The Waiting Chronicles: Yea...We're gonna need you to come in on friday too...mmmkk...yea that would be great.

I hate it when people don't do their jobs correctly. This complicates mine greatly. ..

So I am usually very proficient about remembering my schedule and coming to work when I'm supposed to and not going when I don't have too. Well on Friday I was excited because I had looked on my schedule and saw that I didn't even have to go into work at all. So I am just being lazy and having a great time doing it.

Around 12:00 all of that changed...I get a call from not just a manager but the general manager of our store. He says me "Hey Doug! Where are you?" "At home." I replied. "Well you were supposed to be here over an hour ago." As my heart stops I hear myself say "I could have sworn that I wasn't on the schedule today." He continues by telling me " No, I have you written in right here." Now what am I supposed to say," Uh...no...I think your wrong." or "Wow I apologize and will be there as soon as I possibly can." I went with the later.

Twenty minutes later I was showered, had a freshly starched shirt, and had driven ten minutes to work. All this time all I could think was "I'm going to be fired for this. ..Yep I'm going to be fired for this." So I walk in and can see that the place is packed and that there is a lonely four table section with nobody in it. I immediately concluded which section was supposed to be mine. As I walk into the back with my head down in shame I pass by my fellow waiters and find that none of them are speaking to me( a bad sign). I am in the process clocking in and can see my manager coming towards me( a worse sign). I gather up all of my strength and prepare for the onslaught. He then greets me with " Hey man I figured out what happened." Not exactly the verbal abuse I was expecting. He continues to tell me that on their big manager key, they had me down to work. On my schedule, however, there was a blank because whoever wrote it up had forgotten to put that little piece of information in. The manager then asks me if I would stay on because he could really use my help. So I stay and helped until we were not on wait anymore. Once I was off the manager buys me lunch for helping him out in a jam.

So I went on a roller-coaster ride of emotions on Friday all to get a free meal and a lousy 22 dollars. All I can say is this...Come Monday there are going to be three people that defiantly hear from me.

A new line of thought...

So I came up with a new idea for a post. I call it "THE WAITING CHRONICLES."

In this series of post I will weekly(yes weekly for the skeptics) about a particular interesting story that happened to me while waiting tables. I thought that this might be a good opportunity for me to start posting on a regular basis. Please comment and tell me what you think.

The Waiting Chronicles: Something Amazing that happened today...

So I was at work today waiting on tables and it was kinda getting slow. I only have one table and it doesn't look like I'm not going to get too many more. So I go to check on my table and see that I have a new one. So I go and do my usual greet the table "Hello how are you today.? What can I get you started with to drink?" The woman replies that she wants a sweet tea. So I bring it out to her and ask her what she wants to order a Steak and Shrimp so i ask her what sides she wants and how she wants her steak cooked, blah blah blah, as I'm about to leave I thought I heard her say something about an Apple Pie. I jump on that to see if she would like one. She told me that she was unsure, so I tell her that she can decide later if she wants. So I go by the table a few more times and see that she has her head down on her arms. This is a very strange position for one of my guests to be in. I figure that she is tired and don't really think about it anymore. So I get her food out and see if she did in fact want that apple pie. She said that she really wanted to because it was her birthday. This woman was by herself on her birthday!!! When she told me this I immediately felt like I should have talked to her ,given her free food or something. Anything to brighten her obviously dark day. In the end see decided that she did want the Pie. Usually when I find out that it is one of my guests birthdays (and they order a desert) I will right "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" on their plate. So for this Apple pie I decided to do something different. I wanted to give her something special. So I wrote all over the outside of the plate "HAVE A NICE AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY". OK so maybe not the best thought-out phrase but I was working as fast as I could. When I brought it out to her she laughed and said that it was very nice. Soon after that she asked for a to-go box. So I bring her one and with it her ticket. She payed me with a hundred dollar bill and wanted change. I bring her change out to her and she gives me twenty of it back and said these words "It was nice to smile today. Thank you" I almost melted on the spot.Amazing, I was able to change this woman's whole day for the better just because of what I did for her. I almost gave her a hug but she was already out of the door. That is the kind of thing that I love about my job that only happens very rarely.