Day fifteen.

Sometimes I forget when I work I am being paid an hourly wage. It can get frustrating not working the money making shifts, say for instance, a Friday night. I try to work as much as I can. I tell the other servers that if they need to get rid of a shift I will take it. The point of this game I'm playing is to make as much money as I can, clearly, the only way to do that is to work all the time. 

I offered my serving services to no avail but that didn't mean I wasn't needed in the kitchen as an expeditor.  Tonight I was the Expo, the person as I've mention before, who organizes the orders for each table. It was a shit show tonight. There is no other way to explain the anarchy that took place at (insert real name here) this very eve. A shit show. 

On a side note, my mom told me I should stop swearing when I write. The rule of thumb is that the only time swearing is appropriate is when you stub your toe. My mom hates swearing. I told her I have to swear in lieu of discussing my intervenes drug use and unprotected sex. She didn't think that was funny.

When I work expo I don't care if I hurt someone's feelings. I don't care if someone thinks I'm rude. My job is to make sure people get to eat what they ordered, how they ordered it, as fast as I can. When a person comes to (insert real name here) there is no excuse for their food to arrive at the table, cold, with the wrong side, 50 minutes after ordering. Sad thing is, that is exactly what happening tonight. As a server working the expo station I can empathize with both the kitchen and the servers. Keeping tables full of hungry strangers happy when their food is taking almost an hour to get to them is exhausting. How difficult is it to make a damn chicken caesar salad? But at the same time, I feel for the cooks that are getting dozens and dozens of orders thrust upon them all at once.

It's on the cusp of a no win situation when a restaurant gets slammed. I say the cusp because there is in fact a winner in this scenario. The winner is the customer. Most times, a manager will comp the food. A comp is when food is taken care of on a bill. That is to say, the customer eats for free. If food isn't comped then a discount or perhaps a hefty gift certificate is given out to compensate for the ridiculous wait time.

Restaurants want your business. If your food comes out wrong or cold or late say something when the manager or supervisor visits your table. If you have a legit complaint you may be able to score yourself some free goods. What's the worst thing that could happen? You get an apology? Just remember the Golden Rule: treat others as you would have them treat you. Be polite. 

Three consecutive hours of getting slammed has earned me an adult beverage.