What a Night!

Look What I found in the beer cooler at work last night! 😛

Okay, if you read yesterdays post you know my day started sort of rough. I’d hoped that with a good attitude it would get better, but I was wrong. I know the flowers might make you think I’m lieing, but the flowers weren’t found until the end of the night.

I feel the need to babble/rant a bit…so I’ll put it in the Read More, category, so those of you that don’t need to hear me bitch, can just enjoy the pretty flowers. 🙂

Oh! And today has been good so far, aside from the fact that I can’t talk AT ALL due to some stupid chronic laryngitis thing, I got my last round of edits on THE DEVIL INSIDE this morning, and the editor had some nice things to say about the story, and my writing…so YAY!! 😀

Ok, After I posted yesterday, I went to have a nap, since I’d been up on the Key errand that morning and had only 3.5 hours sleep. I thought with doing a giveaway, and having a nap, things could only get better. After all, my Mom DID have the right key and I hadn’t had to go through a whole kafuffle trying to either get a new ignition or find a master key somewhere, so things were already looking better.

Until I woke up from my nap. First, my tummy did not like the Burritto I had for lunch, and promptly got rid of it, aggravating the sore throat I’ve had all week. So much so that by the time I got to work, I had no voice. Now, a bartender/waitress on a Friday night with no voice is a BAD thing.

I could make myself heard, barely, but it took a lot of energy to force the words out. I asked the shift manager to call around and see if there was anyone that could work for me. But of course there wasn’t. So I’m running my butt off right from the start, because it’s Happy Hour and it’s spring break, and the other Pizza Place(we’re a franchise), 10 blocks away from us is closed for two weeks, so we’re getting their business as well. (including deliveries.) Oh, and the restaurant side is super busy, and short staffed too.

For those of you that have never heard about my place of employment before, let me give you a brief discription. It’s a Pizza Place, with ribs, steaks and pastas as specialties. There is two sides to the building/business. The restaurant, and the lounge. The lounge is more like a pub, with pool tables and a jukebox, and VLT’s. One kitchen cooks the food for both of us, plus deliveries and takouts. One Shift Manager runs all of it. We work as a team.

Now, I usually work alone when I’m in the bar. I’ve been in this business a long time and can handle a pretty hectic pace. But last night, feeling like crap, and having EVERY customer decide they needed to make fun of my voice for five minutes before tellign me what they wanted to drink….well…it slowed me down. I asked for help from the restaurant side. Sometimes if I’m really busy they can send someone over for 10-30 miutes and I’ll get caught up. Not so when they were getting beat up too. In the midst of this…our day shift manager instead of helping, say’s…”I’ve been here an hour and a half overtime…I don’t care.” and leaves.

Holy Motherf*cker!!! Was I pissed off. Everyone was pissed off. I’m sorry, as a manager I’ve had to work 12 and 13 hours when the place is busy. As a manager YOU DO NOT LEAVE WHEN YOU ARE NEEDED!!! She was lucky I was too busy, and too voiceless, to try and work up the energy to yell at her. BUT I definately plan on having a few words with her when I can. As well as with OUR boss, the GM, who left for 2 weeks in Mexico on Thursday. Funny how some peoples attitude changes when the Boss isn’t in town huh?

Anyway, it was a Hell Night. So busy. The kitchen Manager, the night shiift manager, and I (yes I am a manager, but on Thurs and Fri…I’m just a bartender.) Have never seen the sales so high in a 7 hour period. Everybody that was there worked hard, and pulled together. And at the end of the night, after counting my tips (which were good cuz I got some extra for sympathy I guess) and stocking my beer cooler….I found a HUGE boquet of flowers with my name on them, in the back beer cooloer.

My boss, the GM on holiday, had them delivered for my 3rd year anniversary at the place. With a note to say we’d celebrate when she got back. While my boss frustrates the hell out of me at times…she is the reason I’ve stayed at that location for 3 years. (a long time in one place in this industry). She does her best to make us all feel special and wanted. It’s nice.