Manager Sickness

I have dealt with many managers throughout my career. The one thing that they all have in common is that none of them seem to believe me when I call in sick. I've never worked a 9 to 5 job, so I don't know what it's like to call in sick to those, but with restaurant gigs, you'd better have a terminal illness, or use the "dead grandmother" line. And even if you do, you're going to need a doctor's note just to prove it and to be able to come back to work.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be able to work tonight. I feel like crap," I told my manager over-the-phone one morning.

"Did you get someone to cover your shift?" he asked.

"Nobody can do it because everybody is working tonight."

"It's your responsibility to get your shift covered!" He insisted.

"Right, but I'm sick. But everybody is working tonight. And I won't be much use tonight considering I can't get out of bed."

"Well, you still have a couple of hours before your shift starts. Keep trying to get it covered, and in that time maybe you'll feel better so you can work. It's going to be busy tonight." (Which by-the-way, is the kiss of death when a manager says, "we're going to be busy." It's a jinx, and we end up being slow.)

And of course, customers love a server who is struggling to talk due to a sore throat and chest congestion.

"Welcome everyone. Tonight's specials include the (cough) Ribeye Steak with red wine and (snort) phlegm sauce."

As a server, it's often like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," but the contrary. I'm really sick, but no manager believes it.

Only until I bear down and show up to work my shift and my manager looks at me and says, "You can go home. You look awful." WTF?!! I tried to convince you of this over 4 hours ago!

I'm better off using the "grandmother" line.

Until next time... Server's don't pay their rent with compliments.

"Bitter. Party of 1? Your table is ready."

The Bitter Bistro

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER CLICK HERE

Comments

Me said…

It is against the law to ask for a doctors note.

Signed your attorney

April 9, 2013 at 1:36 PM

Excuse Tips

It's ideal for a server to receive 18 to 20 percent gratuity for a job well done. Now it seems that customers are looking to leave an excuse rather than a monetary tip explaining why they couldn't leave their server any money. WTF?!! Of course, because my landlord would love to receive an excuse instead of a check for rent this month. "I don't have the money for rent, because I'm a writer/comedian. But I adore this building. So secure." The above picture was found on Yahoo.com . One of the comments said that they thought this was an altered pic, but I have actually seen this happen to myself and co-workers. And by-the-way, what if the server waiting on the woman was a single parent? So the lady who wrote this has now started a domino effect on their server who is struggling to make ends meet. And so on, and so on... Get bent! I don't believe in saying that if you can't afford to go out, that you should never go out. T...

10 Ways To Get Better Service At A Restaurant

I have noticed that there are many variables that can lead to a bad dining experience, and for the customer to say that they received "poor service" has become cliche, and just the "go to" for when all things go bad in a restaurant. Here is a Top 10 list to help customers have a positive experience the next time they dine out. 10. SIT AT THE FIRST TABLE THE HOST GIVES YOU "This table's too round. This table's too brown. This table's just right." You are not buying real estate. So for you to pass on the first, then the second, and even the third table option the host gives you is beyond ridiculous. The tables are all made the same, have four legs, four chairs, (if applicable,) and are strong enough to hold food, drinks, and purses. And if you pass on a table, now you've messed up the floor plan that the host has prepared at the beginning of their shift, and everybody in the restaurant takes notice as you are aimlessly walking a...

I'll Show You How to Wait!!!

Customers love being waited on hand and foot. But there are some customers who love to tell me HOW to wait on them hand and foot. I call these customers "waiter watchers." They weigh their waiter down with all of the crap that they tell them they should be doing, and when they should be doing it. One time I was serving a table of five, and everybody had order an appetizer and an entree. But one person in the party had ordered a salad in addition to his appetizer. I asked him when he wanted to have his salad served, and he told me to bring it before everyone got their appetizer. So that's what I did. Next thing I know, I'm getting pulled aside by the guy who is host of the group. "Why did you only bring out the salad and nobody else's food?" He demanded. "Your friend had asked that I bring his salad first so he could get it out of the way, since he ordered more food than everybody else," I pleaded. "You should bring all ...

The Bitter Bistro

Search This Blog