Working in the restaurant business is a funny thing. You learn the ins and outs of food preparation and if you're like most people in the world, you start to understand how many employees you have annoyed in the past, whether you were aware of it or not.
For instance, calling 5 minutes before the restaurant is closing to order 3 complicated pizzas that will further complicate the efforts of the employee trying to close down the pie station by himself might just be the smartest thing you've ever done!
Calling 10 minutes before closing and starting out by screaming obscure things into the phone might be the most intelligent way to get the person taking your order, who's also in charge of making your food, on your good side!
Sticking around in a restaurant 35 minutes after it closes (sensing a theme here?) is also considered to be good manners. If you notice the employees staring at you oddly, turning off the music and the lights in selected parts of the restaurant, don't sweat it! It just means they like you! Keep talking and sipping the dregs of your old iced tea you've been enjoying for 2 hours. No really! Leave whenever you're ready to go.
After a long shift of working (spent working with wonderful coworkers and mainly incredible customers like the guy with a Kindle and the sweet old lady taking care of her two mentally challenged children), I came home and began to unwind to the incredible playing of Igor Presnyakov. You haven't heard of him? Neither had I until today. Here are some of my favorite videos. Sit back. Relax.
Snow (Hey Oh)
Sweet Child O' Mine
Pirates Of The Caribbean Theme
Hallelujah
At the end of the day, I have to stop and give thanks to the numerous customers who come to my job everyday because they are the reason I have my job in the first place. So let's all stop and give a nice round of applause to the wonderful customers who are blissfully unaware of how the employees really feel about them. You know who you are. Oh wait, you probably don't.
Showing posts with label Stupid People. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stupid People. Show all posts
Friday, June 3, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Thank you for calling Dion's! How can you frustrate me today?
There are many reasons to love my job. However, this post will not be focusing on those positive aspects.
As part of my job working at Dion's, I help answer the phones to take phone orders. Although it is a vital way for the business to remain successful, my disdain for them continues. Let me give a few examples of my favorite phone calls.
1) Me: "Hello! Thank you for calling Dion's on Academy, how may I help you?"
Customer: "Yeah, hold on."
Excuse me. Who called who here? Did I interrupt your important conversation with your family? My mom thinks next time this happens, I should say, "I'm sorry I called at an inconvenient time! Why don't you call me back when you're ready to place an order and not waste my time?" and hang up. Oh, it's tempting.
2) The screamers. I haven't decided if their absurd volume is a result of a poor experience in the past with phone orders or perhaps their lack of belief in my intelligence. Maybe it's a mixture. Who knows, maybe they're new to the phone world and are so excited they don't have to send telegrams anymore!
3) The nervous mumblers. Perhaps they are stunned by the mellifluence of my voice, startled by how adeptly I ask for their order; whatever the reason, there are some people who act completely terrified on the phone. They can't remember what they want to order, their name, their phone number, what country they live in or how to speak in general. I'm not a terrifying person, really! I never laugh at customers on the phone. I'll wait until I hang up for that, of course!
4) The slow spellers. "My name is John. That's J..................................................O...................................H.........................................................................................................................................................N."
Oh, that spelling of John! Good thing you spelled that out for me, I was probably going to spell it like this: Yjonne, the traditional Norwegian spelling. Phew.
5) The me monsters. (Yes, I stole that from a Brian Regan skit. Good stuff) There are people who call in an order when they're literally turning into our store. How do I know this? I've barely hung up the phone, delivered the ticket to my station, about to put on my gloves and the drive-thru workers are at my station looking for the order I just wrote down 1 minute ago. Come on folks! Giving us a 15 minute heads up isn't terribly difficult, right? Even though there is a childish part of me that wants to go out to the customer sitting in line and tell them they'll have to wait their turn, laughing bitterly, I know what I have to do. Make them their salads. After all, the customer is always right. Right?
What's the moral of the story? Get a college degree so you don't have to spend the rest of your life trying to please customers that, let's face it, you don't really care about.
As part of my job working at Dion's, I help answer the phones to take phone orders. Although it is a vital way for the business to remain successful, my disdain for them continues. Let me give a few examples of my favorite phone calls.
1) Me: "Hello! Thank you for calling Dion's on Academy, how may I help you?"
Customer: "Yeah, hold on."
Excuse me. Who called who here? Did I interrupt your important conversation with your family? My mom thinks next time this happens, I should say, "I'm sorry I called at an inconvenient time! Why don't you call me back when you're ready to place an order and not waste my time?" and hang up. Oh, it's tempting.
2) The screamers. I haven't decided if their absurd volume is a result of a poor experience in the past with phone orders or perhaps their lack of belief in my intelligence. Maybe it's a mixture. Who knows, maybe they're new to the phone world and are so excited they don't have to send telegrams anymore!
