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no matter where you work in the service industry you will run into many many families. with families you get things like parents and children. some parents are proper and have their children well behaved and seated, some parents are cool and let their kids doodle on the place mats and chat up a storm about school, other parents drag their kids around like lugage and just stick a portable dvd player in their face to shut them up.... then there are the worst kind of parents. you know the kind I mean. the kind that ignore their kids, let them run about freely, make a mess of things, and never apologize once for their actions. some places they can get away with it... not where I worked.
ketchup is not a toy
we get spills all the time, and luckily we are on the beach so we can usually just sweep the ice and liquids onto the sand and be done with it... but then there is ketchup. if anyone was ever a busser or server you know the horrors of ketchup and what it can do. it stains, smells, sticks to things, and is the herpes of condiments. our resturaunt used glass heinz ketchup bottles we refill every morning, so they were generally handled with care by customers... not this time.
these folks were on the inside of the resturant near the glass windows. there was a spill of ketchup, as I was told, so I went over with mop in hand with a feeling of dread in my gut. turns out the whole bottle was smashed on the floor, under the table. the table was occupied by a family of 4, one being a small child in a high chair. I clean up the mess, give them a new bottle, and walk away. I had a feeling about them though so I hid on the other side of the bar to keep an eye on them.
not 5 minutes later the small child is reaching for the ketchup bottle. it's on the other side of the table so no threat yet... so what do the nice parents do? they notice the childs interest and tell him "no, not a toy" and I went on to win the lottery later that night and slay the dragon that stole my girlfriend... oh wait... no they didn't. instead they placed the bottle infront of the child and let him grab it with a smile. I tried to rush over but was not quick enough, the kid had plans with the bottle and that plan was to smash it like the first one, because this causes endless amounts of giggles from his cold black heart.
I clean again, and my manager refuses to give them a new bottle, and instead gives them a tiny plate with ketchup poured on it.
forts are cool! until the evil busser storms them
we were kind of slow, but we always manage to get a rush around 12 (who'd a thunk it!?) but we just opened and a family of 5 came in, all 3 kids were very very young and hyper... we gave them the seats near the deck in the shade and they all sat and ordered. so far so good. I went about my morning routine of straightening tables, placing umbrellas on the deck, and sweeping away the sand I'll just have to sweep again 15 minutes later. when I see a tower on the other end of the deck...
I walk over and see the kids destroyed all the tables I straightened to make a great wall in the corner of the northern section of the deck, with all the plastic blue chairs stacked in various ways around and inside said fort. I was not happy... I haven't had my coffee yet and... and redoing something I did 5 minutes ago is a big peeve of mine. I tell them to not move the chairs around and to please go back to their table.... apparently this was a no no. as I was nearly done straightening it up again I get jabbed in the back by a finger.
me- me obviously
SC- crazy mom
AM- awesome manager
SC: excuse me! but you made my little girl cry!
me: I did?
SC: yes! what are you going to do about it?
me:.... ask how I made her cry?
SC: she said you yelled at them and broke down their fort! this place is empty! why didn't you let them have some fun!
me: ummm.. well ma'am this is a resturaunt, the rides and games are outside. we get a rush around 12 and these tables need to be open.
SC: thats no excuse to yell at my little girl and ruin their fun!
me: I don't recall ever yelling
SC: she said you did! now apologize!
me: if I yelled you would have heard me, your only 10 feet away.
SC: apologize!!!!
me: no.
sc: WHAT!?
me: no thanks.
so I start walking off to put my broom away when she storms over to the manager, who was watching from the hostess desk and saw/heard everything. she drags her over to me as I am setting out my wet rags at my station.
AM: can you explain what happened tom?
Me: I explain the events as they unfolded with SC there huffing and pouting at me. she then cuts me off as I got to the part of telling her children to stop.
SC: and then he yelled at them!
AM: did you yell at them?
me: no... did you hear yelling?
AM: only from miss SC... ma'am we need to keep those tables clear, if he yelled we would have heard it. I don't see an issue here, and this resturaunt is a resturaunt, not a playground, you have to keep your children at your table or on the beach please.
SC: this place is empty! don't tell me what to do with my children!
AM: as long as you're in this resturaunt, you will follow this resturaunts rules. and saftey is rule one. having kids run around stacking tables is unsafe.
