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The New Waiter
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 1780
He's unusually merry for the morning, flushed cheeks and a contented smile upon his face, the Owner suspects that he's again taken to drinking.
He's not going to last.
The staff tells me that he stinks of booze, I can't tell, I give all the male staff a fairly wide berth out of caution, there are the not infrequent belches and farts that must be navigated around. They watch the security cameras, but they can't see any trace of his drinking, the owner looks around and can find nothing on the bar, suspects him of quick swigs from the bottle, I'm suspecting there might be a hip flask concealed in his slightly capacious trousers.
He's short, bald, looks easily 10 years older than he is, that is what the waiter's lifestyle will do to you. But he seems happy enough. A gold chain flashes from beneath a rolled up cuff, a couple of large and gaudy rings, he's old school, where you tried to look at least as rich as the people you served.
Pouring drinks, carrying a tray or plate, he's got the shakes and has to set things down, sobriety, perhaps, or the long years of drinking catching up to him.
Not even 10 years older than me he's a career waiter, everyone in Calgary knows him, have been served by him somewhere throughout the city. Knowing him is not a good thing, it's an excuse for him to stop and chat and catch up with our customers, he's not so quick as it is and now he's doing less.....
And he talks shit. Waiter shit, in 4 languages, fixing the house, his wife, his trips to the bar where he only drinks soda pop and coffee (being a recovering alcoholic and all), his operations and general health, the importance of having doilies to line the plates with....
We all know he's not long for the course, as soon as someone better walks through the door, it's tough to be too friendly knowing, he knows this as well, brings in sandwiches to share, somewhere in the back of his mind there must be the realization that he's not carrying his weight, that this is just another short stop on the way to unemployment...
Art from books
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Link of the day
- Hits: 1831
A new way of looking at common things - art created from books. A few links to get you started:
http://weburbanist.com/2011/06/27/art-that-speaks-volumes-12-more-book-artists/
http://maskulllasserre.com/section/193004 - Click on the Archive link. Site has horrible navigation, some art from books...
http://www.bookpatrol.net/2011/07/bansky-of-book-art-world.html - about an artist who shopdrops interesting works at libraries throughout Scotland.
Common Sense
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 2172
While we're in the midst of looking for people to fill out our rather thin looking rota the owner has brought in a friend to help out.
He's never served before, or worked in a restaurant, he's an electrical engineer, but he's about my age, good looking, and he seems to have gotten the hang of it remarkably quickly for someone with no experience.
We're explaining what to do and giving him small details regarding service and seating people and he makes the point:
"You'd seat 2 people at a table for two, common sense"...
I glance meaningfully at the hostess. She's never figured this out, she seats people, on nights we're fully booked, without confirming their reservation and wherever she first happens to trip in the dining room, the size of the table is of no consequence. She understands and looks sheepishly at the floor.
Common sense, yes, but how rare it is...
Help Wanted
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 1921
Now we've been looking for some more staff. Front of house and kitchen. The owner's put an ad up on Kijiji and on Craigslist.
And every day the applicants call and come down.
They're hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.
Men and women, all of distinct minorities, accompanied by their brothers/sisters/best friends/co-workers/husband/wife.
People who refuse to speak for themselves and do it instead through a translator or have their friends explain their intent.
This must be a new thing, I've never seen it before, people showing up with their friends to apply for work.
They show up in their work clothes - McDonald's, Wendy's or Tim Horton's uniforms, they want to be a cook. The uniform should be all the proof we need that they have a job, or had one, or know what a work uniform looks like when they get it donated by the Salvation Army.
They want to know when they can come in, I give them a couple of time slots when the owner will be around to interview them. They call back and want to know the bus that runs nearest to the restaurant. Or they call back and tell me that "if they still need the job they might drop round tomorrow....".
Good people can't be that hard to find. But, really, someone with 2 arms and 2 legs walking through that door under their own power is starting to look pretty good.
They come down, hours away from the times I've quoted them on the phone, the middle of the afternoon when no one is there to interview them, in the middle of the dinner or lunch rush, waiting at the front door for the owner to drop all the orders and come out to interview them, the time I suggested, it just wasn't convenient for them. I just pitch the resume into the garbage.
And the phone keeps ringing and the ad stays up. Help Wanted.
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