You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[you&me]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

As someone who has worked in the service industry, this is ridiculous. Closing time is understood to mean "no more orders can be sent to the kitchen and no new tables will be seated". Closing doesn't mean "my shift is over and I get to leave immediately".

As someone that eats at restaurants, my understanding of closing time is the same as yours.

Seems like this shouldn't be that difficult... especially on a take out order. I'd really have to like a place for them not to lose my business forever after something like that.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

As someone who has worked in the service industry, this is ridiculous. Closing time is understood to mean "no more orders can be sent to the kitchen and no new tables will be seated". Closing doesn't mean "my shift is over and I get to leave immediately".

You forgot and people who choose to come in and order with 5 minutes to close are inconsiderate.

There is no way when you were working in ther service industry that the 5 minutes to close tickets didn’t piss you off. I also can’t believe that a person who worked in the service industry would ever do the 5 minutes to close order. Go somewhere else and let people get their close done faster so they can go home. It’s just so unnecessary.

[TorqueDog]

Or maybe I just understood what the word 'service' in the term "service industry" meant and wasn't a whiny little bitch about it. [shrug] My shift end didn't coincide with last call.

Besides, most of the time we'd have the majority of the stuff in the kitchen cleaned up well before closing (it can get pretty dead around that time) so any stragglers at the end of the day are of minimal concern. If you aren't doing it that way, you were either slammed and weren't going home soon anyway or you're doing it wrong.

[iggy_oi]

Could be a case where they stop getting paid either right at or 15 mins after close which I could see being frustrating. Still doesn’t excuse taking it out on a customer by giving rude service. Not sure I’d agree with closing time simply meaning no more orders or tables being seated, if the establishment closes while you’re already at a table it’s time for you to GTFO. The employees could have another job or family commitments to get to and shouldn’t be expected to have that derailed by someone who thinks they’re special, especially not for minimum wage.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

Could be a case where they stop getting paid either right at or 15 mins after close which I could see being frustrating. Still doesn’t excuse taking it out on a customer by giving rude service. Not sure I’d agree with closing time simply meaning no more orders or tables being seated, if the establishment closes while you’re already at a table it’s time for you to GTFO. The employees could have another job or family commitments to get to and shouldn’t be expected to have that derailed by someone who thinks they’re special, especially not for minimum wage.

Pretty sure if you stop getting paid while you're still working then that's illegal.

Also, you're still conflating "closed" with "end of shift for all the employees", they are never the same thing. There is an expected amount of work that happens after the establishment closes to clear out and clean the remaining tables, work to clean and close down the kitchen, bar, etc. that wasn't able to be done while still open and serving guests.

Is it nice to have the house dead for 15 minutes before and up to closing? Of course, you get your stuff done faster and you get to go home faster. I'm not arguing that. I'm saying that's an unreasonable expectation to happen all the time, and it's not unreasonable for patrons to expect you are open and serving if you are not yet closed.

[btimbit]

"God dammit these pricks coming in right before we're closing" has always been a thing said within the service industry, but absolutely not some sort of actual rule and certainly not something you took out on the customer, just something you bitched about at the bar afterward

[Misterpants]

I love how the wifi in my house has deadspots where my phone won't even join the network, but when I head out for a walk with my phone the wifi hangs on like grim death for 3 blocks leaving me unable to look up songs on Spotify unless I turn wifi off.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by btimbit

"God dammit these pricks coming in right before we're closing" has always been a thing said within the service industry, but absolutely not some sort of actual rule and certainly not something you took out on the customer, just something you bitched about at the bar afterward

Bitching and complaining at the bar afterwards is an integral part of the fabric that holds the food service industry together! Everyone knows this.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Pretty sure if you stop getting paid while you're still working then that's illegal.

Well then I guess that means it never happens

Also, you're still conflating "closed" with "end of shift for all the employees", they are never the same thing. There is an expected amount of work that happens after the establishment closes to clear out and clean the remaining tables, work to clean and close down the kitchen, bar, etc. that wasn't able to be done while still open and serving guests.

Is it nice to have the house dead for 15 minutes before and up to closing? Of course, you get your stuff done faster and you get to go home faster. I'm not arguing that. I'm saying that's an unreasonable expectation to happen all the time, and it's not unreasonable for patrons to expect you are open and serving if you are not yet closed.

I don’t disagree but you did mention that close should mean no more order or new tables, implying people who are already seated should be allowed to stay. I don’t agree with that because frankly it’s not only unfair to the employee whose pay may or may not be capped at a certain length of time after close but to the business as well since it leads to additional costs.

[fotze2]

Is it me or has the pandemic made a significant amount of people unable to self-regulate when telling a story on whether the listener is giving cues that they give a flying fata or if the story is even in the least bit interesting or requires the amount of detail being used?

I am sooooo much less tolerant of stories that ramble and find it physically uncomfortable to stand and listen to them for 5, 10, 45 minutes, but am too much of a pus to try and cut it short because I don't want to hurt the feelings. I get rage mad under the surface how selfish it is.

