Home

The Week Before Xmas

Details

Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Miscellany

Published: 07 January 2010

Hits: 2270

Note: The week before Christmas to New Years were frantic. That's life in hospitality. The notes below were made in the few brief moments I found for myself, in no particular order they're my attempt to catch up...

Friday, 18 December 2009 - White Gloves Girl

We're trying out a new hostess. She's big, blonde, young, perhaps 26 or so, in a tight fitting dress. She's of that pear shape, on top, everything is normal, but around the belly things begin to get out of control, she resembles nothing so much as "2 pigs wrestling in a blanket". She's pleasant enough, her job is to meet and greet the customers, take their coats, take them to their tables. Not too tough.

She's a bit dramatic. Checking into the washroom she comes out wearing a pair of white gloves. And when the customers have been sat and the lobby is empty she stands in the middle of the marble foyer and pretends to conduct the opera playing through the restaurant's sound system. The staff watch in astonishment.

Monday, 21 December 2009

The book looked slow on Saturday when we left, we had hopes business would be slow the final week before Christmas. Well, maybe not slow, but manageable. We were wrong. The restaurant is full, reservations pour in, the phone rings incessantly.

That night, end of service, about 9:00 PM, the owner and his son have it out. There are still tables in the restaurant, they can hear everything. Salty language, "Fuckin-a" and other assorted Italian curses, the son is being loudly chastised and then fired. The customers look at me, eyes wide, I'm keeping busy in the front of the house, it seems a good idea to avoid the kitchen...one of them asks if it's "Gordon Ramsey we have in the Kitchen", another if I intend on doing anything...I ask them if they'd like to go to the kitchen and try to patch things up, none of them offers.

Tuesday, 22 December 2009

Nothing noteworthy, just damned busy.

Wednesday, 23 December 2009

The day starts with the owner going to and fro from his car, he's at the restaurant early, he's filling the private room with gifts. It's the last day of business before our Christmas break, we've had attempts from Customers who want to come in on Xmas Eve, Xmas Day, Boxing Day, it's with some glee we tell them we're closed, "yes, even waiters have lives, you should get one too....".

The owner, he's been of a mind to open Boxing Day, but it's too late, the plans have been made....

The private room, where small functions are held, is where he's dumping all the gifts. Loads of gifts, dozens of brightly wrapped presents. One for every member of staff...

We'll have our party between service.

We're crazy busy, get our cheques, I hasten to the bank to cash mine, it's "coming up Milhouse" today, they cash and clear it; I'll be able to pay my rent. Albeit a month late, but it reduces my Xmas stress considerably.

When the lunch has ended the owner calls me into the office, he needs to prepare a card for his customers. Something generic on the computer, he wants to send out best wishes, and I help him search for images....

He draws my attention to the screen; he's noticed various photos of nude women keep popping up during our searches, I hadn't noticed, I work enough on computers to not be too alert to other peoples problems, he insists that I fix it, and I purge the browser history, set it to delete on exit, and the images disappear.

But there's the problem of the search toolbar, common search phrases auto-populate, and as I test this out I discover that, amongst other curious phrases, my own name has been googled...and this is worrysome. 

I'm a fan of freedom of speech, but knowing you're being googled, deliberately searched for, it puts a muzzle on it. Still. maybe it was only done before I was hired - not an ongoing thing, and how interesting am I, given the other, more interesting searches that could be, have been done....but still, it's censure, it's caution in updating the blog....

We have a break between service, open our presents. And even though I've just started, barely 2 weeks in, he's gotten me a present as well.

A box of chocolates, a Panatone (Italian Dessert Cake) and a nesting wallet set. I'm touched, I expected, needed nothing, but he's gone to some effort to see that every one in the restaurant has gotten a few gifts from him. He shows me how the wallet works, pulls out a hidden strap and swings it gaily from his wrist, I assure them that's a feature only the Italians would use...he pats the leather and says "nice" now, as if I was showing it to him, it's worth it for the show that accompanies it...

It's human, it's decent. 

The night passes, long, but it's the final night of work before our 4 day break and so we struggle through - it's busy, always busy, there's loud crying and sobbing from the kitchen, too much wine at the staff celebration, but there are the 4 days off to be looked forward to...