Last night was one of those valuable "learning experiences" at work. It went to sh..! It could have been worse, that I am sure, but for a brief spell of an hour or two it felt like I was trying to swim upriver against a river of chaos.

It started in the bar, moved to the kitchen, and ended in the dining room. All because of one messed up dinner ticket. I want to say that it was because of one server, but when I think about it I realize that even though he messed up, things shouldn't have fallen apart like they did. It was a combination of things. We had more guests than anyone anticipated, some weak servers, some weak cooks, hosts who didn't think to re-seat the servers who were still there, but cut off the floor, and some staff that frankly gave no damn about helping others. I felt disoriented because I had multiple things to do at once to keep guests as far from pissed off as I could and I had servers telling me their problems, and I had ... so much that needed my attention at once. But, it eventually went away. I had called in support and that got things under control. But last night two customers almost brought me to tears; one couple said I was crap for a manager because I understaffed the bar ( I don't handle staffing) and because I left their food on a tray while I was serving another table their food from the tray and because they had only two drinks in a matter of an hour (because we were short staffed and the bartender and server were running their asses off, well the bartender was). The bartender yelled at them for yelling at me; that was kind of cool. And, another couple in the bar was pissed with the poor quality of food and while I was trying to offer the lady another meal with the suggestion of a salad, and she was being very brittle towards me, the bartender walked up and asked her if she wanted a salad and the lady than melted like butter and said yes. I walked away feeling slapped in the face by the lady. That almost made me walk outside and kick a box. For I felt that there is only so much I can do, and nothing seemed to be making a difference to anyone.

Anyway, it all passed. I sat with each server on their checkout and got their preception of the night, and how they think we/I could have handled it differently. So, now I feel more in control about what to do when I get caught with my vunerable side open again.

Which might happen because that dear other manager who sprained his ankle, is out for two weeks. So, I get overtime. I'll be working six days a week for a couple of weeks. This does not do well with family, etc. Even worse, I had intended to spend a couple of days doing something, but now...I don't know. Technically I can't go, but sometimes in life there are things that happen only once. And, if it is one of those moments that you think you'll regret for not being there, than you make it possible in any way that you can. Even if there isn't the money, or the time, or the car. You make sacrifices and rent-a-car. Husband willing...

I've got pics to post of kids, I'll do that soon.

Love ya all.