one of the wait stations. It’s amazing what you can do with baking soda, vinegar and a wire coat hanger.
So, like I said, I pretty much just meandered around. There is always something to do, it just depends on what you’re willing to do.
We finished out the night with another Conga Line around the lounge.
Saturday night was a little slower, but it was gorgeous outside….so I’m sure there were a lot of bar-b-ques going on.
Sunday was another story….there is no bar crowd on Sunday….so I usually meander around, go chat with the hostess, do whatever I can to kill time. But yesterday, I found a mission. I decided to defrost the condensers in the beer cooler. We decided the best way to do this would be with a propane torch. I figured it would be a pretty quick job. I figured wrong. It took over an hour. I sat on an upside down milk crate…thought I was making a lot of progress…the I realized as the ice was melting, it was also getting incredibly clear. Where I thought it was all melted, I was actually looking through the ice….I reached over to see if I could feel the metal on the condenser, no just more ice….kept going…..but then, there really wasn’t much else to do….so I kept at it. At least when I was finally finished, I had a sense of accomplishment.
That was the same sense of accomplishment I felt when I unclogged a sink in one of the wait stations. It’s amazing what you can do with baking soda, vinegar and a wire coat hanger.
So, like I said, I pretty much just meandered around. There is always something to do, it just depends on what you’re willing to do.
Friday, June 3, 2011
The great uniform debate.......
The one thing I know about restaurant uniform shirts, getting new ones will not make us more money.
We don’t really care what we wear, as long it doesn’t cost us much money. We currently wear black button down shirts with a tie. We can pick up these shirts at a thrift store all day long for 2 or 3 dollars. Ties, you can pick them up for a dollar, or less. If you hit the thrift store on Friday or Saturday, it’s even cheaper. For less than $20.00 you can have 3 or 4 shirts to rotate.
So….when management tells us that we are getting new shirts, that don’t require a tie, we are fine with that, until they tell us the shirts will cost $20.00, and we have to buy them from the restaurant, and they will have a logo on them. Now the rebellion starts.
A couple of servers said that if we are required to wear something with their logo on it, they, by law, have to supply us with the first shirt. This is all hearsay at this point. Now the research starts…….I googled it, found minimal information, one article that had to do with minimum wage, and the cost of the shirt and not going over a certain amount, well, there is math involved.
We had a staff meeting yesterday, and they told us that would supply us with the first shirt. Yay! See, when you work a slow lunch shift, and don’t even make $20.00, you’re very reluctant to give up the money for something that is purely the whim of the owner. Gee, new shirt or gas in your car to get to work……what’s more important?
Also, if you’re working a couple of double shifts in a row, that doesn’t leave any time to do laundry. Again there is a choice to be made…..spend $40.00 or $60.00 so we can have a few shirts to rotate, and be short on our rent or car payment…or just keep wearing the same shirt over and over again…..”Sorry, I’m short on the rent, but I had to buy new uniform shirts,” doesn’t cut it, with any landlord or mortgage company!
Good thing these shirts are black, and won’t show all the crap that gets spilled on them.
We don’t really care what we wear, as long it doesn’t cost us much money. We currently wear black button down shirts with a tie. We can pick up these shirts at a thrift store all day long for 2 or 3 dollars. Ties, you can pick them up for a dollar, or less. If you hit the thrift store on Friday or Saturday, it’s even cheaper. For less than $20.00 you can have 3 or 4 shirts to rotate.
So….when management tells us that we are getting new shirts, that don’t require a tie, we are fine with that, until they tell us the shirts will cost $20.00, and we have to buy them from the restaurant, and they will have a logo on them. Now the rebellion starts.
A couple of servers said that if we are required to wear something with their logo on it, they, by law, have to supply us with the first shirt. This is all hearsay at this point. Now the research starts…….I googled it, found minimal information, one article that had to do with minimum wage, and the cost of the shirt and not going over a certain amount, well, there is math involved.
We had a staff meeting yesterday, and they told us that would supply us with the first shirt. Yay! See, when you work a slow lunch shift, and don’t even make $20.00, you’re very reluctant to give up the money for something that is purely the whim of the owner. Gee, new shirt or gas in your car to get to work……what’s more important?
Also, if you’re working a couple of double shifts in a row, that doesn’t leave any time to do laundry. Again there is a choice to be made…..spend $40.00 or $60.00 so we can have a few shirts to rotate, and be short on our rent or car payment…or just keep wearing the same shirt over and over again…..”Sorry, I’m short on the rent, but I had to buy new uniform shirts,” doesn’t cut it, with any landlord or mortgage company!
Good thing these shirts are black, and won’t show all the crap that gets spilled on them.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
What makes you think you can go anywhere you want to?
No matter where you go, whether it be a restaurant, a department store, a small shop, etc…. there are certain areas that are not meant for the general public to enter. In many cases it’s implied, like where there are swinging doors, and the only people you see using them are employees, there is no sign saying “Employees only.” If you enter one of thee areas and whine that there was no sign, the only thing you’re proving is that you lack common sense.
Restaurants don’t let you wander around their kitchens or work areas, department stores don’t let you wander through their back offices….you get the picture. So why is that some people feel entitled to go wherever they want to? I was walking through the kitchen the other day, to go through one of the wait stations that leads to the bar, and I saw a woman back there….she a had plastic bag filled with lids for Styrofoam cups, she was rummaging through everything on the shelves….”What are you doing?” “I’m looking for a to go box.” “We’ll bring one out to you.” Then she just stood there. Again, “We’ll bring one out to you, you can go back into the room.” What I really wanted to say was, “Get the hell out of here!”
