When it rains it pours is a common expression and it can generally be attributed to alot of different aspects of everyday life. But when you are in the service industry, its meaning is amplified tenfold.
Life in the service industry is normally a ying yang existence. For every outstanding night you have, you have a horrible night to follow. For every great tip you receive, you will garner an awful tip. For every guest you have that is a dream to serve, you will have a guest who is a nightmare.
However, there are nights when the shit hits the proverbial fan, and an unprecedented litany of events occur that make you ask the question you’ve asked yourself 1000 times;“ How the hell did this happen to me.”
On these nights, it’s straight up survival. You are just trying to get to closing time without doing something that could make your boss fire you, like telling a guest to go fuck themselves.
These nights usually have the following combination of events occur.
1) A guest or group of guests have done something to really piss you off, probably at an early stage of the evening. The lingering after effects of which will not leave your mind, causing you to be extra agitated
2) Because you are so distracted, you make a couple of mental mistakes that end up pissing off one or more tables. For example you forget to ring in an appetizer or you forget that you have not brought a table their drink they asked for 10 minutes ago.
3) You get into an argument with a fellow staff member or your manager.
4) You cut or burn yourself.
5) Your tips are lousy.
6) An event occurs that hurts your ego and makes you feel like walking out the door. For example, near the end of a recent horrible night, I served a table of 10 Dalhousie university students. A girl told me that it was her friend’s birthday, and then she told me to sing really loud. I was the only server there.
I said “I`m the only person here, you want me to do a solo`
“Yes. “
`No, I`ll get you guys started and I think the 10 of you can sing Happy Birthday.`
That`s when the voices come.
“You`re 30 and you`ve got this little bitch college kid telling you to make sure you sing Happy Birthday really loud. You are a loser. What in the hell are you doing this for!”
And so forth and so forth.
7) You`re so stressed out that you decide to have a cigarette, even though you don`t smoke that often. The cigarette nearly knocks you on your feet and you have to go back to your tables barely able to keep your balance.
8) You`ve nearly reached the end. You have about a half hour left and the place is empty. That`s when the family from the South End walks in having just finished their `theatre appointment“ (rich people don`t say they have to catch a movie, they say `We have theatre to attend“) The woman exclaims, “ It`s the waiter we had last time! ` And you force out a smile and greeting.
9) You have your high maintenance family under control and it appears they will be your last table. It`s 10 minutes to close and you start to shut down. That`s when 2 guys walk in and ask if you`re still open.
“ Well we close in 5 minutes (you slightly exaggerate) “
“Oh great, were just in time. Table for 2, please. “
At this point you have no anger or sadness left to feel or express. You just give up and accept the situation for what it is. Besides, you will be finished in just over an hour and then you`ll be home. Just in time to get ready for bed.
You have to work again in the morning.