Comments on: You Work In a Restaurant and Not In an Office When…

By: Restaurant Gal

Restaurant Gal — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 02:04:46 +0000

Mukta–Sometimes I miss being a professional writer and editor. But I never miss the office. By the way, your blog is great. You are a gifted writer.

–The Gal

By: Mukta

Mukta — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 14:00:06 +0000

Do you miss the office job sometime?

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 02:25:13 +0000

Love your list. Every point could be made about working in a retail pharmacy chain. You do not call in when that means condemning the rest of the shift to a night of complaints about waiting…. Only difference is that in a pharmacy the only distinct day of the week is Sunday, otherwise known as birth control day.

By: Ex-Restaurant Manager

Ex-Restaurant Manager — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 05:01:10 +0000

AppleBarGirl is right – I worked for a nice Annapolis restaurant for a year or so, back of the house, on the line. Near the end of that stint, I got a wicked case of the flu. Fluids coming out all over the place. Nasty. The kitchen manager told me that I needed to come in. I was young and stupid, and came in, and my fever was so high I was completely loopy. AssManager told me I needed to �work it off, sweat it out on the line, you�ll be fine tomorrow.�

I sweated it out, and the next day called in, and AssManager asked me for a doctor�s note.

Which I gave him, but he was still pissed that I didn�t come in and work.

So, yeah, some of them don�t care about infecting their patrons, they only care about how many covers they can put out, and know that if they can get the grunts to come in, then they won�t have to actually dirty their hands on the line.

Some of them. They aren�t all like that.

By: AppleBarGirl

AppleBarGirl — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 04:23:04 +0000

To Wilson– Of course, it’s odd. But that’s what it’s like to work in a restaraunt. Calling in is simply not done.
And please, before you tell me to get a “real” job or a “different” job, let me just say that getting a 9-5 job isn’t feasible when you’re in college. This is the only job where I can make up to and including $15/hour +, and still be able to attend to my school work. We take precautions to not contaminate our customers, but the real problem lies with management. Restaraunt workers are a dime a dozen in nearly all chain restaraunts and it’s easier to fire a sick worker than to cover a week’s worth of shifts. If you see you have a sick waiter, ream the management, not the server. Odds are, it was easier to excavate the lost city of Atlantis than to get their shift covered or call in.

By: Restaurant Gal

Restaurant Gal — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 00:50:09 +0000

peppers waiter–which job do you like the most?

By: peppers waiter

peppers waiter — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 16:37:28 +0000

My restaurant is severely under staffed. There was a day where I would take an order, barf in a sink. clean up. Bring the food out, barf in the sink, wash up. and so on. My manager wouldnt let me go because we had so few people. I wonder if anyone could tell I was sick.

I work both an office job and a waiting job right now and I agree 100%. I like knowing when im going to get out. I like making a mess in the bathroom and not cleaning it up… well from being the person that has to clean it up, I clean it up. At least I dont have to wear a dumb uniform at the office

By: Natalie

Natalie — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 13:37:45 +0000

It’s funny to see people dressed casual, when you’re used to seeing them dressed a certain way. It almost feel unnatural. =)

By: SkippyMom

SkippyMom — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 12:57:51 +0000

I thought this post was great! Especially the melding of the days in the office and the leaving it all behind when you leave. Nice!
As for working sick – no one wants to work sick or make others sick – but restaurants frown on calling in for any reason – you run the risk of not being put on the next schedule or of getting a crappy station or in some cases fired – mgmnt doesn’t care – they have an establishment to run. A doctor’s note isn’t always available either – b/c how many workers actually have insurance? Not that mgmnt would even look at them…..
Thanks for the post!

By: Restaurant Gal

Restaurant Gal — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 10:52:24 +0000

Wilson–Don’t fret. We do send people home from my place if they are clearly sick–trust me. And, my hands, and those of my coworkers, are raw from washing them so often with antibacterial soap. Besides, I am pretty confident I caught my latest bug from someone riding my bus who didn’t wash their hands or cough into their sleeve.

–The Gal