Wednesday, September 28, 2005

I’ll give you what you deserve…

So I’ve been waiting tables for nearly 2 months now. It gives me an interesting view into the heads of other people. A view I mostly could do without. There’s a PhD. thesis for some psychology major in the restaurant business. For one thing I’ve found that though most people say they give at least 15%. It’s much more common to get closer to 10% than 15%. And in case you were wondering the verbal tip (you did a great job, we enjoyed everything so much) doesn’t help to pay off the school loans. So say it with a real tip. This even happens to the cute waitresses and the experienced waiters we have. So it’s not just that I suck as a waiter.

It’s funny what makes people angry. I had a table flip out on Sunday because I thought that I could have scallops put on a dish to replace something and I was wrong. So when the manager (Chris, the cool manager) said, “it can be done but it will cost extra” they started to yell and say that since I said it could be done then we have to do it and can’t charge them for it. My manager realized quickly that they weren’t going to calm down so he got the head manager. Chris wanted to make them pay the bill anyway but the head manager just let them leave. Now I realize that I had made a mistake but it’s not like I dumped a bowl of soup on them. Even worse is that table threw me off for the rest of the night. I couldn’t get my rhythm back and I just ran from table to table. I did all right but all night I felt like I was doing it all wrong and that I was going to get lousy tips the rest of the night.

Another one is that people don’t like to have to pay for anything. I had a woman order a Bloody Mary the other day. She said she really had a craving for one. She drank a few sips of it and pushed it to the side and asked for an Iced Tea or something. So I asked her if it wasn’t any good or what. She said it was fine but she just didn’t really want it. So when I brought the bill and the Bloody Mary was on there she complained. Saying that she didn’t think she deserved to pay for it since she didn’t really drink it. But it wasn’t made improperly, it didn’t taste bad, she just decided after she had it that she didn’t want it. So the restaurant deserves to pay for it because you ordered it and decided not to drink it? Should I take a dollar off your meal because you didn’t feel like eating the fries that you ordered with your meal? Didn’t finish your salad? Let me take off 50 cents for that. The manager (Chris) just deleted it off her bill. Not worth fighting I guess. It’s funny what people think they deserve.
I’m not bitter enough about it to serve sneezers yet. Not that I would or have seen it happen yet. But I’m seeing how servers could get that frustrated with people. I wonder what customers would say if I just told them that I deserved a way to release the frustration of having to deal with them.

Friday, September 23, 2005

But I’m Going to Need That

I had my interview on Wednesday. It went pretty well. There were actually 5 interviews. The first one started just after 900 and I finished just after 1200. I didn’t really sleep well the night before. Not because of playing computer games as some might think. I was nervous about the interview. I had prepared a lot for it. But I was still anxious.

When I arrived the security guards stopped me at the door. They didn’t like the crowbar. I told them that it was necessary for the demonstration. I mean if we’re tearing down old labs, I’ll need to show my skills. They didn’t buy it. They made me leave my Swiss Army Knife in the car too. When I went back to my car, I got an SMS from Dave wishing me luck. I’m glad that I had to go back to the car.

When I got there, the doctor that runs the office wasn’t there yet (I’ve been to a lot of interviews where the interviewer was late). So I met with one of the other team members first. It was nice to start with her because it helped me to relax and hear some of my answers live. Then I met with the doctor that runs the office. Then I met with 3 other people that work in the office. There was a 6th person that I probably would have had to meet with had he been there. He was out for the day. All the men were ex-military. I felt a little out of place. I don’t know if I stood up straight enough. All in all it went really well. One guy told me that he was pretty impressed with my resume. He said it was very good for how young I am. That felt good. Then in the next interview the guy tore my resume apart. He was the non-science person in the group. So he couldn’t talk about any science stuff but he looked really carefully at the format and how I wrote things. There was a mistake in dates that he found. Then he asked all these little clarification questions about everything. He was the hardest interviewer of the 5. Though he wasn’t the one that seemed to think that I wasn’t qualified or able to do the job. One of the women that was a PhD. talked like she didn’t think I could do it.

All in all I would say that it went pretty well. Now I just wait. They are going to have a meeting about me. They will talk about their impressions of me and if they think I would be a good fit for the group. Then I will hear back from them. I tried to get a time frame from them but I wasn’t successful. All he said is that they would meet some time soon and then I would hear back from them. This would be a great job. I hope I get it.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Finally, an Interview.

I have an interview tomorrow. I don’t really know too much about the job but the little I’ve heard has me pretty interested. It would involve traveling to Russia and working in labs there. Working on safety and security I think. I don’t know if I have to move to Russia or will be traveling back and forth. I think I want to travel back and forth some. Spending a few months there and then coming back for some time. I’m getting nervous about the interview. I wrote down some answers to the common questions. Like “why should we hire you” and “tell me about yourself”. That should help me to be ready for tomorrow. Still a little nervous though. I’m sure I’ll be really nervous tomorrow. I think it will be fine though. The Doc that I’ll be interviewing with has a good sense of humor. Plus most of the nervousness is anticipation. When it finally starts I should relax a little. I hope I sleep well tonight. I’ve been having trouble sleeping. Plus tonight is guild night for World of Warcraft. I’m close to level 25 and I want to get moving on levels. I’ll just have to start early so I can finish earlier.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

I’m in love with Col. Wilma Deering

I’ve recently had a loss of innocence. I know that’s hard to believe, how much more can I have, especially after all my time with Pam. I’m sure most of the people reading this don’t know whom Wilma Deering is. She was one of the main characters in the TV series Buck Rogers. (http://www.buck-rogers.com/film_and_series/) It was a favorite back in the early ‘80s, along with A-team and Greatest American Hero. Her role as the main female role was of course to create sexual tension with the real main character. Mostly that was accomplished through the use of short skirted or spandex Uniforms and acting like she has the hots for Buck and is jealous of every woman that makes an appearance on the show but rebuffing any advance by him. Sounds familiar. I don’t want to mention any names but it starts with L. DeChellis.

Anyway, Buck Rogers is now showing on the Sci Fi Channel. So I’ve been catching it when I can. I’m almost sorry that I have been. I remember this awesome show with great space battles, and ray guns, and aliens with strange powers, and robots. What I’ve been seeing isn’t any of that. Much of the “special” effects are about as good as the original Star Trek episodes. I’ve also been watching old reruns of MacGyver. He’s not really a very good actor, but we loved that show. It’s fun to watch and remember the episodes. But it also makes me wonder what else I remember better than it was? Mr Rogers, Sesame Street, the Muppets?!? Well, I shouldn’t get carried away. The Muppet Show was awesome. I better not dwell on this too long. I might start to get depressed. Plus if Wilma ever reads my Blog it might hurt my chances with her.