Whoa.

[go_team]

So today I got to work a little before 7, like I usually do, and there was no one in the kitchen, although it looked like the usual opening was more or less in progress. I got to the registers to check in, and the first server I saw said, "Oh good! We have a cook!" Uh-oh.

Turns out the usual opener (Lisa) got to work but wasn't feeling very well and eventually got sent home. The manager on duty was on the phone trying to get ahold of another cook, but no luck. He ended up being my toast monkey while I held the line for close to two hours, running on nothing but pure adrenaline and the constant, dreadful feeling that I must've forgotten something (it was the bacon; I ended up putting it on baking sheets and cooking it in the oven because there just wasn't time to fry it up on the grill as usual). Somewhere in there the owner of the restaurant came in and started helping out, but she's really hard to work with because she has very particular ideas about how things should be done, and they're not the very particular ideas I was taught, except that of course she's the boss. (I get the feeling she's running Glenwood 2.0 and we're on version 7 or 8.) At 9 the regularly-scheduled 9 AM cook came in, and some time after that we managed to draft a cook who usually works at the other Glenwood location, and then things started to settle back down. Fortunately, Lisa did lots of prep work yesterday, and Jorge the dishwasher who kicks all ass put away the order for me, or we would've been seriously screwed instead of just overwhelmed.

I had my first break at 11 and then it finally occurred to me to ask: did this mean I'd be working tomorrow? When I left a little after 2:30, it was still unclear whether Lisa would be sufficiently recovered to work (i.e. whether I'd have to cover for her). I rode my bike home the long way to relax, bitched to Peter for awhile before taking a nice long relaxing shower, but half an hour ago the phone rang and guess what? I'm opening tomorrow. Whee, ha.

I think it's time I asked for a raise. I mean, I held my own today under circumstances that would have made our other opener seriously freak out, and they're trusting me to open tomorrow, not him (although, granted, he's the 7 AM, so even if I'm super-slow he can probably have me caught up in no time). The manager who helped me on line today is the same guy who a few weeks ago gave me a bit of a talking-to, saying I needed to pick up the pace, but he's asking me to open tomorrow, so yeah. If they're gonna let me play like one of the big kids, then I'd like to get paid more like one of the big kids.

Oy vey. I stayed up kinda late last night playing with LJ style crap, thinking I only had to work today and could rest up over the weekend. I'd better go to bed early tonight, but before then I'm going to be really nice to myself. I see a lot of lounging around in bed in my future, even if the cat is being really loud and resentful at being locked inside so he can't make more trouble with the neighbor kitties.

Comments

[kuddliphish.livejournal.com]

Kudos to you, Tracy! It's no fun being asked to jump in and pick up the slack, but there is something satisfying about being able to stand up to the challenge, isn't there? Anyways good job--way to make yourself a valuable player--now go make pmb give you a back rub.

Oh, and forgive my curiosity/ignorance (I've never worked in a restaurant) but what does "Jorge the dishwasher who kicks all ass put away the order for me" mean? Specifically "put away the order," since I kinda got the Jorge kicks ass part ;)

You're so forgiven.

[goteam.livejournal.com]

On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings (usually around 7 AM), the restaurant gets big deliveries of food and restaurant supplies ("the order") that then need to be put away. It usually falls to the 7 AM cook to do this (at least for all the stuff that has to go in the walk-in fridge; dry storage and the freezer are someone else's problem, although thawable items often end up in the walk-in when the freezer's full). We also get bread delivered on Friday (and maybe at other times during the week?), but the bread guy puts it away on a rack especially set up for that purpose (and sometimes even restocks the trays of bread on line). I think we get coffee from a local vendor, and maybe some tea as well. Oh, and there's a smaller order on Saturday or maybe Sunday afternoon sometimes? It's usually produce and eggs and not much else, since that's what we use up on weekends. And now you know about as much about the Glenwood's supply schedule as I do =)