You Always Have To Watch Your Back

When you get fired from a job you most likely feel like it was unjust. You couldn’t think of anything that you did wrong to lose your job..Well I hate do break it to some of you but you probably messed up somewhere whether you realized it or not.

In the 5 years we have been open we have fired and lost a lot of people. It’s just the way it goes! But, we have never had a person quit because we were terrible bosses and the job was just horrible. When people quit it’s because they are moving on with their lives weather is going off to college or they found a better paying job.

We have fired quite a few though, and you can’t just fire someone because you feel like it. You have to have a legit reason and a little bit of proof to fire them incase they try to get unemployment. Now we have had a few employees that we thought we were going to end up in court over because they didn’t feel like they had done anything wrong. Well we had witnesses and not us the other employees; in one incident we had a few customers went to my mom and said that they would be a witness for us if we needed. Luckily, people have never actually gone through with filing the unemployment..even if they did feel like being fired was unjust.

We had one lady who worked for us a few years back. She was in her 40’s which is around the age of my mom and most of the other ladies that work there so she instantly felt comfortable. Which is good, I mean you don’t want to go to work when you feel like you can’t have a conversation with who you’re working with. But like the young girl in my last post this lady got to comfortable to fast. Way to fast.

Shortly after she started working she was soon showing other ladies inappropriate pictures of herself, her husband, and other things that I am not going to go into. Not very long after that she started showing customers some of her pictures. I mean come on! She thought being fired was unjust!? Ha! Soon after she was fired she mentioned to my mother in very threatening text messages that she was going to file for unemployment. That idea of hers soon burst when Mom informed her that she had witnesses who would help mom out and that she was saving all the text messages that she had sent.

Since that happened my parents have been every careful on making sure they are covered when it comes to our employees. Luckily, the employee we have now have been there for 3+ years and have become like family.

Learn When To Shut It

Privacy; that is something that you do not think waitresses/waiters have to worry about during their job. Well your right we don’t! BUT! Some of us need to learn that somethings are private and inappropriate to inform our customers!

Now this topic I have a somewhat personal experience with! And by somewhat I mean it wasn’t me sharing too much info! It was a co-worker. Which affects me not only was a worker but as an owner! She did not realize that she was saying personal stuff that was making people not want to come back…pretty simple No People=No $=No Jobs! Well for her it ended like this..No Peope=No Job for Her!

Yes, I know that may sound a little harsh. There were many other reasons why she was let go, but for this post I am going to talk about some of the personal stuff she would say to customers and even her fellow co-workers; including my parents!

An example was the time she was being bothered by allergies during harvest. Which happens to almost everyone in our county! We are just little towns surrounded my corn and bean fields! Anyways! She had a runny nose and itchy eyes..the usual stuff that happens when your allergies act up! Well she felt it to be okay to talk about how snotty her nose was and instead of going into the bathroom and blowing her nose she would blow it behind the cash register! If I would have been a customer I would not have come back for a while!

This story was even worse and after hearing about this and other reasons she was let go! My mom’s personal friend came into the grill one afternoon to get ice cream. While having her order taken the young lady who worked for us processed to tell another co-worker that she had to poop..right in front of the customer! My mom was PISSED! And lets just say that was the last ice cream cone she ever made!

She would also say little things in front of myself and the other workers. She would talk about her sex life, period, and other bodily functions. She would also tell us about how she was going to move out of her house when she turned 17 and move in with her boyfriend. Now some of that stuff is okay to talk about IF the person actually cares or if the person knows you! We did not really know this girl well enough! She had only lived around Oregon for maybe 6 months so we thought she was a quiet hardworker..we were soon proven wrong!

Becoming Attached

My Final blog about the Super Bowl is about the Budweiser commercial!

Honestly, for being a beer company commercial this was quite a tear jerker! I just love how they showed how close the guy and the Clydesdale horse became. Also I enjoy how it shows that the Clydesdale is still an important part of the guys life.

Well working in a restaurant has the same effect! Especially in a small town when you pretty much know everyone anyways! You can get every attached to certain people who come in. Mainly because they are a regular and come in almost everyday! I am not going to lie..sometimes you get tired of seeing the same old people day after day! Yet when it comes down to it you know you would miss them if they did not come in for a couple of days!

During the day shift we have our coffee drinkers. They’re a group of about 8 older people who come in from 12:30 to 2:30 everyday that we are open (Monday-Saturday). A few of them only stay for one cup of coffee and to hear a little bit of gossip and the rest stay for the whole two hours and go through about 4 pots of coffee! Sometimes they can just drive you batty! Trust me, the gossip gets much more important the older you get..you have nothing else to look forward too! Yet some days it is just so damn funny to sit there and listen to what they have to say!

They truly do become a special part of The Grill! If one of them is not going to be in the next day they let us or one of the other coffee drinkers know. Mainly because they know they aren’t getting any younger and we worry that something bad might have happened to them!