If you don't, you probably ARE one of those rambling people. You should be constantly watching visual cues of the listener for clues that they are finding it interesting, constantly asking yourself "how could this particular person find this interesting". Doesn't everyone do that? No, they don't.

Probably just me getting old.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

Well then I guess that means it never happens

Okay let me put it another way -- what other things that are entirely irrelevant to the conversation would you like to bring up?

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

I don’t disagree but you did mention that close should mean no more order or new tables, implying people who are already seated should be allowed to stay. I don’t agree with that because frankly it’s not only unfair to the employee whose pay may or may not be capped at a certain length of time after close but to the business as well since it leads to additional costs.

Genuinely asking, have you ever actually worked in the industry? Tables that are around after close aren't ordering drinks or anything, they're finishing up, the tab is brought around as soon as possible, and they're leaving. They don't have a choice, the bar and the kitchen are closed, and they are all but invited to finish their meal, and leave.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Is it me or has the pandemic made a significant amount of people unable to self-regulate when telling a story on whether the listener is giving cues that they give a flying fata or if the story is even in the least bit interesting or requires the amount of detail being used?

I am sooooo much less tolerant of stories that ramble and find it physically uncomfortable to stand and listen to them for 5, 10, 45 minutes, but am too much of a pus to try and cut it short because I don't want to hurt the feelings. I get rage mad under the surface how selfish it is.

If you don't, you probably ARE one of those rambling people. You should be constantly watching visual cues of the listener for clues that they are finding it interesting, constantly asking yourself "how could this particular person find this interesting". Doesn't everyone do that? No, they don't.

Probably just me getting old.

I blame the listener. Time for more aggressive social cues

"Hey, sorry to interrupt but I gotta go take a ####" works great

[ResAlien]

You’d have to hold me at gunpoint to get me to listen to a 45 minute story. Just leave

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I blame the listener. Time for more aggressive social cues

"Hey, sorry to interrupt but I gotta go take a ####" works great

Got to know our IT guy and he let me in on the 911 protocol for one particular person here. You text him and he will come and save you and say he needs to see your computer right away. Always befriend the IT guy, always.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Okay let me put it another way -- what other things that are entirely irrelevant to the conversation would you like to bring up?

Well I mean if you want to take the approach that any reasons an employee might have for being frustrated with a customer for coming in a few minutes before close and staying are irrelevant then I guess there’s not much point in discussing this any further.

Nice deflection though?

Genuinely asking, have you ever actually worked in the industry? Tables that are around after close aren't ordering drinks or anything, they're finishing up, the tab is brought around as soon as possible, and they're leaving. They don't have a choice, the bar and the kitchen are closed, and they are all but invited to finish their meal, and leave.

Yes I have. So you’re aware there are a number of food service industry jobs outside of bars and pubs which seems to be the only reference point you’re basing your opinion on.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

Well I mean if you want to take the approach that any reasons an employee might have for being frustrated with a customer for coming in a few minutes before close and staying are irrelevant then I guess there’s not much point in discussing this any further.

Nice deflection though?

This is not the mic drop you were hoping for. We were talking specifically about the customer coming in before close and whether or not it is reasonable to consider said customer a dbag for doing so. Whatever the hell the employer violating labour laws in your made-up scenario has to do with the customer is beyond me.

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

Yes I have. So you’re aware there are a number of food service industry jobs outside of bars and pubs which seems to be the only reference point you’re basing your opinion on.

I'm based my opinion on five different establishments I've worked at in both front and back of house; three restaurants, two bars... y'know, the relevant food service industry jobs we're talking about. "Last call" in my post was shorthand for drinks and / or food orders before the kitchen starts shutting down. Plenty of restaurants these days have the drink orders (even soft drinks) fulfilled by the bar, instead of servers going to the gun or fountain themselves.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Got to know our IT guy and he let me in on the 911 protocol for one particular person here. You text him and he will come and save you and say he needs to see your computer right away. Always befriend the IT guy, always.

We had a guy in the office named John who would just follow you around and talk about inane things no one cares about, like tennis. So I devised a strategy of walkingi to my colleagues office as he followed me, and say something like "John was just talking about that Wimbledon match last night" and watch as John's target shifts, then I just saunter out free as a bird. I called it "dropping the John bomb."

[Sliver]

I love watching my friends get cornered by boring people. This one guy who was in our extended circle for a while would isolate you and say, 'sliver...got a story for ya.' You knew you were fuucked when that happened but it was almost worth it just to see him do it to other people.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

We had a guy in the office named John who would just follow you around and talk about inane things no one cares about, like tennis. So I devised a strategy of walkingi to my colleagues office as he followed me, and say something like "John was just talking about that Wimbledon match last night" and watch as John's target shifts, then I just saunter out free as a bird. I called it "dropping the John bomb."

We had a guy named Wade. There was a signal to my coworker, he’d call when the boring story would start. “ Oh, sorry, I’ve got to take this.”

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Clearly the answer is to take the first opportunity in terms of a pause in the story to interrupt, and say, "you know that reminds me of when..." and then tell a totally unrelated story.