The Dead Zone

Our restaurant was like a morgue last night. I don't know what the final guest count was, but it was absurdly low. I suppose it was the after effect of Superbowl parties and leftovers. Nobody made any money, the most I heard someone walking with was $55, and that's because that server had a large table leave him $30 in one tip. Tough to pay the bills when few tables come in and they can't cut anyone. The old system would let us cut down to our strongest servers, and let them run 4-5 tables if anyone did come in. Rather than doing that, now we all limp along with one or two tables, because they can't risk cutting anyone. 3 tables walk in the door now and it's a logistical problem. I used to be able to say bring 2 of them to me, I can handle it. Not anymore, according to Red Lobster I became incompetent (along with all the other experienced staff) over night in early December and we can only handle 3 tables at a time. It's a gigantic, sickening joke. I'm surprised corporate leaders aren't all dead from asphixiation from where their heads have been.

One week to Valentine's day. One of the worst days to work, and one of the best days to work all rolled into one. It means good money, but it also means long waits for the guests. That means our bartenders will make out well, as guests will have a drink or two before they get to the table, but it means that much less in sales for us as wait staff unfortunately. It also means a backed up kitchen mid-evening. It never fails that there is a run on something, and the line gets backed up waiting for something, or something else goes wrong to slow things down. This means not only can we not give the best service possible, but that we can't turn our tables as quickly as we would like. This isn't generally all that noticable by the guests, as our kitchen staff is outstanding, but we as wait staff know what's going on. It also means long days for everyone. Everyone on at 4:00 PM and nobody off before close most likely. I've never understood how someone can think Red Lobster is a romantic dinner. Maybe if you live in the ghetto or a trailer park, but otherwise it's far from romantic. We don't even try to fake it by putting candles on the table.


Related Tags: Red Lobster, Crappy Job, Unhappy Employee, Bad Management, Poor Leadership, waiter, server, restaurant, food service