July 2006 Archives

Burger King is only ten calories away from creating the 2000 calorie value meal, folks! Think of it... all of your daily calorie needs in only one lunch!

Who needs breakfast or dinner when you've got their new Quadruple BK Stacker sandwich. Four all-beef patties, four slices of cheese, 8 slices of bacon and a healthy helping of "BK Stacker Sauce" all in one 1000 calorie sandwich.

King Size the value meal and you've got 1990 calories.

But in all fairness, they've already topped that sandwich by nearly 300 calories with their Triple Whopper with Cheese, that I did not know they even made... and something they certainly should not.

Let me give you a possible scenario, okay. First, yes I am back. From nowhere in particular I am back. Now, a scenario, okay.

You've got this reservation for a private booth at The Melting Pot to celebrate that Elise (or whoever your Elise is) is now 21 and that now you can have a nice bottle of wine with a nice dinner together. You've even ordered flowers to be sitting on the table when you get there. The four courses, the wine, the flowers, the coffee drinks with dessert, the tip--this is an exactly $200 dinner that you've been awaiting for some time now. Weeks, actually.

How would you start such a special day? That's what I'm asking.

Because, how Elise and I started our special day was this--

We got a call from our manager over at Market Street Cafe asking if we could come into work. Okay, innocent question on their part. They're understaffed as many of the servers banded together and left for an all new restaurant that was hiring an entire staff. The servers tried to get us to go with them, but we decided to stay, as we didn't want to screw Market Street over any worse than the others did.

So Elise answers the call from our manager and explains that we have reservations. He says, "Everyone is calling in. I really need you to come in." She tries to explain how important this day is to us and our MANAGER just hangs up on her.

THAT is how we started our special day!

The thing that kills me about this is that I know he is going to give us shit the next time we come into work and possibly hold a grudge for some time.

I've spent weeks trying to get on this guy's good side and had actually gotten to a point that I was really enjoying working with him again. I mean I had come a long way with him since the time he pulled me outside, said that I acted like I didn't give a shit about the restaurant and then told me to "shut the fuck up".

Anyhow, I am back. I am back because I want these experiences noted so that I can look back and remember how horribly I was treated at a job that I actually like by managers that I actually like!

Ribcage is in a big hole now, boy. Oh boy is it. There will be talk of that soon. Good news. Bad news. Better news. For now, no news on that.

Also, Elise bought her wedding dress. That's happening now. The planning. We're thinking February.

So here I've missed three Wednesdays in a row over at Ribcage. A new low for the site! There was the engagement, new kitten and then this week I'm sick and spending most of my time off on the couch in comas.

Who the hell gets a cold in July? - That's a question for you, as I have not seen anyone with a cold in months, yet I've caught one myself and it sucks.

I had to work the 4th sick and dizzy, because my manager made it apparent that everyone had to work the holiday without exception, as it is the busiest day of the year. Not everyone DID work the holiday, as he had threatened was mandatory for weeks, but I did--and I got even more sick than I already was.

Still, it was the best day at work that I've had in some time. Lately, the restaurant is feeling both more and less corporate. More, because of the new policies that we had to come in at six in the morning to be told,(Tip: Don't make your employees wake up four hours after they got home from their last shift, just to tell them that you're going to start "cracking down" on a laundry list of new policies, most of which result in termination.) and less corporate because--in corporate restaurants, they at least know the value of positive reinforcement.

Lately, everyone is being criticized for every weakness without so much as an afterthought to strengths. It's making for a miserable work environment that people are already exploring their way out of.

For now E and I are probably going to be some of the stupid ones, staying behind and continuing to be told that we'll be terminated for this or written up for that and never told that we're doing great and the regulars are always asking to sit in our sections now.

Anyhow, I bought a writing machine to bring Ribcage back from the dead, but I haven't gotten a change to use it for writing yet. I'll explain about that little piece of wonder later.