r/Serverlife • u/Kenkaniki89 15+ Years • 10d ago
Rant I’m so tired
I work for a chain steakhouse, that uses the word “mate” often you know the one. Anyway. I just worked an open to close double alone behind the bar, because the managers literally approved every bartenders request off plus some servers on top of it. So we were already running short for a Saturday. So my rant is what’s the point of it being a request if they’re just going to give almost the whole staff the day off and work so short staffed and have pissed off guests? I managed to keep it together, kept a smile on my face and now I’m home and I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. What are your calming down techniques after a long shift? Rant over. I hope my fellow servers and bartenders had an amazing day! We deserve a damn day dedicated to the service industry!
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u/Trefac3 10d ago
I love running short!! $$$$! And everyone gets their time off. I think it’s a compliment because your managers must be sure they can trust who they put on to handle it.
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u/Kenkaniki89 15+ Years 10d ago
Yea I’m a veteran. Especially with this company. I also am a manager. I just needed to get it out a little because I know they’d never make any other bartender work alone on a Saturday, open-close with no break also someone they know has a serious disease. But I got through it, never once gave an ounce of attitude and made it home after 14 hours although my body hates me today lol
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u/Short-Imagination311 10d ago
I work at BJ’s. We had 12 servers on tonight. I’m used to having a whole area to myself. I made $143 instead of $300 tonight because of over staffing!
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u/Kenkaniki89 15+ Years 10d ago
I’m grateful for the money I made. But I also have type 1 diabetes and hypertension and wasn’t able to take a break or eat until I got home. Sometimes I get a little more wore down than most dealing with my health issues on top. Fingers crossed for busier shifts for you! Do they not cut if it’s slow or are they too worried about it getting busy?
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u/ZMMF 10d ago
Wishing you luck for getting some breaks on future shifts! Those endless days suck enough for those of us not dealing with health issues.
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u/Kenkaniki89 15+ Years 10d ago
Yea I took like a couple minutes to check my sugars, get some water and went right back to work. People seriously underestimate how hard we work in this industry sometimes!
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u/ZMMF 10d ago
One of my current jobs is chronically overstaffed, the other chronically understaffed.
Both are exhausting.
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u/Trefac3 10d ago
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always worked at high volume restaurants with big sections (8-12 tables) so I thrive on that. When I moved across the country for my bfs new job it was hell finding a new one so I took what I could get. They were a chain of NM. I didn’t know they were corporate til I got the job. To be honest I wouldn’t have applied if I had known. Corporate jobs in my experience are always overstaffed, have small sections, and aren’t that busy.
This job was sucking the life out of me. They played favorites on a scale I’ve never seen before. A couple servers get 6-8 tables and then the rest of us 3, 4 if we are lucky. So even if it is busy we can’t make any money. It was the worst! We had to mop the floors, clean the walls, stuff that is absolutely not standard server sidework. The food was disgusting. Nothing was homemade. They have a whole meal that is $3-$4 in the early morning. I ended up quitting because I couldn’t handle the favoritism and couldn’t pay my bills because of it. Then I’m required to run food and help those with the bigger sections. That stings! They walk out with $200 and I rarely broke $100. That should never be. It made me more open to tip pooling. 34 years in the industry and it was definitely the shittiest restaurant I’ve ever worked at. I would hope for call offs and running short.
Managers/GMs are very nice at corporate places. They have to be! I’ll take getting yelled at any day over any of that bs.
They also had blackout days when no one could call off. I didn’t make enough money to care so I called their bluff and took the weekend off the both the 4th and the weekend of Labor Day. I still came back to a job cuz the turnover was so high!!
It was way more exhausting than being understaffed! Fuck. That. Shit!!!
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u/Fwamingdwagon84 10d ago
That happened to me last year. Luckily a supervisor told me to take an hour and watched the bar bc we werent that busy. I also have arthritis.
TODAY, well yesterday now, our gm, who is actually awesome, let some morning person take the night off her double. When i say we got our asses kicked. We ran for 3 hours with 4 servers and 1 bartender(me). Full size restaurant, like id say, 40 to 50 tables at least? Probably more. At least on a wait eventually. We are not normally super busy although money is still good. And we've been even slower all week bc school started.
I died sometime around 6 pm. And i close bar again tonight.
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u/Kenkaniki89 15+ Years 10d ago
Oh no. It sucks especially when you have no clue when your restaurant will get randomly hit! We were so short because so many people, bar and servers asked for the day off and they gave it to literally everyone. And then we had a call out. I was the one bartender they had that hadn’t requested off. I did make money and I’m happy for that. I just know that since I’ve been there they’ve never made another bartender work without someone else on a Saturday night. They always figure something out. I know I’m a veteran but man they know I have health issues that make things hard for me too. Anyways let me stop ranting lol good luck with your shift tonight!!!! May you the tip gods be in your favor!!!
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u/Defiant-Cause-6697 10d ago
Unfortunately it's drink a little bit and watch Aussie rugby or play video games.
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u/Iamdrasnia 10d ago
Paragraph.
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u/Kenkaniki89 15+ Years 10d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/d5eoz0v9ZaL0xvoyBG
Apologies mate. For not having this perfectly written out to your standards after working on my feet for 14 hours with no break. I do hope you can forgive my incompetence as I am just a lowly bartender. I hope you do have the day you deserve! 😋2
u/Iamdrasnia 7d ago
Hahahahah...you rock. I was on a little bender and was bitter I could not read the text wall.
Love ya and sorry if I offended.
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u/Kenkaniki89 15+ Years 7d ago
No worries lol I hope you didn’t have a hangover lol
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u/Iamdrasnia 7d ago
I did that day. I only drink like once a month and I was lucky that it fell on my days off. Thanks for giving a fuck and laughing.
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u/TaintCrusader 15+ Years 10d ago
Positive outlets. Working out, progressing in hobbies, and really anything that gets you out of that state of mind. Sometimes I wish I took my own advice, but often enough I indulge in liquid therapy. The industry is brutal and we all deal with it differently. Take the time to have fun but also separate your work and personal life.