WCOM -- Withold Comments, Only Monitor

What did you fuck up?  If you scammed the restaurant out of money or did anything that results in a customer filing a corporate complaint or banged out a 16 year old hostess in the walk-in cooler, you're probably fucked.  Otherwise the situation is probably salvageable, given your longevity there.  Swallow your pride, admit your fault and apologize to the manager, especially if you have a decent track record with him/her outside of this situation.  You can also preemptively explain the situation with any other managers so that the one you have an issue with doesn't blow everything out of proportion without you being there to defend yourself.

Managers (or decent ones, anyway) tend to respect you if you man up, confront the situation and try to resolve it rather than throwing a hissy fit.

heh. no nothing like that binny.

I gave really, like, really on purpose, shitty service to a pair of women at the end of my shift. One of them was sucking down margaritas with a newborn attached to her tit. when the ordered another round, i grabbed a manager and asked if there was anything i could do, because i had a big problem with it. she said no, so i did the bare minimum and they left pissed off.

manager pulled me in back after the shift and gave me a stern lecture about how our personal beliefs can't play a part in anything and so on. Stuff I knew, know, and usually try to abide by. I don't usually care what a person does, but going out to a public place, downing a margarita, a shot of amaretto, and a beer while your kid is sucking away at your teat...as a person i found it disgusting, and my disgust showed through my service. I'm sure I overreacted, but having to look someone in the face like that, smile, and pretend I don't have a concern for the kid was just too much for me to get over. in the end, the problem was that I let my feelings about the situation be known to a manager. if i had kept my mouth shut, and still given them that shitty service, I could have explained it as "just one of those tables".

then today i didn't show up to work. it was an accident, but i know what it looks like. it didnt help that i got stoned this morning either, so by the time someone sent me a text asking where i was, i was faced. I called up and explained, and actually, did exactly what you just said. I didn't go into hard details of what happened, but I basically let the other manager that answered know that I knew i fucked up the day before, and that missing work was unrelated to it.

 

can't be missin work, but i'm always fine with telling blunt truths to people..."one of those tables" might have been the economically best answer but you get a gold star for voicing your concern, I'm undecided on whether or not it was a big deal (obv hard to tell).

Missing work is gonna fuck you in the ass harder than your previous behavior

Probably the most serious part of being a server or bartender is handling distribution of alcohol in a responsible way.  You don't serve alcohol to minors, or anyone without identification.  You don't serve alcohol to people who are already very inebriated.  These regulations exist to protect your guests and other people.  If a 19 year old gets drunk at one of your tables, leaves the restaurant and crashes her car on the way home, the restaurant (and you) can be held liable for not observing laws that govern who can and cannot consume alcohol. 

You do not serve the aforementioned people because doing so can result in death or serious injury to them or, worse, other people who have nothing to do with the situation.  I totally agree with your stance on the situation.  Serving a pregnant or nursing woman alcohol is, in my mind, akin to serving a minor or someone who is already too drunk.  I am floored that your manager did not agree with you. 

This article might make you feel better, and maybe your manager should read it too.  Here is another one too.  Just Google "woman arrested for nursing while intoxicated" and you'll get tons of results.  I would have considered calling the local non-emergency police hotline and having her irresponsible ass thrown in jail.  I definitely would have been neglectful, and probably would have requested / demanded that those women be transferred to another server.

I would express to any and all managers involved in the situation that part of being a professional server is to be responsible in serving alcoholic beverages, and that you believed it was irresponsible to serve that particular guest given the circumstances.

Unless your restaurant has an explicit "No Call, No Show, No Job" policy, missing a shift should result in, at worst, some kind of write-up or suspension.  Anything more than that is an extreme overreaction.

I cannot stress enough that you just gave literally the best reason I have ever heard in my life for giving shitty service to a table.

You were in the right with regards to the woman, bm. Your manager's a dumbass. But missing work is a big no no. You gotta watch that shit. I did shift work too and I hated having to remember my shift washing fucking dishes.

When I worked at a pharmacy, people would no show and not get written up for it. Only because when they didn't show up I would be called in and they knew I wouldn't refuse, so it wouldn't really cause any trouble. One week they edited the schedule after posting it, when I already had my unedited copy at home. They didn't tell anybody and I missed work one day that my schedule said I had off. It was the first time in 6 months I had ever been late or missed work, but they wrote me up. They said they had to because it was a busy day and they were short-staffed because I wasn't there. I pointed out the DOZENS of times a floating pharmacist (one who works different stores in the area) and I had to work alone on the busiest days of the week because of no shows. The write up made me forfeit my raise after the 6 month evaluation. I told them to fuck off because I'm outtie. They asked me to put in my 2 weeks notice. I said no and then never set foot in that place again. ~9 days of being short staffed because of my ragequit was still a fraction of the lazy bullshit I covered for in my time there.

qualifications? how hard is it to get another job in the US currently?

Not as easy as it once was.

My understanding is that if you don't have a solid degree (engineering, finance, etc...) it can be extremely difficult to get ANY job

you fucked up on missing work.

Missing work is definitely going to get me in trouble. I've only ever no called no showed one other time, in 2009. One of the managers looked it up and said that it was long enough ago that it shouldn't affect me too much. I haven't gotten any phonecalls yet, and I work at 5 today. The business day has already started, so it's looking good

Binny, this:

fusi0n said:

Probably the most serious part of being a server or bartender is handling distribution of alcohol in a responsible way. 

I will probably quote, word for word, if I get any more shit over this.

 

 

 

This thread has been good. All the best today! 

Seems I'm still employed.

 

Half relieved, half disapointed. I was getting mentally prepared for it, but it's a relief not having to worry about finding a new job, then making enough for christmas and rent. or just rent.

 

 

 

 

Did you suffer any disciplinary action from either incident?  And did the issue with the nursing woman come up again?

well the managers who were involved weren't there. they had the b squad in last night. today I get "written up" for the missed day, by a manager who i'm pretty cool with. he's helping keep the missed day on the downlow. I get reprimanded, but if we can keep it from the big boss, I shouldn't hear anything else about it.

the nursing woman hasn't come up again, though I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

I post once, then im gone.

Great post 3ball

Happy that you still have your job. Job hunting right now absolutely sucks. It's hard just to get a shot if you don't have the connections in place.

I looked briefly into getting a production assistant job again today, and the ONLY one on the main industry site I use was for "adult entertainment". 

so... what the problem?

It's great that you stood up for the right thing.  It's even better that you didn't lose your job over it!

Seriously you guys should all move to South Florida.  We are economy-proof.  I have two jobs (days at a body shop, nights at valet).  Working in the service industry in this area yields stupid amounts of money.  Season is rapidly approaching and I have turned down 3 or 4 restaurant job offers in the past month.  If you are not addicted to heroin, crack or meth, your boss thinks you are a superhero.

That's because you guys have retirees who have money to spend for services. So I would say yes Florida has a good economy. But how crowded is it? Florida is Rank 8 with 350 people per square mile. Wow. That's a lot of people per square mile. I like open fields and dense forests and high mountains and deep caves and beaches. South Carolina has all of that. We also have rich historical monuments and cityscapes.

But in 50 years I say the city will have drowned and I will live in a cave in the mountains.

do you assholes still fly the confederate flag?

We don't have any of that shit.  Just lots of swamps, beaches and money.

Swamps and beaches. When the glaciers melt you all can say hello to Atlantis. I will be living in the highest point on Earth. Or I'll just buy some scuba equipment and live in an underground cave.

Good plan.