The Serving Chronicles #1

9/6/14

I had a shitty Saturday guys.  Usually Sundays are the bad ones, but this week it was Saturday.

Firstly, I come into work and realize I don’t have my apron because I switched cars and UGH.  And when I come into work without an apron that means I don’t have my employee card to clock in, a nametag, ANYTHING.

So I ask my manager for a new card, nametag, and apron and he obliges; except he tells me he doesn’t have any more aprons.  Well how the hell am I supposed to serve without an apron.

            So I go out to my car to grab some pens and another manager is walking in as well as a fellow server and I call out to her asking if she has a spare apron in her car. No.

But the manager says there’s extra in the office.

            “I asked John and he told me there aren’t any more.”

            “There were five last night when I closed, there’s no way he gave five away since he opened this morning. I’ll get you one.”

So John was lying.  I get an apron.

The rest of the day goes by quickly and easily until an hour before I get to leave.

I get sat with a family.  A grandmother, mother, and three children between the ages of under 1 and 10ish.

            The first thing they ask is if Iced Tea is free.

            No.

            Then I’ll have water. With lemon.

So the question that always pops into my head here is “do I make my life easier by bringing them extra lemons to begin with, or do I give them one lemon slice to irritate them knowing they want to make free lemonade with their water?”

            I chose to irritate them.

            “Um, I’m gonna need a lot more lemon than that. And blue sugar.”

            “I’m sorry, we don’t carry blue sugar.  We carry the yellow, pink, and white and they’re all in the little catty at the end of the table there.”

            “hm.”

They’re ready to order.

            “How much are mozzarella sticks?”

            “8.99”

            “FOR MOZZARELLA STICKS??”

            “Yes.”

            “How many do you get??”

            “Eight.”

            “So a dollar per mozzarella stick”

            “Yes.”

            “Well we don’t want those.”

            “Okay, that’s alright. What would you like today?”

They order a different appetizer, kids meals (with mozzarella sticks as the side so they can mooch off the children), and two meals.

            “What side comes with this chicken?”

            “White rice.”

We have realized that they're looking at a menu right? That has descriptions of everything... And even pictures! WOAH! 

            “Can I get something else instead?”

            “Of course, for no charge you can do French fries, mashed potatoes, fruit, or vegetables.  For an upcharge you can do onion rings, a side salad, or a cup of soup.”

            “How much of an upcharge?”

            “It depends on which one you’re thinking about”

            “The salad.”

            “It’s 2.49 to get the salad instead of a different side.”

            “2.49??”

            “Yes. A salad on it’s own would be 4.49.”

            Hmmm. Okay I’ll do a salad and mashed potatoes.”

I made sure to explain once again that you could only substitute one side for the side of rice she was getting rid of and she still wanted both. Okay.

After they’ve eaten and gone through their meal, which went smoothly and they were very kind to me throughout the time spent at the table.  There were no rude comments or anything like that.  I drop off their bill and when I pass by the next time they’re sitting looking over the bill and they call me over.

            “Why am I being charged for both the mashed potatoes and the salad? I thought one of them came with the meal.”

            “Well the salad is what came as the side instead of the rice.  It’s normally 4.49 but you’ve been charged 2.49 since you chose not to get the rice.”

            “How come I’m being charged for the mashed potatoes?”

Have you caught on to my frustration yet?

I explain again what I’ve already explained and the daughter finally understands.  She nods to me that I can walk away now and she’ll handle explaining the rest.

That was my shitty Saturday guys.  Don’t worry there’s more to come.

Comment down below if you’re in the service industry and you have a funny story

Or if you’d like to read more of the crazy things that happen to me as a server!

Also side note: I will be posting less now that I’m in school.  I just spend too much time typing already!  But for regular Monday and Fridays videos, make sure to check out my channel. The link is on the side bar to the right! Have a great week nerds!