For those who want to argue that there was no sign, I could argue back, “Perhaps you should have a sign yourself., perhaps you should have “IDIOT” stamped on your forehead so we know what we are dealing with.
These are usually the same people who think it’s okay to let their small children run at will through the restaurant…..or climb all over the bar stools….or the other day, let them climb around the piano (where the singer has her expensive electronic equipment) and just give them a cursory glance, if they are even in the same room. I walked over and told the kids they couldn’t play there. What I really wanted to say is, “I’m sorry that you’re the offspring of idiots who lack the skills to teach you how to conduct yourselves in public or respect the property of others.”
I would love to be a fly on the wall when these kids turn 10 years old, decide to play in the car and take out the back wall of the garage. Who you gonna blame then?
Restaurants don’t let you wander around their kitchens or work areas, department stores don’t let you wander through their back offices….you get the picture. So why is that some people feel entitled to go wherever they want to? I was walking through the kitchen the other day, to go through one of the wait stations that leads to the bar, and I saw a woman back there….she a had plastic bag filled with lids for Styrofoam cups, she was rummaging through everything on the shelves….”What are you doing?” “I’m looking for a to go box.” “We’ll bring one out to you.” Then she just stood there. Again, “We’ll bring one out to you, you can go back into the room.” What I really wanted to say was, “Get the hell out of here!”
For those who want to argue that there was no sign, I could argue back, “Perhaps you should have a sign yourself., perhaps you should have “IDIOT” stamped on your forehead so we know what we are dealing with.
These are usually the same people who think it’s okay to let their small children run at will through the restaurant…..or climb all over the bar stools….or the other day, let them climb around the piano (where the singer has her expensive electronic equipment) and just give them a cursory glance, if they are even in the same room. I walked over and told the kids they couldn’t play there. What I really wanted to say is, “I’m sorry that you’re the offspring of idiots who lack the skills to teach you how to conduct yourselves in public or respect the property of others.”
I would love to be a fly on the wall when these kids turn 10 years old, decide to play in the car and take out the back wall of the garage. Who you gonna blame then?
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Your own personal comfort zone.......
It never ceases to amaze me how many people think that wherever they go, the temperature should be set to their own personal liking. And God forbid it should be off a degree or two!
When I worked at a corporate restaurant, which was just a big box of a building, people would complain that it was too hot or too cold, regardless of the season. It could be 90 degrees outside, and someone will complain that it is too cold inside. Okay, as soon as you hit the door and go back out, you’re gonna complain about the heat. But……while your inside, you’re freezing. Look around!!!! It’s not like everyone in the place is sitting there shivering from the cold! Carry a sweater with you! Why should the rest of the world have to put up with your selfish demands? The minute we adjust the thermostat, others will complain it’s too hot.
The opposite is also true….”It’s too hot in here!” Again, look around…..no one else is sitting there counting the sweat droplets that fall off of their foreheads. Why don’t you try being a little thankful that it’s not 20 degrees and snowing!
Where I currently work, each room has it’s own thermostat, and that’s not good enough either. At one function, where there was about 35 people, within a ten minute span we heard, “My sister is cold, can you turn down the air?” Guess what?!? I don’t know who your sister is, and I don’t really care. Then they told another server, “It’s too hot in here, turn the air up.” Okay, so which way do we go? OH! And they never tell the same person twice….some of them wander around the restaurant until they find another server, who has nothing to do with their party, and complain about the temperature. When we servers compare notes, we find out several people have complained, too hot, too cold, too hot , too cold……..why do people think that everywhere they go, the temperature should be set to their own personal specifications? Because again, they are selfish and don’t give a thought to anyone else.
A suggestion….stay home, set the temperature to your liking, and don’t leave the house.
My solution for the too hot, too cold debate…..I walk over to the thermostat, reach my hand towards it, and pretend to adjust the temperature. Usually works. It’s amazing what works, when people THINK they are getting their own way. LOL!
When I worked at a corporate restaurant, which was just a big box of a building, people would complain that it was too hot or too cold, regardless of the season. It could be 90 degrees outside, and someone will complain that it is too cold inside. Okay, as soon as you hit the door and go back out, you’re gonna complain about the heat. But……while your inside, you’re freezing. Look around!!!! It’s not like everyone in the place is sitting there shivering from the cold! Carry a sweater with you! Why should the rest of the world have to put up with your selfish demands? The minute we adjust the thermostat, others will complain it’s too hot.
The opposite is also true….”It’s too hot in here!” Again, look around…..no one else is sitting there counting the sweat droplets that fall off of their foreheads. Why don’t you try being a little thankful that it’s not 20 degrees and snowing!
Where I currently work, each room has it’s own thermostat, and that’s not good enough either. At one function, where there was about 35 people, within a ten minute span we heard, “My sister is cold, can you turn down the air?” Guess what?!? I don’t know who your sister is, and I don’t really care. Then they told another server, “It’s too hot in here, turn the air up.” Okay, so which way do we go? OH! And they never tell the same person twice….some of them wander around the restaurant until they find another server, who has nothing to do with their party, and complain about the temperature. When we servers compare notes, we find out several people have complained, too hot, too cold, too hot , too cold……..why do people think that everywhere they go, the temperature should be set to their own personal specifications? Because again, they are selfish and don’t give a thought to anyone else.
A suggestion….stay home, set the temperature to your liking, and don’t leave the house.
My solution for the too hot, too cold debate…..I walk over to the thermostat, reach my hand towards it, and pretend to adjust the temperature. Usually works. It’s amazing what works, when people THINK they are getting their own way. LOL!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
