So yesterday was, of course, Sunday...also known as my least favorite day to work. I think most servers would agree with me. I can honestly say that it mostly is because of the church crowd. Ok, before I get sent to hell for that last statement, hear me out, please.
First of all, a few people come in before noon. These people are one of two extremes....either they are those who don't feel obligated to go to church, or those that left during the altar call so they could get a seat at the restaurant before the crowd comes. Either way, they are usually the more delightful of the tables that I will encounter that day.
Around noon, the crowd rolls in. It seems all churches let out around noon or quarter after. So the restaurant goes from being slightly busy to being rocked. It does not matter what Sunday it is, there will always be a wait within 15 minutes after noon because every table gets filled up...which means all servers will get multiples tables at once.
So let me just give you a taste of what my Sunday was like yesterday:
I arrive on time and find out my section. I was assigned in the farthest room from the kitchen and the side station (including the drink station and to-go items) with a new server who I had not been partners with yet. I cringed when I saw her name. I know I should give her a chance, but from what I had been told by other former service partners of hers, she could not keep up and she complained and made excuses about everything. I thought, "I would rather have no partner than her."
Well, I got my wish. She did not show up. But, now I am stuck in a room by myself with only myself to depend on (for the most part). I know I could ask for help every now-and-then from a fellow server, but I prepared myself to be running around to keep up with my tables.
My first table was a two-top. They were very sweet and easy to take care of. I had their drinks delivered and meals put into the computer when I received two tables simultaneously. Luckily, I was able to keep up with everything and was very proud of myself as I was staying caught up on drink refills and food deliveries and such. I stayed caught up for a few rounds of tables, but I could see that the lobby was not getting less congested.
Then a hostess came up to me and asked me the dreaded favor...if I would take more tables than the number allotted to me. ***Now for those who have never served before, let me explain this. In most restaurants (and in all that I have worked in) a server is only given a certain amount of tables because it has been proved that a certain number is the appropriate amount to have so they can give the best service possible while also making the money they need to make. I think I am a very good server. I go over and above to make my tables happy and will be more than happy to adapt to each person's needs. But give me an extra table or two more than my allotment, and I become worth shit...especially if the tables are large numbers or very high-maintenance.*** So anyway, the hostess asked me if I could take one more table if it was just one person. Well, one person...I can handle that. I agreed and went to the kitchen to gather a few things for my other tables.
I come back to my room, and they have not sat me with a one-top. They have given me a six-top. I was livid! Yes, I want to make money! Yes, I knew I could handle it! But this was not what I signed up for. I felt like slapping the hostess...I even felt like refusing to wait on them, but I knew that it would be a lot less painful if I just took the table. Luckily, my other tables were fine at the moment.
This table was very high-maintenance. Each person wanted two types of dressing for their salad. One guy ordered soup to come out as well. They requested extra toppings on their salad and warned me that they eat ALOT of breadsticks. Then, both couples split entrees and the girls ordered half portioned entrees. That just kind of pisses me off when people try to eat as much "free" stuff as possible to save money. If you cannot afford to eat out, then don't. And if you cannot afford to tip, then don't eat out.
The icing on the cake is that this table would try to talk to me when I was at the neighboring tables taking care of others. I am trying to take a guy's order and behind me the older gentleman is asking me for more soup. That is just rude! I will be back over to you, dear table. Please look around and see that I have other people to take care of besides you and your family.
After their food was delivered, the hostess came up to me and asked me again if I would take more tables than allotted to me (I assume if I had given them a green-light they would have sat every table in my room and I would have had over twice as many tables as I am supposed to be allowed to have). I said no. I told them that when I dropped the bill at the table, they could. They waited for me to do so.
After that, I had two more hours of taking more tables that I should have and running around like a chicken with its head cut off. And it still surprised me how many people could see that I was sweating and red in face, and still thought I wasn't working hard enough for them.
Then with an hour and half left of my shift, the lobby is still packed, and a man stops me in the middle of the hallway back to my room, and complains about seating. He said that he had just walked around and saw 12 tables open, and was bitter that the hosts were keeping them waiting up there instead of seating them at these available tables. He swore there was some kind of conspiracy going on with all restaurants about this very problem. Well I knew that four of those tables were in my room...and four more were in another section where there was no server, but I very politely told him I would get a manager so that he could have his concerns heard by the right person who could actually do something about it. In my mind I could not help but think about how much more livid he would be if he was sat at a table where no server was assigned...My opinion of the matter is that I would rather wait five more minutes in the lobby and get great service, than sit five minutes at a table before I could get greeted by a server.
For the last hour of my shift, the managers moved the bar person into my room so that she could get more tables and be my service partner. But honestly, it made things worse. All day I knew that any table in that room was mine, but now, with another person, we have to keep guessing who had what new table because the hosts were not telling us who the table was for. And no, I could not just go back into my allotted section because I had tables all over that room...so the last hour was filled with alot of frustrated guessing...and forced smiles to make sure my tables had a pleasant time while I was living in Sunday hell.
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