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comment by thenewgreen

This raises an interesting question. Who here has been hazed at work etc? Who has experienced a prank because you are a newbie?

Back when I was running a restaurant, we had a new hostess. I wrote down on the waiting list the name "Monkeycrisp party of 6."

I told her Mr. Monkeycrisp was the brother of a VIP.

We all laughed our asses off as she walked through the crowded bar/waiting area loudly calling for "Monkeycrisp party of 6."

Fun stuff.

sounds_sound -wasn't there also a prank for newbies to go find the "pasta thinner" or something like that?





sounds_sound  ·  3502 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Pasta Stretcher. Chef Rob sent a new waiter down the street to the Real Seafood Company to ask the chef for a pasta stretcher. Poor thing.

mk  ·  3502 days ago  ·  link  ·  

My grandpa would ask for the bacon stretcher.

thenewgreen  ·  3502 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Lol!!!! That's awesome.

Rob_G  ·  3502 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Haha, that's awesome. We used to do the same stuff at this restaurant I worked at a while ago. For example, we'd wait for a waiter to get super in the weeds, and then we'd make an announcement to the whole restaurant, that it's that waiter's birthday (totally a lie), asking for everyone to help in singing him Happy Birthday. So on top of having to do a million things, he'd have to stand there for ten to fifteen seconds while everyone sang him Happy Birthday. Good times.

thenewgreen  ·  3502 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Well done! I loved working in restaurants because of things like that, the comeaderie and the friendships you develop are unlike any other type of job. What's great is that if he or she were in the weeds, their tables would likely be more forgiving if they thought it was their birthday.

God, I still have nightmares about being in the weeds. The worst.

Rob_G  ·  3502 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I've been out of restaurant work for over a year now, and I still wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, convinced that table 13 is still waiting for a side of mayonnaise.

thenewgreen  ·  3502 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Dude, it's been 11 years and I still have the occasional nightmare. You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.

Meriadoc  ·  3501 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I work at a bar occasionally, mk, _refugee_, wasoxygen, I can't remember, so you'll have to remind me if a tiny blonde girl was working at the Pinch that night, but she's one of the owners.

I have no fucking idea how she ever ended up in the restaurant business.

There's in the weeds, and then there's that newbie kid who thinks three tables is in the weeds, but she's been that kid for ten years. And then she panics, and starts yelling at everybody, and any attempt to help her is seen as a sleight against God himself, so you get fucked over for helping, and just as fucked for not. And if she has a problem with a ticket, everything stops to listen to her about it, no matter what it's your fault, and don't you lose your cool while listening, because she's an owner. And these are Monday nights usually. Saturdays with two shows, good weather, and a game on? Lord help you.

I think I'll make my exit from the tending scene if I get this promotion.

thenewgreen  ·  3498 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I worked with a woman that owned a restaurant I managed. She was the chef/owner. She was on TOP CHEF. She's an extremely talented chef. AWFUL COOK. There's such a difference between being a chef and being on 'the line.'

Her own line cooks would boot her from the kitchen when things got too hairy. Talented woman, just not the best under pressure. Probably why she was voted out of TOP CHEF in round two.

user-inactivated  ·  3502 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I was told to find the "frequency grease" when I was a FNG electromechanical tech.

It was way in the back of the stockroom ... sometimes it fell under the hazmat cabinet.