Tuesday was a prime example of how things never play out as expected in this crazy business. I went into work tonight fully expecting to give Kiss Ass his comeuppance. Turned out to be an interesting for a very different reason.
When I arrived at the appointed hour I was greeted by our day bar-tender, Jen. There were a few people at the bar and I noticed the high tops were all pushed together. Jen informed that the lady at the end of the bar was hosting a surprise farewell party for her husband. As Jen had the situation well in hand I wandered to the staff area to prepare for my shift. It was at this moment that I first encountered Kiss Ass. As is his often the case with the insincere, he was very cordial and attempted to engage me in conversation. I continued through the kitchen and back to the staff area, trying to avoid eye contact and giving minimal response. I had no desire to interact with him at that point but he followed me like a lost puppy. James and Jack were on line and preparing for the evening. I changed and retraced my steps through the kitchen taking a moment to acknowledge James and Jack on the way by.
By the time I arrived back at the bar, a few more patrons had joined the party. I consulted with Jen that she had things under control, and went to service my tables. Tuesday nights are typically slow and we run with less staff. This means I pick up tables in the restaurant, thereby providing my with consistent income despite the lack of business. I greeted my tables and took their drink orders and explained that I was also serving the party in the bar and asked if they would bear with me if my service was a bit slow. I have found this is often a great way to deal with a busy night. In most cases if you are honest with guests and give them advance warning of any issues with service, they are very receptive. For the most part, guests hate waiting for things, especially when it appears to them they should not have to wait. If you assure them they will be looked after they tend to relax and give you some leeway.
Once back at the bar I told Jen I had things under control and that she could be on her way. She brought me up to date on the party and I introduced my self to the woman hosting the event. One of the other servers, Ann, helped take some drink and app orders from my new tables and I prepared myself for a busy night. By this time 5:30 was rapidly approaching and I had my hands full. I now had all four booths full (two couples and two families of three) and about 20 people in the bar area.
I was getting into a good grove and feeling good about the night. As I had not had a service chit for Kiss Ass, I promptly forgot the plan and went about the task of serving my guests. It was at this time that our MOD came to the bar, clearly in a state of distress. She explained to me that Kiss Ass and James were going at it in the kitchen. It seams James had decided to follow through on the plan to put Kiss Ass in his place.
In the end Kiss Ass only had two tables, the first ordered coffee and tea, while the second drank water. I was therefore not afforded the opportunity to mess with him. James on the other hand was more fortunate. Apparently when Kiss Ass sent his first order to the kitchen, James decided it was time to exact his revenge. I should mention that James never intended to not make Kiss Ass's food. Rather, he intended to make it take as long as possible, and to make his night as difficult as possible. So a short time latter Kiss Ass walks into the kitchen and does not see his chit on the board, nor does he see any of his food being prepared. So he asks James if he got the chit and James indicates he has. Kiss Ass asks to see the chit and James tells him no and that his food will be up when it is ready. Kiss Ass is annoyed but leaves.
About 10 minutes latter Kiss Ass comes looking for his order and still, he does not see it in the window.
Kiss Ass, "Where is my order?"
James, "It's in the oven and you'll get it when it's ready."
Kiss Ass (to Jack), "Have you seen the chit? Where is my order?"
James, "Go and take care of your tables. Your food will be up soon."
Kiss Ass, "It should have been up five minutes ago, and we are not that busy."
James. "I told you it's in the oven."
Kiss Ass, "Do you know who I am?"
James, "Yes I do. Your a brown nosing, ass kissing, back stabbing piece of shit. And if you took a moment to pull you head out of the owners asses you would see that you are pissing everyone off."
Apparently the conversation went downhill from there and resulted in Kiss Ass storming out of the kitchen.
Shortly after this, a chit comes up in the kitchen indicating the order has been comped. James asks the MOD why she comped the meal. Turns out she didn't, it was Kiss Ass. Looks like he has ingratiated himself enough that the owners gave him a management code. Not a smart move on their part, and when the rest of the staff find out they will not be happy.
It was about this time the power went out.
Strange thing is, not all the power went out. I had just cashed out one of the booths and was about to log into the POS to close out the table when the screen went blank. At first I thought maybe I had accidentally turned the screen off, but upon further investigation I discovered we had a much bigger issue. I noticed the lights in the beer fridges were out, and upon closer inspection discovered the fridges, along with the glass washer and the satelite box were all powerless. Strange but everything else was fine, TV's were still on, as where the house lights, the sound system and everything in the back of house.
So now the fun begins. I tell the MOD about the problem and we both assume it is a breaker due to the localized nature of the power loss. She heads back to the breaker box to investigate and I head back to the bar. As a precautionary measure, I talk to all my guests and explain the situation. With few exceptions they are very understanding.
It is not long before some guests start asking for their checks. I explain that the system is still down, and ask for patience. I have a feeling the problem will be rectified soon, and I would prefer to not do things manually. That is a nightmare. We can still process credit and debit cards as that system is separate from the POS and is up and running. The issue is manually calculating bills. I still have two booths, and about five bills amongst the party in the bar. Seams simple enough, and for the booths it would be, it's the party that concerns me. There are three factors that would make this an arduous task. The first is the fact that Jen started the first, and largest, check for me. I trust her implicatly, and with me being fully enganged pouring drinks and serving tables, I have not taken the time to look at everything she punched in. I am aware of the food, but not all the drinks, so tallying that bill could be a nightmare. As for the other checks, I have a fairly good idea of what people have ordered, but I am not sure my memory is up to the task of remembering everything, and I would prefer not to find out. Finally, there is the time factor. With this many people it could take a serious amount of time to tally all the bills. Time I don't really have, nor do I want to.
It is at this point one of the servers mentions the hostes terminal is still on. Perhaps that will allow me to print checks. I approach the hostes stand with the knowledge that the main computer is down, but hoping the hostes terminal is still operational. I know in the back of my mind this won't work, but some guests are getting impatient, and even if there is a slight chance i'll take it. No such luck, I get to the terminal and notice take-out is loged in, I log take-out off and things look hopefull. Just as I am about to log myslef in a warning comes up that the POS software is unavailable. Desperate to get it working I close the program and try to reload, no dice.
Back at the bar I try my best to smooth things over with my guests. They are not pleased. It has now been about 15 minutes since we lost power and I can feel the tension building. I go to talk to my tables and get stuck in a conversation with a guest up here on a short term work assignement. I have seved him before, very nice gentleman, and I usually enjoy talking him. At the moment I don't have the time, but I don't want to be rude either. He keeps me there for a good five minutes, my mind is elsewhere, so I attempt to nod and smile at the apporpriate times. He seams satisfied to talk, but I really have other guests to deal with. Fortunatly I am saved by the MOD. She comes by to tell me the power is back and the syatem is rebouting. Relief washes over me.
I excuse myself and head back to the bar. The satelite is back on and guests notice the system is rebouting and the mood is much lighter. I explain we need to wait a few minutes for the syetem to load and we can print checks.
Disaster is averted. For a brief time we did not know if we could reestablish power, and there was talk we might have to close the doors early. Fortunatly the situation was recitfied and we finished the night without further incident.
Just another exciting night behind the bar.
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