I warned you people. This here is going to be a rant. And probably a long one. I need to vent.
Let's start with work:
I work in a restaurant as a host. Yes, I am a host, not a hostess. And no, they are not waiters and waitresses. They are servers. Let's stick to being politically correct shall we? It's not difficult. And please don't make jokes about it, we don't really laugh at them. Next, when you go to a restaurant and see someone standing near the door who smiles and greets you... Don't assume that you're welcome to seat yourself wherever you darn well please. That's not how it works. That bubbly person that greeted you at the door is a host and it is their job to take you to a table. Don't do their job for them. It messes everything up. I'm not kidding. It really does. Also, don't look around and ask the others in your party where they'd like to sit and then start pointing at tables. That's almost as bad as seating yourself. Especially when we wind up taking you to the opposite of what you pointed at and all you do is whine. And look around hoping that we'll take the hint and put you someplace else. It's not going to happen. All you do is make us uncomfortable and make you look like a big fat jerk. Yes it does. And for the love of all that is good please, please, please do not ask for a booth! To us your voice takes on an incredibly whiny note and it just irritates us. Plus it tends to affect how we greet the next bunch of guests. I'm not kidding. You might think that I am... But I'm not.
So when you go and seat yourself or whine about wanting a booth... Well, we have to deal with what follows. Sure, you're all pleased as punch that you got what you wanted but you have no idea of the consequences. The server that has to deal with you goes up to the host and asks if you sat such and such a table or why you sat them twice in a row (which they do not like!). So now the server is stressed out. And then after that a manager may go up to the host and ask similar questions. So now the manager has to deal with a stressed out server and a smug little guest. Goodie. And after that the kitchen freaks out because that seems to be what they do when all this happens. I'm kidding. They freak out because numerous orders wind up getting punched in all at once and they can't quite keep up.
So now that you're happy with your spot and your order you realize that your food is taking a while. Well... That's where the kitchen comes into play. So of course you mention it to the server, or whoever happens to be passing by. Which might be the host, who probably has much better things to do than to deal with you. And you might think that you sound pleasant enough but again, your voice takes on a much different tone to us. We hear a snotty tone this time. Yes we do.
You finally get your food. It's a steak. Which explains why it too so darn long. So things are great. Your food is good. You can't even taste the booger in there can you? I'm kidding! We aren't allowed to do that sort of thing. Sometimes we wish we could though. Yes we do. And finally you're done. No dessert because of course you're too full even though you didn't finish all of your entree. Which you didn't want boxed up. There are children starving in Africa people! Think about that next time. So you get your bill. And let's say it came to just under $100. Now, do you leave a decent tip? Probably not. Why on earth would you tip someone for doing their job? Here's why: Servers (and hosts.. and everyone else) make minimum wage. And the majority of staff gets an average of 2-5 hours in a day. Do you honestly believe that what little money we make just doing our job will pay our bills? No, it doesn't. Not even close. Every server has to divide up their tip money at the end of each day, giving a percentage to the other staff (hosts, kitchen, and bartenders). So in the end they still don't take much home with them. An average tip is 15% of your bill. A toonie is really not as generous as you thought. Most servers would rather throw it back in your face instead of thanking you. I'm serious.
If you don't believe any of what I told you then I think that you should try walking in our shoes. You'll change your mind. And it probably wouldn't take more than a day or two. Seriously.
Don't get too excited.. I'm not done yet.
And now for school:
I have one week left of school. You'd think that it would simply fly by. Well, you'd be wrong. For those of you that don't know, I am currently studying Technical Drafting. And before you ask what that is, it's basically drawing houses on the computer. That's the simple explanation. The complicated explanation is, well, complicated.
So I don't have exams, I have projects. And every project involves at least 7-10 drawings. My final project consists of 10 drawings. So, I drew them all out. And I thought I'd done them right. Turns out I was very wrong about that. I have been using another student's drawings as a reference for my own. And I figured that if they had passed then mine would too. I never copied and pasted anything. I actually drew everything out on my own. And no matter how many ways I looked at it, my drawings looked right. I must not know much of anything. Out of my 10 drawings only one has been approved. I have one week left. Last week my instructor took a week long vacation. To Paris, France. So I lost a week there. And we had no classes on Monday and Tuesday and I wasn't in class on Wednesday either. So I got 2 whole days this week and fat lot of good it did. So today I showed my instructor my foundation plan with all the corrections he had had me do from yesterday. And guess what?! He suddenly tells me that I need to do a page of just details for the concrete slabs that make up part of the floor. It's not mentioned anywhere in the assignment pages and no other student before me has ever done this particular drawing. Plus, I'm not an engineer. In reality I wouldn't be allowed to draw these details. So what the heck is going on?
When I was in this class a couple years ago I slacked off and goofed off. And my instructor happens to be the kind to hold grudges. For years. Like a child or a drama loving female. It's pathetic.
Every time he nitpicks about a drawing it takes time for me to fix the drawing. And he keeps reminding me that I'm behind. He can't seem to figure out why. When I had started up this course again he didn't give me a set time for my refresher. So that put me back a month. In reality it should have been no more than a week or two. And then of course I had four units to do. And with each one every drawing for every project was hemmed and hawed over. And each and every one had to be redrawn numerous times. Even if it was something so completely insignificant that it would never have made any kind of difference if it had been noted and then left alone. So here I am, behind, and with one week left of this course.
Am I going to finish on time? I sure as heck hope so. And since I can't very well go to school on the weekend I will be spending my time looking over my drawings and making any adjustments I can. And on Monday my instructor better have an extra pair of shorts 'cause if I don't scare him well enough my daddy will. Oh yes. I'm going to have a little chat with my instructor about my upcoming deadline, the fact that no other student has done this stupid detail drawing, that the detail drawing is not in the assignment anywhere (emphasis on that!), and that I am not qualified to draw said detail drawings because they are supposed to be done by an engineer. And if that doesn't work... Well... My dad is going to be very unhappy. Yes he is.
Now you can relax, breathe, or whatever it was that you forgot to do if you managed to read all the way to the end of this.
I am done. Finally.
Have a good night!
