Sunday, March 25, 2007 by Ospite.


Dinner rush, same old same old. We've all got the groove and the atmosphere was feeling upbeat. When we're running like a well-oiled machine, the patrons feel the vibe and everything is dandy. Happy waiters make happy customers.

Things were so smooth in fact, that I had the time to sit back, chill a second and decided to bus one of my tables as soon as they retired for the evening. It was then that I saw the only flaw in the evening: The Pit (or dish) was a little swamped and Kenny was in his usual perturbed-punk rant mode, annoyed with the world. This is normal, but the lax attempt for working had caused him to be the only cog not turning efficiently.

We began running out of side plates, salad bowls, and silverware. Customers got dirty glasses. What was smooth as obsidian felt like trying to skateboard in a gravel pit. My next couple trips to the kitchen allowed me to see the debacle that was the dish area. It was time for an intervention.

Several of us talked to the manager. He pulled Kenny aside:
"You need to pick up the pace man. We're all running smooth except for you."
"Well, I didn't want to do dishes tonight, I wanted to do pans."
"Your job is to wash whatever needs to be done. Right now, I need you on dish."

We didn't notice any change for the better. In fact, things seemed a little worse. We were all rush, rush, rush. Not until we realized we were each rolling our own silverware did it dawn on us: Kenny was nowhere to be found. We checked dry-storage, the walk-in, out back, bathrooms, everywhere. He was gone. He did not return. Needless to say the night only went downhill from there.

2 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Ha, I bet Kenny had a better night quitting than he would have had washing...but still, kind of a dick move to screw everyone else over.

i'm wondering if your MG is the type that would roll up those tailored sleeves and pitch in with washing dishes--those are the good ones to work for.

12:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

this happens at my restaurant at least once a month. at this point i work in the front of the house but have my own method for doing dishes

5:37 PM  

« Home | Post a Comment »

At your service, Ospite

I am not in the restaurant business, I am in the people business. I use every opportunity to people watch, because to me, even the most mundane is fascinating.

lackluster profile

Powered by Blogger |