Smack in the middle of two double shifts. Today was uneventful at the LHFS, except for an endless parade of screaming kids.
The Local Restaurant was iffy, at best. Second night in a row of barbacking (which is nothing like barebacking, except for feeling slightly fucked afterward) for a bartender who seems to have no clue what's going on.
Last night I worked with the Manager In Name Only, who is as spastic as she is sensitive, and so can never be asked what the fuck she is doing, even in polite terms. Everything is an insult to her. It's a shame I didn't think to just go ahead and insult her, since asking politely what exactly she wanted me to do set her off anyway. I know how it is to feel overwhelmed, but if you can't stop and think a minute when the proverbial shit hits the fan and figure out what you need help with, then I can't very well help you now, can I? Never mind that I tried to ask her at the beginning of the night exactly how she wanted to divide duties. There is tha bar, and then there is the Service Bar, where all of the wait staff come to get the drinks for everyone in the dining room. Under normal circumstances, one person serves the bar and the other the service bar, and you each back each other up as needed. This despite the fact that the bartender makes all of the tips from the bar and the service bar, and the barback gets a slightly higher hourly wage and only ten percent of the bartender's tips. I knew what I was getting into as far as the money, but I had no idea that she would run back and forth behind the bar like a bull in a china shop, making half of the drinks on a ticket and then running back down the bar to start (and never finish) another task. Needless to say it was quite hectic.
Tonight I worked with The Young and The Clueless, who is a sweet girl that has no business behind a bar (not even of legal drinking age). She wear chipped nail polish (against health code, which no manager seems to have noticed) and pronounces the J in the word "Jammon" on the tapas menu. It is not her fault, but it is horribly embarrassing. I am looking forward to being alone behind the bar tomorrow night. I don't care how chaotic it gets. At least i will know what the hell is going on.
All in all it has been good, though. There are people there that I can actually relate to, which is a dramatic improvement over my last restaurant job.
I will miss the "Local" Health Food Store, but I do look forward to the Farmer's Market and extra b.h. snuggling on weekend mornings. There are whispers of a road trip in the coming weeks. The b.h.'s birthday is coming up, and I think he'd rather have a bit of fun than anything I can wrap in a bow. We'll see if we can pull it off. I won't mention it now as I have no wish to jinx it.