SC: well I never.. blah blah blah *she goes back to her table in a huff.
the rest of the morning they left a big mess on purpose and scattered the chairs around more than a normal person would when they got up. the poor server was nearly stiffed on a tip, but she didn't care, she was working double that day.
sorry for the long stories, I just like giving alot of detail when explaining them. I am actually surprised that those are my only bad children stories for the 3 summers I worked there. But being a busser, I usually don't interact as much with the customers unless they do wrong or a server sicks me on them. good times.
ketchup is not a toy
we get spills all the time, and luckily we are on the beach so we can usually just sweep the ice and liquids onto the sand and be done with it... but then there is ketchup. if anyone was ever a busser or server you know the horrors of ketchup and what it can do. it stains, smells, sticks to things, and is the herpes of condiments. our resturaunt used glass heinz ketchup bottles we refill every morning, so they were generally handled with care by customers... not this time.
these folks were on the inside of the resturant near the glass windows. there was a spill of ketchup, as I was told, so I went over with mop in hand with a feeling of dread in my gut. turns out the whole bottle was smashed on the floor, under the table. the table was occupied by a family of 4, one being a small child in a high chair. I clean up the mess, give them a new bottle, and walk away. I had a feeling about them though so I hid on the other side of the bar to keep an eye on them.
not 5 minutes later the small child is reaching for the ketchup bottle. it's on the other side of the table so no threat yet... so what do the nice parents do? they notice the childs interest and tell him "no, not a toy" and I went on to win the lottery later that night and slay the dragon that stole my girlfriend... oh wait... no they didn't. instead they placed the bottle infront of the child and let him grab it with a smile. I tried to rush over but was not quick enough, the kid had plans with the bottle and that plan was to smash it like the first one, because this causes endless amounts of giggles from his cold black heart.
I clean again, and my manager refuses to give them a new bottle, and instead gives them a tiny plate with ketchup poured on it.
forts are cool! until the evil busser storms them
we were kind of slow, but we always manage to get a rush around 12 (who'd a thunk it!?) but we just opened and a family of 5 came in, all 3 kids were very very young and hyper... we gave them the seats near the deck in the shade and they all sat and ordered. so far so good. I went about my morning routine of straightening tables, placing umbrellas on the deck, and sweeping away the sand I'll just have to sweep again 15 minutes later. when I see a tower on the other end of the deck...
I walk over and see the kids destroyed all the tables I straightened to make a great wall in the corner of the northern section of the deck, with all the plastic blue chairs stacked in various ways around and inside said fort. I was not happy... I haven't had my coffee yet and... and redoing something I did 5 minutes ago is a big peeve of mine. I tell them to not move the chairs around and to please go back to their table.... apparently this was a no no. as I was nearly done straightening it up again I get jabbed in the back by a finger.
me- me obviously
SC- crazy mom
AM- awesome manager
SC: excuse me! but you made my little girl cry!
me: I did?
SC: yes! what are you going to do about it?
me:.... ask how I made her cry?
SC: she said you yelled at them and broke down their fort! this place is empty! why didn't you let them have some fun!
me: ummm.. well ma'am this is a resturaunt, the rides and games are outside. we get a rush around 12 and these tables need to be open.
SC: thats no excuse to yell at my little girl and ruin their fun!
me: I don't recall ever yelling
SC: she said you did! now apologize!
me: if I yelled you would have heard me, your only 10 feet away.
SC: apologize!!!!
me: no.
sc: WHAT!?
me: no thanks.
so I start walking off to put my broom away when she storms over to the manager, who was watching from the hostess desk and saw/heard everything. she drags her over to me as I am setting out my wet rags at my station.
AM: can you explain what happened tom?
Me: I explain the events as they unfolded with SC there huffing and pouting at me. she then cuts me off as I got to the part of telling her children to stop.
SC: and then he yelled at them!
AM: did you yell at them?
me: no... did you hear yelling?
AM: only from miss SC... ma'am we need to keep those tables clear, if he yelled we would have heard it. I don't see an issue here, and this resturaunt is a resturaunt, not a playground, you have to keep your children at your table or on the beach please.
SC: this place is empty! don't tell me what to do with my children!
AM: as long as you're in this resturaunt, you will follow this resturaunts rules. and saftey is rule one. having kids run around stacking tables is unsafe.
SC: well I never.. blah blah blah *she goes back to her table in a huff.
the rest of the morning they left a big mess on purpose and scattered the chairs around more than a normal person would when they got up. the poor server was nearly stiffed on a tip, but she didn't care, she was working double that day.
sorry for the long stories, I just like giving alot of detail when explaining them. I am actually surprised that those are my only bad children stories for the 3 summers I worked there. But being a busser, I usually don't interact as much with the customers unless they do wrong or a server sicks me on them. good times.
)
Your manager sounds cool. Hopefully that embarrassed them into behaving themselves?
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