A New Year Brings Many Changes
I have been living with Harley along with his wife-to-be and baby son (hereinafter Harley Jr.) for a little over a month now. Harley has given me an education in restauranteering and many fascinating details of the behind-the-scenes goings on at PG13.
Harley has stepped-up from being a manger at PG13 to being an MIT (manager-in-training) at a casual dining restaurant chain I will call PMFYF (pseudo-Mexican food for young folk).
It has been a challenging month. While moving I fell off the truck--really spectacular falls, the kind that would have made America's Funniest Home Videos if there had been a video camera. While helping me move in, Harley saw me walk backward off the truck and had to take a minute to quit laughing. Then he said "No more walking backward for you!" Being a good egg, he made sure I didn't repeat the same mistake. (All my falls came from trying to carry and walk backward and talk at the same time--thank god I wasn't trying to chew gum too!)
So during the busiest period of the year I have been limping around like a 70-year old with arthritis. I know this because one came into PG13 and outpaced me getting to his table. Oh how the mighty have fallen!
Finally I went to the doctor after being practically being unable to walk and she diagnosed the problem, gave me some exercises, and explained that I had irritated my sciatic nerve and I needed to take a stronger anti-inflammatory medication than ibuprofen. Within a couple days I was much better and after a week I was beginning to get back to my old self again.
Which is excellent timing because a couple waitresses have moved on and Maestro (the GM) asked me to work an additional day every week. Yes! I've been needing to get back that day for several months now. Now I work Wednesday through Sunday 4-10 PM.
HARLEY GIVES ME THE LOWDOWN ON THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY
Harley is a bright young guy (late 20's) who has worked in restaurants practically his entire adult life and has made them his career. PG13 offered him his own restaurant to stay with the company but he turned them down to go over to PMFYF. He explained to me that the restaurant industry (those places where you sit down and eat--everything above fast-food) essentially breaks down into three categories: Diners (IHOP, Denny's, COCOs, etc.), Casual Dining (T.G. I. Fridays, Chili's, Red Robin, Applebees, etc.), and Fine Dining (Ruth's Criss Stake house and four-star restaurants). Some attempt, with some success, to straddle the Casual and Fine dining border (Macaroni grill, P.F. Chang's) which is where I expect to apply next.
BEHIND THE SCENES AT PG13
Harley has given me practically X-ray vision into the goings-on at PG13. Events that were previously mysterious are now clear. But readers will have to wait for my next posting to catch more details of that and the babbling developments of Harley Jr. and co.
WHY THE LONG PAUSE?
I'm going to post perhaps once every week now and see how that goes. When I started I thought I needed to post every day and that was exhausting. I was very pleasantly surprised at the number of people (way more than two!) that enjoyed reading and urged me to continue. Thank you and Tip generously!
I have been living with Harley along with his wife-to-be and baby son (hereinafter Harley Jr.) for a little over a month now. Harley has given me an education in restauranteering and many fascinating details of the behind-the-scenes goings on at PG13.
Harley has stepped-up from being a manger at PG13 to being an MIT (manager-in-training) at a casual dining restaurant chain I will call PMFYF (pseudo-Mexican food for young folk).
It has been a challenging month. While moving I fell off the truck--really spectacular falls, the kind that would have made America's Funniest Home Videos if there had been a video camera. While helping me move in, Harley saw me walk backward off the truck and had to take a minute to quit laughing. Then he said "No more walking backward for you!" Being a good egg, he made sure I didn't repeat the same mistake. (All my falls came from trying to carry and walk backward and talk at the same time--thank god I wasn't trying to chew gum too!)
So during the busiest period of the year I have been limping around like a 70-year old with arthritis. I know this because one came into PG13 and outpaced me getting to his table. Oh how the mighty have fallen!
Finally I went to the doctor after being practically being unable to walk and she diagnosed the problem, gave me some exercises, and explained that I had irritated my sciatic nerve and I needed to take a stronger anti-inflammatory medication than ibuprofen. Within a couple days I was much better and after a week I was beginning to get back to my old self again.
Which is excellent timing because a couple waitresses have moved on and Maestro (the GM) asked me to work an additional day every week. Yes! I've been needing to get back that day for several months now. Now I work Wednesday through Sunday 4-10 PM.
HARLEY GIVES ME THE LOWDOWN ON THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY
Harley is a bright young guy (late 20's) who has worked in restaurants practically his entire adult life and has made them his career. PG13 offered him his own restaurant to stay with the company but he turned them down to go over to PMFYF. He explained to me that the restaurant industry (those places where you sit down and eat--everything above fast-food) essentially breaks down into three categories: Diners (IHOP, Denny's, COCOs, etc.), Casual Dining (T.G. I. Fridays, Chili's, Red Robin, Applebees, etc.), and Fine Dining (Ruth's Criss Stake house and four-star restaurants). Some attempt, with some success, to straddle the Casual and Fine dining border (Macaroni grill, P.F. Chang's) which is where I expect to apply next.
BEHIND THE SCENES AT PG13
Harley has given me practically X-ray vision into the goings-on at PG13. Events that were previously mysterious are now clear. But readers will have to wait for my next posting to catch more details of that and the babbling developments of Harley Jr. and co.
WHY THE LONG PAUSE?
I'm going to post perhaps once every week now and see how that goes. When I started I thought I needed to post every day and that was exhausting. I was very pleasantly surprised at the number of people (way more than two!) that enjoyed reading and urged me to continue. Thank you and Tip generously!
posted by PhilosophicalWaiter | 10:53 AM
|
1 comments