During the night shift I have my own favorite set of regulars. It’s an older couple and one of their closest friend(she lost her husband a few months back who had been living in a nursing home). They come in about 3 to 4 nights a week…and about 2 to 3 days a week! At first I was TERRIFIED of them! They’re the type of people who have a mean look on their face and do not even know it. I quickly learned that they are some of the nicest people!

I know years from now(hopefully a lot of years!) after they have passed I will think back on them and all the good times and great laughs they’ve given me! Just like the trainer of the Clydesdale horse memories and certain things just make an impression on you life!

“Teenage” Old People..I Wish!

I laughed and laughed at the Taco Bell commercial during the Super Bowl! It honestly was my second favorite commercial!

Since The Grill is a family restaurant we attract a lot of older people. A lot of the older people in my community would not go into a bar if it was the last place to eat in a twenty-mile radius. So they come to the grill.

Now a lot of them I love when they come in. They’re so nice and quite a few of them are hilarious. BUT! There are the few that can just drive a girl batty! First of all they think I can read their mind! Last time I checked I do not have any cool super powers like that! Second of all I go check on them and they do not need anything but when I go to do something else they just happen to need something! Then they act like I was neglecting them and hadn’t checked on them in ages…more like two minutes!

I would love my job even more if we had a group of older people come in who acted like that! I wouldn’t want them to leave! Who wouldn’t?! No matter where you work you know that you could enjoy a laugh! And your work day goes by a hell of a lot faster if you have some good entertainment!

God Made A Farmer

During the Super Bowl a few ago my FAVORITE commercial was God Made A Farmer.

Now I am a Chevy girl but I give Dodge some props with that one! Coming from a small community means I come from a farming community. So I personally know the hard work and devotion farmers have. Farmers also play another important part in my life that came into play almost 5 years ago.

Owning a restaurant would not be possible if it wasn’t for farmers! First of all we wouldn’t have meat! No farmers means no hamburgers, tenderloin, bacon, hotdogs, etc. Second of all we wouldn’t have ice cream. No Cows=No Milk=No Ice Cream Mix! I mean it’s extremely simple!

Another big thing about farmers is they support The Grill extremely well! During harvest when they’re working 15+ days and their wives are busy taking care of the kids and what not they call us up! It’s typical for a farmer’s wife to call in what we call a field order. Which most likely is a simple order like 10 cheeseburgers, 10 fries, and 10 drinks. But every once in a while they all want something different, which is a bit of a rush but it is what we’re there for!

Everyone should be thankful for farmers. No matter if they live in a farming community or if they live in a big old city! Farmers hard work is important and needed everywhere in the world. The USA and countries all over the world have been built on and survived because of farming. So I guess that the only thing left to say is Thank God for Farmers.

Be Understanding

In my Comp II class we’re reading a book called Into The Wild by John Krakauer. There is a quote in the book that I am going to use as a prompt(or try too!). “I just don’t understand why he had to take those kind of chances,” Billie protests through her tears. “I just don’t understand it at all.”

Sometimes you just can understand what would cause a person to do something! I had a post a few days back about how waitresses/waiters can fail at their job. Well today my post is going to be about how customers need to be more understanding when it comes to their server.

I might not have made it clear in my previous post that sometimes your server has had something happen previously and that is why they aren’t being the best. Yes, a good waitress/waiter should be able to put that aside and do their job. Personally, when I’m working and waiting on people I completely forget anything else that has been bothering me. At the same time not all people are able to do that. When something is bothering them it is all they think about.

I have personally dealt with people and have witnessed people who are not understanding at all with their server! Even with their server is extremely good at their job. The customer except their server to be perfect! I just want to break the news to them that their server can not read their mind!! Some of them act like they are better than their server! I would love to see people like that work a shift as a waitress or waiter, I guarantee they would not be able to handle it.

Also people do not understand that waitresses/waiters also have bad days and struggles. So treating them like shit just because they are not up to the customers standards is not being understanding at all!

Always Be Prepared

Living in good ol Northwest Missouri you know that you always need to be prepared for something! Mainly something to do with the weather. You go from getting ready for a drought to a flood; heat wave to an ice storm. Just this week we had a 70 degree day and two days later 3 to 4 inches of snow. Well being a waitress you have to worry about swings like that too.

During the summer you get used to being busy all the way up tell close every night and during the winter well..those nights are what you need to be prepared for. There are two types of winter nights. I could not tell you which I would rather work because they both suck. Yet again that is why it is called work! Now it depends on the type of winter we are having. If it is a winter like what we had last year which is one snow storm and mainly 45 degree or above weather we have what I will call a winter night #1. This winter is a little bit different. A few 50 degree or above weather days and A LOT of 25 degree or below winter days which leads to winter night #2.

Winter night #1 is the night that you go in and your just as busy as a summer night. During the winter we close a hour earlier than during the summer. So some of those nights people are still eating or waiting on their food at closing time at 8. By the time we get their food out to them, wait for them to finish, and clean-up it is 9 if not later. Thats where being prepared comes into play. You always need to be prepared to be swamped and to stay late.

