Thursday, February 09, 2006
by Ospite. 
I was asked recently by a friend of mine how the new job was going.
"So why again did you settle into restaurant work?"
"I've been hired to make the restaurant a more efficent business as well as deal with employees who, well, need not be employed."
"So you're the Two Bobs."
"What?"
"The Two Bobs. You know, Office Space?"
"Ah yes. Actually, that's pretty close."
The management at this trattoria is a relatively new staff and they have yet to earn the true respect of the waitstaff. I'm kin of in between the two worlds. They don't realize that I'm there to do what I'm there to do, and they also don't realize how close to losing their jobs they really are.
Today one waitress decided to go on a yelling rant at the service manager about her personal scheduling preferences and how he's incompetent. After that, the bartender blatantly refused a task given to him. Shortly following that altercation, another waitress launched into a speech about how the restaurant should be run. Obviously her ideas were better than managers who have been in the business for a very long time...she's been wait staff for 6 months.
The service manager pulled me aside.
"Don't take anything from this batch of jackals. I'm sick of getting hit with their politics and self-righteous speeches from the time I walk in the door to when I walk out. We're scheduling a meeting for tomorrow. I want you in it."
So I spent tonight trying to defuse several situations before we lost a couple relatively important wait staff members. Setting up 45 second meetings, trying to figure out what each person bring to the restaurant and why they're worth keeping. All during one of our busiest weeknights to date. Being the Two Bobs.
Quote of the day: "I have a comment sir. I have the chicken parm. It really wasn't good. It was all doctored up with somethin'."
"So why again did you settle into restaurant work?"
"I've been hired to make the restaurant a more efficent business as well as deal with employees who, well, need not be employed."
"So you're the Two Bobs."
"What?"
"The Two Bobs. You know, Office Space?"
"Ah yes. Actually, that's pretty close."
The management at this trattoria is a relatively new staff and they have yet to earn the true respect of the waitstaff. I'm kin of in between the two worlds. They don't realize that I'm there to do what I'm there to do, and they also don't realize how close to losing their jobs they really are.
Today one waitress decided to go on a yelling rant at the service manager about her personal scheduling preferences and how he's incompetent. After that, the bartender blatantly refused a task given to him. Shortly following that altercation, another waitress launched into a speech about how the restaurant should be run. Obviously her ideas were better than managers who have been in the business for a very long time...she's been wait staff for 6 months.
The service manager pulled me aside.
"Don't take anything from this batch of jackals. I'm sick of getting hit with their politics and self-righteous speeches from the time I walk in the door to when I walk out. We're scheduling a meeting for tomorrow. I want you in it."
So I spent tonight trying to defuse several situations before we lost a couple relatively important wait staff members. Setting up 45 second meetings, trying to figure out what each person bring to the restaurant and why they're worth keeping. All during one of our busiest weeknights to date. Being the Two Bobs.
Quote of the day: "I have a comment sir. I have the chicken parm. It really wasn't good. It was all doctored up with somethin'."
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