Tales of an Eccentric Boss #3

Tales of an Eccentric Boss #2:

Blind, Deaf and Slightly Lost  

There's something about the way that my boss reads dockets. You always wait in anticipation to see if he will read it right and sigh knowingly when he produces dishes that are wrong. He can go through a long streak of winners, he will be on the ball and not get anything wrong. But then in an instant, all in one night, he will get two to three dishes wrong. All simply because he did not read the docket clearly enough.

A prime example of this was when he tried to tell one of the waitresses that she was writing a certain short-hand wrong. This waitress had been working there for almost two years and he had read her short-hand for as long as that and all of a sudden he did one of the items wrong because she wrote it differently then usual. The truth was that he thought she had written it differently that night when clearly she had been writing the same thing for two years, since her training. 

Then of course the big problem is when you get the really picky customers who take everything out and put everything of a different kind in. That's when it gets really confusing and lost. The best way to tackle this so that my boss will get it right is a simple five step plan.

1. Read the docket slowly and clearly to him.
2. Have him repeat back what you have just read to him.
3. Watch that he puts the right things in the dish and that it is cooked right.
4. Ask again what is in the dish to make sure that it is right.
5. Inspect the dish to make sure that it is completely and utterly right.

If these steps are followed correctly then hopefully, you will have a lovely dish with no mistakes.

Then again I suppose all of this makes work an adventure, a little more interesting as well as making you want to hit yourself on the forehead. So whenever I train any new waitresses I always tell them to write clearly, speak clearly and be clear about everything because our boss is a little blind, a bit deaf and always always that little bit slightly lost.

Replying to those Lovely Lovely Comments

(From  'Don't Force Your Money on the Waitresses Please.')

CommonWaitress...

 I have to say that it must be pretty lucky to feel like people will bribe you with tips if you take their money. Its one of those things that you would gladly be a part of if it wasn't about paying the bill. And then it makes you look greedy, can't win.

Purplegirl...

I think I'm going to use that technique more. It seems like the only way to handle it the best way without actually offending anyone.

Tales of an Eccentric Boss #2

Tales of an Eccentric Boss #2:

That Nagging Voice

I've been doing my job for a good five years now. I know the ins and outs of the business, the nature of the business and what I need to do in order for things to be good. I'm great at my job, I know it. But some times the Boss likes to remind me that I can't do all the right things, even if I have been doing it for the past five years.

Boss bring up certain points about the business once in a while. Things like wipe windows, fold napkins, clean soy sauce contains and all the little things that you try and do on the down time.

He likes to mention it once...

Then twice...

Then of course a third time, just on case you missed it.

And if you missed it the first three times, a fourth just for good measure.

I have realised that its almost like a grieving pattern when you first encounter my Boss in this manner. First you feel like you're constantly not doing the job right. Not true (on most parts, I hope) he just likes to gently remind you of certain things. Then you get pretty angry and frustrated because its not like you haven't done this before. Then finally you just learn to ignore, because you've been doing it a long time. And you are damn good at it.

I'm not sure why Boss feels the need to be the way that he is. Maybe that's the nature that he is or maybe he feels like this way he is in control. I'll go with the 'in control' option.

Tales of an Eccentric Boss #1

Tales of an Eccentric Boss #1:

The Wannabe Waiter

Our Boss is strange, annoying but in the end not so bad. In fact he looks after his staff pretty well and we get a lot of benefits too. Yet some times, our Boss can equal to what three annoying customers can inflict. So here are the Tales of an Eccentric Boss where all the things that he says and does that some times do not really make much sense.


Eccentric-Boss is first and foremost, a chef. That is what he enjoys to do and that is what he has been trained to become. But some times, I think he wants to be a waiter. Why?

Very often he will walk out to the Dine-In part of the restaurant and pick up dirty plates from tables where customers are seating. He'll hand out menus when we were about to do it and he'll harass we about tables if they are taking too long on eating their entrees because he thinks that we have forgotten about them and generally just be on our backs about our jobs as waitresses

I know that as a boss you have certain responsibilities and that you want everything to be perfect. But it also means that you have to trust who you have. All the waitresses are well rehearsed in waitressing and have being doing it for years.

He secretly wants to be a waiter. I know it.