Friday, December 11, 2009

Other People's Parties

Anyone else hate working these?

My bar tends to have many parties scheduled the week before Christmas. Lucky me, I get to work 3 of them. One is an afternoon party that ends a few hours after I usually am able to leave work. Because of this party, I have to skip a class I have been taking that night every week for the past few months. The joy.

The next day there are two parties scheduled. One of them we have no time on yet. The other is for 100 people. Management has decided that they want a second person working that party with me, which would be great except they want to station her at a beer tub "since most of them drink beer anyway." This means that majority of the people taking up tables on my shift will be going to her for their drinks and I will be left with the few stragglers that want mixed drinks. Part of me understands why the person they are bringing in gets to do the beer tub, but the other part of me thinks this is incredibly unfair.
This is my shift. I depend on this shift to pay my bills and giving majority of the customers to the person who is not usually scheduled to work this shift cuts in to my pay. I will have almost no extra tables on that day with the party of 100 and possibly the other party, 20 people, taking up all the tables and standing space in the bar. Not to mention that these are cash parties and I am not getting gratuity for either. And being cash parties, the customers will not feel like they have to wait for the server to come by and will probably just go to the bar.
Management is so disorganized too. No one can tell me how these parties will be set up, when they end, or when one of them starts! I don't know if there will be a buffet or if I will be taking orders off the menu. How can they expect me to provide good service if they can't give me any idea about the structure or plan of the party?

OK, complaints over. Now I will suck it up and just work the parties the best I can.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is like waiting tables nowadays where I am. If you are not assigned the party there is very little to do except take the little a la carte that comes in. This weekend should be better. Good wishes on your weekend.

BB said...

Well maybe since it's a private party and the two of you are working together.. you could pool your tips and split them. That way it's fair for both of you. Just a suggestion

Unhinged said...

Thanks Waiter E.

BB- I wish pooling tips was something we did at my place. It certainly seems more fair to me. Unfortunately, I am hesitant to even suggest the idea.
Last night I told someone who is attending the party about the beer tub and who was working it. They asked why I wasn't working it since most of the people there will be drinking beer.
I hate it when customers see things management does not.