Just Jim

Now if you opened the carton and 3 oranges and a juicer fell out........

A local restaurant used to offer Huevos Rancheros a la Mexicana. Another used to have this on their sign board: "Mexican American Breakfasts-Swedish Pancakes". My F&B Manager would refer to any sliced roast beef in a pan as "Baron of Beef", selling it that way on banquets. A brand new menu item referred to as "our popular". Semi-boneless is a term that needs to go away. It either has a bone or it doesn't. Or can we use that in other areas of life? Semi-pregnant?

Show up on time, dressed and ready to work. Pay attention to what you're told, and what everyone else is told. Learn from your mistakes, and learn from other's mistakes (invaluable lessons there). Clean as you go, always look for what else you can do. If you're not sure of something, ask. Like I tell my staff, there are no stupid questions. Those are the easiest to answer though.

Not with me. One, if I close the menu I'm only going to have to reopen it when you arrive so that I remember the cutesy name your restaurant has for, say, a club sandwich. Two, unless I go to your restaurant with a particular dish already in mind, I usually narrow my options down to 2-3 items, making up my mind at the last minute. What can I say, I like operating under pressure. Just do what the majority of servers do: Wait a few minutes, ask if we would like to start off with beverages, and at that time ask if we are ready. I really don't have time to play charades with my menu and flatware as props.

Never done one myself, my demos were always my choice on menu. Haven't asked anyone to do one either. That being said, and for what it's worth, I would look for the following: Cleanliness. Efficiency. Technique. Utilization of product. Waste control (which ties in with utilization). Overall demeanor (are you visibly stressed, too casual, an obvious homicidal maniac). The hardest part for you may be unfamiliarity with the equipment.

If you don't have a set menu, you will have to deal with the daily inquiries. You don't have to fully sacrifice your current M.O. though, but you could adjust it. You could have Clam Chowder Friday, and extend that idea to more or all days of the week. The more days you do this the harder it'll be to work with what's available as you do now, unless you start offering 3 or more soups a day. I think Boagman is on the right track, in getting the info out there in a less painful manner.

And as far as my waitress could tell, neither did I. It just gave me pause, as I've never experienced this before. Oh, and Jaymes, I'm not your ex. If I were, I wouldn't blame you for making me your ex. My wife is destined for sainthood for tolerating me for almost 22 years. Nope, I'm not Mike. I'm just Jim.

Yes I could. But then we wouldn't have a thread that stretched into it's second page, with some people being exasperated with me. Where's the fun in that?

You, and everyone else who responded similarly, could very well be right. Still bugs me a bit though. Imagine if you go to see a plastic surgeon to fix your nose that was broken as a child. You walk in and the doctor says "Oh, we could fix your chin, no problem". You just shouldn't make assumptions. I assume most of you agree with me.

I'll keep that in mind if I ever dine in the South. Is the person behind the pharmacy counter just trying to help when you go up and ask for condoms, and they respond with "small?" ← Assuming that this also happens to you with some regularity, I think you have similar options as to how to handle this problem: 1.) Patronize a different restaurant/pharmacy. 2.) Patronize that restaurant/pharmacy, but request a different waitress/clerk. 3.) Patronize that restaurant/pharmacy and that waitress/clerk, but assume no harm or insult is meant and overlook it and continue on with your life concentrating on real problems and truly large issues. 4.) Patronize that restaurant/pharmacy and that waitress/clerk, but next time, ask in a loud, confrontational, head-turning, attention-grabbing voice: "What's THAT supposed to mean? Are you trying to TELL me something? Are you INSINUATING something? Because I don't GODDAMM LIKE IT!" I figure that in either case, your problem will be solved and that waitress/clerk will never ask such an insulting, demeaning question again. ← LOL, this has only happened at this restaurant, with this waitress. One two seperate visits. The pharmacy thing doesn't happen, as I always say "xtra small, with shims" when ordering.

I'll keep that in mind if I ever dine in the South. Is the person behind the pharmacy counter just trying to help when you go up and ask for condoms, and they respond with "small?"

So when it's time for dessert, she should ask everyone else in my party if they'd like dessert, and turn to me and say "but not you, right?". As far as her helping me, I don't think that's her place. If it were I should be able to reciprocate and offer to go over the S.A.T. practice tests with her. Should I tell her "it's your first day, huh?" ? I know I'm big. She knows I'm big. Now all of you know I'm big too. It's not a problem. It's not like I'm trying to hide it, or have an issue with it. How about if you showed up at a restaurant with an extremely good looking person of the opposite gender, and the waitress said "you two aren't together right?" You know, because you are so hideous you couldn't possibly be standing next to one of the beautiful people. It's presumptuous, and whether you have an issue with it or not isn't really the point. It just shouldn't happen.

Diet Coke is not simply regular Coke that has had the sugar replaced with aspartame. Diet Coke is actually an entirely different beverage than regular Coke. It was developed at a time when the people at Coca Cola were worried that Pepsi (a lighter, less intensely flavored, sweeter cola product) was gaining market share. Diet Coke was created specifically to have a "Pepsi-like" flavor profile. And Diet Coke was a huge success. New Coke, then, was simply Diet Coke with the aspartame replaced with sugar. My understanding is that Coke Zero is real Coke with the sugar replaced with aspartame. This is really, in my mind, the true diet "Coke." The other stuff is a completely different product from Coca Cola. ← You are correct. I drink coke zero at home, as most restaurants don't have it in their machines.

Nah. I can't give her the benefit of the doubt. Her job is to listen, and provide me with service. If she listened, she wouldn't have heard the word diet. It would the same if I ordered coffee, and said I take sugar with it, and she said "Splenda?". It's a presumption she should not make. And I'm saving my shoes by not seeing her again. And lest you think I am irate, I'm not. It is a lighthearted post, and I'm sure someone got a chuckle out of it.

I was at a chain restaurant awhile back with my daughter. The waitress took our order, asking for our drink choices. When I said "coke", she said "diet?". I said no, and I let it go. Later, she asked if I wanted a refill, and asked what I was drinking. I said "coke", she said "diet?". I grimaced, said no, and let it go. We returned a month or so later, same waitress. When it came time for the drinks, I said "coke", and she said "diet?". Okay, I know I'm not a small man (6'2", 300+ lbs), but this is getting on my nerves. I haven't been back since for fear that it would happen again and I would lose my shoe in her rectal area.