3) The nervous mumblers. Perhaps they are stunned by the mellifluence of my voice, startled by how adeptly I ask for their order; whatever the reason, there are some people who act completely terrified on the phone. They can't remember what they want to order, their name, their phone number, what country they live in or how to speak in general. I'm not a terrifying person, really! I never laugh at customers on the phone. I'll wait until I hang up for that, of course!
4) The slow spellers. "My name is John. That's J..................................................O...................................H.........................................................................................................................................................N."
Oh, that spelling of John! Good thing you spelled that out for me, I was probably going to spell it like this: Yjonne, the traditional Norwegian spelling. Phew.
5) The me monsters. (Yes, I stole that from a Brian Regan skit. Good stuff) There are people who call in an order when they're literally turning into our store. How do I know this? I've barely hung up the phone, delivered the ticket to my station, about to put on my gloves and the drive-thru workers are at my station looking for the order I just wrote down 1 minute ago. Come on folks! Giving us a 15 minute heads up isn't terribly difficult, right? Even though there is a childish part of me that wants to go out to the customer sitting in line and tell them they'll have to wait their turn, laughing bitterly, I know what I have to do. Make them their salads. After all, the customer is always right. Right?
What's the moral of the story? Get a college degree so you don't have to spend the rest of your life trying to please customers that, let's face it, you don't really care about.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Pork Chops and Personal Appeals to the Economy
I realize that the economy is bad. I don't need anyone to lecture me on how difficult it is to find a job, how many businesses are going bankrupt, and that none of us are going to have a 401K when we're old and decrepit. I get it, really. But despite that knowledge, I can't help but ask the economy for a little bit of help. Throw me a bone.
I spent all day today creating a resume, emailing my resume to 60 or so advertisements through Craigslist, and running around town putting in my application. I know that's part of the deal; you've got to work hard to find a job these days, even if it's as a part-time associate at a retail store.
I'm just looking for a little success, a feeling that I accomplished something at the end of the day. Well, I did get 3 responses. You ready?
The first was from a company who tried to interview me over Yahoo Messenger from Maryland and tell me about the home based job that included data entry for an obscure medical company. That's a scam waiting to happen.
The second was from a creepy guy who was looking for a Personal Assistant to work from home while he traveled the world. Oh, and I must be available to be reached at "obscure hours" to attend to his personal needs. Pedophile. Next.
The third was from a shopping network that wanted me to review companies by shopping in various stores, and then receiving money online. C'mon.
Needless to say, I was not exactly accepting any "offers" today. But that's okay. You can try to knock me down economy, but I'm not going to give up. I've got stamina, baby. I'm stubborn (ask my parents) and I will prevail. Good always wins in the end.
On the bright side, I did make some delicious Italian Breaded Pork Chops. They were easy, fast, and my one real accomplishment of the day. Eat this.
Oh boy, I got one more response. This is a good one. He's from London (nice touch), and "dabbles in a handful of ventures" that have apparently made him very successful. He'll be traveling a lot, and so we can communicate through email and messenger. It's a home based job. He'll pay me online. Goody.
The cycle of my day is now complete. Sigh.
I spent all day today creating a resume, emailing my resume to 60 or so advertisements through Craigslist, and running around town putting in my application. I know that's part of the deal; you've got to work hard to find a job these days, even if it's as a part-time associate at a retail store.
I'm just looking for a little success, a feeling that I accomplished something at the end of the day. Well, I did get 3 responses. You ready?
The first was from a company who tried to interview me over Yahoo Messenger from Maryland and tell me about the home based job that included data entry for an obscure medical company. That's a scam waiting to happen.
The second was from a creepy guy who was looking for a Personal Assistant to work from home while he traveled the world. Oh, and I must be available to be reached at "obscure hours" to attend to his personal needs. Pedophile. Next.
The third was from a shopping network that wanted me to review companies by shopping in various stores, and then receiving money online. C'mon.
Needless to say, I was not exactly accepting any "offers" today. But that's okay. You can try to knock me down economy, but I'm not going to give up. I've got stamina, baby. I'm stubborn (ask my parents) and I will prevail. Good always wins in the end.
On the bright side, I did make some delicious Italian Breaded Pork Chops. They were easy, fast, and my one real accomplishment of the day. Eat this.
Oh boy, I got one more response. This is a good one. He's from London (nice touch), and "dabbles in a handful of ventures" that have apparently made him very successful. He'll be traveling a lot, and so we can communicate through email and messenger. It's a home based job. He'll pay me online. Goody.
The cycle of my day is now complete. Sigh.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)