Friday, November 21, 2008

Sunday Fun

It seems as though everything will work out. One of the night servers wants my day shifts so we just need to hire a part timer for her Monday and Tuesday nights.
This week has been rough on me between work and school. I worked on Sunday last weekend and am working Saturday this weekend so it will be a 7 day week for me.
Sunday I encountered a common problem in the sports bar industry. There was a Bears game on and I had several tables seated to watch it. One table consisted of two guys,one of which asked for a draft which we have on special, the other for water. I gave them a menu as they said they would order later. After 5 glasses of water for the one and 2 drafts for the other I asked if they would be ordering anything off the menu. They said no. I regretfully informed the water guy that he would have to order something, anything, as my manager would not allow me to continue to serve him only water. I suggested a soda, a bottle of water, a draft, or simply an appetizer. He raised a huge stink and could not understand why a business would insist that he pay for a $2.00 item while sitting there for 3 hours.
Water guy had no money apparently, and his friend said to order something and he would cover it. Water guy proceeded to order 6 drafts. The two guys were by far the most difficult customers I had during the game. When one was down to a few gulps of his beer I would stop by and offer another. Every time I was told "Maybe in a minute." I continued to care for my other tables and was flagged down minutes later by the guys looking for another beer. They would then have to wait for me to finish with the table I was serving at the moment and get the draft from the bar. Annoying as it was, I was still a good little server and never even rolled my eyes. I was, of course, rewared for this at the end of the game with a $2 tip for 4 hours of work on a $24 tab.
After the game my bartender left and I took over the bar. I was blessed with a table of 8 celebrating a birthday an hour before close. One of the women at the table asked what stouts we had. After listing the 3 we carry she informed me that those were not stouts. OK....she then asked about wheat beers and selected one from the list. Of course we were out of the one she wanted, but no one had informed me of this. I sold her something else and went back to tend bar.
At the bar I had two men from out of the country. Their initial order was easy, two drafts. After that they began asking what the strongest American beer on tap was, what bottled beer we had, and where each was bottled. As I'm tryingto answer their questions,a table walks in for dinner. My kitchen is closing in 5 minutes so I let them know they will need to place their order soon. While taking their drink order they want to know what beer we have from the South Pacific. What?
Sundays are usually an adventure. I'm wondering if Saturdays are going to be similar...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like it was a "fun" night. I'll stay with my banquet events. Don't forget, your guest blogger post runs on Monday.
So You Want To Be a Banquet Manager

Anonymous said...

you are certainly right about the decline in public behavior and dress over the years. I remember the I used to work in a place that was reservations only and the front door was always locked. It was in a historical building that at one time was a speakeasy. We always had to individually peek out a little slit in the door & open it as guests arrived.... and occasionally, just occasionally someone would be so underdressed and so loud outside, that we would just not even open the door for them. Fortunately, the owner went along with our judgement. you know, sometimes, no tip is better than the aggravation associated with serving buffoons!

bulletholes said...

Thats why they shouldn't have that kind of rule. It just invites deadbeats to cause more problems by actually ordering a minimum, entitling them to stay and torture you.
if he just wants water, don't bring it!
Problem solved!
Just kinda kidding of course!
Came from your post at Banqmans place....good job!