Friday night shiftfest

Understaffed. Slammed at 7:45. One of the many things I do not love about the dinner shift.

When I approached table 24 (who'd ordered the prawns, rock lobster, beef tenderloin, a bottle of Zinfandel and a cappuccino) and discovered their absence, I walked straight out the backdoor, adding up how much this D & D was going to cost me. I would have kept on walking and not turned back. I'd had enough. Fuck this job -- I'd been offered a full-time day job just this afternoon. But damn this loyalty. And the fact that you can only get so far in this weather without your parka.

Imagine my relief when I returned to find the couple at table 24 having a post-meal smoke on the front porch. They were relatively tipsy, but definitely well-fed. And they'd left a 30% tip. While it had started off rather shittily, the evening ended with a great tip-out. Plus the wine rep had left four or five bottles for us to sample. Free wine? Why yes, I think I'll help myself to a couple of glasses after closing. And that, I most certainly did.