Winter night #2 is different. That is the night you go in and it is dead. It will most likely be cold out so people are staying in. Those are the nights that suck because my mom knows we are going to be dead and makes a lovely list of things to be done. It could range from prep work like dressings, tenderloins, and hamburgers to moving out all the tables and chairs and cleaning underneath them, dusting, and cleaning out trash cans. But I guess it’s stuff that needs to be done and atleast I get paid for it! :))

Ambition In The Work Place

Ambition: The desire for personal achievement. From that definition ambition sounds like an easy thing to have! I believe that having goals and wanting to achieve something in your life should be an easy thing! Yet there are people in this world who just have no ambition to do ANYTHING. Personally, most people in this world who have no ambition do not have a job. Either because they do not want to get one or because they got fired/quit because they are lazy bums. Trust me, in the almost 5 years we’ve owned the Grill we’ve had A LOT of employees with no ambition…some with lack of common sense also! But that could be saved for another post!
When I clock in at 5 for my shift I try to set a goal for how many tips I earn that night. Now we aren’t a very big restaurant(we can seat about 40 people inside and about 10-12 on the deck during nice weather) and we’re located in a small town so in all honestly a lot of people don’t really tip. Luckily, we get paid minimum wage so we don’t have to worry about making up the rest of our pay in tips. Also the waitress and cook spilt the tips. But I still try to set a goal. I start with a basic goal like $5, and as the night goes on if we are having a busy night I move my goal up to $10 maybe even $15. It’s a goal that’s fun to reach. I don’t NEED to make tips but it’s always nice to get to leave work with a few extra dollars.
I also have an overstocking habit, so I guess I have an ambition for stocking! Haha! I make sure that the to-go cups, lids, and straws are stocked. That the ice cream dishes and mixes are ready for the next day. Also I fill napkins, ketchup, and mustards like crazy! My biggest pet peeve when I work the day-shift is coming in and having to do the night shifts job! In my mind I’m just thinking what in the hell did they even do last night?! One the bright side being the owners daughter has a perk…I get a piece of paper and right down every damn thing they didn’t do. I guess they aren’t as ambitious as me! 😉

Failing As A Waitress

How many of you have gone to a restaurant and your waitress and even your waiter was terrible or even a complete asshole? I know this has happened to me many times! Sometimes they act like waiting on you is a hassle in their life! I just want to ask them why in the hell are you a waitress/waiter? Trust me, I know that most likely they aren’t always like that.
Maybe earlier they had a table of hell. Which would range from a family of devil children with parents who don’t tell them no to a few old ladies out for a girls night in which they believe you are paid to be their slave and run all over the place…twice.
Yet when they receive a new group of people they need to start over. Hell I would rather have my waitress/waiter be fake than snobby. Even though when they act like that I just think of the positive and pray to Jesus that they’ve had a bad day and that their personality really doesn’t suck that much.
I always still leave them a tip. Always! Most waitresses’/waiters only make around $3.50 an hour. They have to make the rest up in tips. They would be terrible and I still leave at least $3. That way it almost equals an hour pay of minimum wage. I honestly do not think I would have the urge to do that if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m a waitress and know how difficult it can be. And I hope that the next day is better for them.

Your Job Becomes Apart Of You

Today, in my English class we were shown a picture of three artist. The three different artist had their shirts open and their organs were painted on their stomachs. It was almost like they were proving a point. Like they were stating that they are an artist inside and out. That painting for them is not just a job or something to do for fun. When I saw that picture I realized that if you truly love your job it becomes a part of you.
Now I don’t plan on being a waitress my whole life…well kind of! I do plan on becoming a teacher, which means that I will have every summer off and during my summer break I plan on working at the Grill. My job as a waitress will always be an important part of my life. A lot of it could come from the fact that my parents own it! It is like our second home or another sibling. I do not go a day without having to go up there for something! Even on my days off I end up there even if it’s just for a hot second.
Other than that fact the people I work with have become some of my closest friends. They are my “Grill Family”. We do not just work with each other, we are all big parts of each others lives. A perfect example of how close we are would be something that happened in September. Donna, one of our day shift ladies found out that her 15 daughter was pregnant..and do in December. She didn’t know how to handle it! She was excited, I mean it’s a baby! Who wouldn’t be excited! Yet at the same time she was pissed, worried, and scared. After she told my mom and I about what was going on we immediately knew that we needed to make the best out of this situation. So we got the rest of the grill family together and all the girls decided that we were going to throw Donna’s daughter a babyshower. Now I do not know many bosses and co-workers would do that! If that doesn’t prove that we are always there for each other I don’t know what will!
I could not ask for a better part-time job! I know so many people who work a full-time job make thousands more than I do and HATE their job! Also I am not saying that my job is the only job that becomes a huge part of people’s lives! Many people out in this world love their jobs! Thank god or we’d probably have way more unemployed people. I know there needs to be a line between work and personal life and trust me I love my days off like any other person! Yet I wouldn’t trade any of my co-workers and the way my job is for anything…well maybe a weeks paid vacation! 🙂