Live Forever or Die Trying

I alluded to yesterday’s disaster earlier and here is the promised story, with pictures.

The night before I got off of work at 11pm, which should have been 10, but we had a lady slip and fall on the floor. Can you say learning experience! I got to fill out the accident report and question the witness; one of our cashiers who was right behind the lady when she fell.

I came home and called Dean and chatted for a while then watched some TV to unwind. I knew I had to do the truck the next morning, which means being there at 7am, but I could not get to sleep. I went to bed at midnight and tossed and turned all night. The closest to sleep I could manage was a light doze, which was an ingredient for the break down that was in store for me the next day.

I saw that the clock was 5:59, so I got up and turned off my yet to be activated alarm and started my morning routine. I knew it was supposed to start snowing in the wee hours of the morning, but I did not expect this!

I cut short my usual routine and rush to get dressed so that I won’t be late to work. As little experience as I have with weather like this, I know that it will be slow going getting to work - a 10 mile trip.

I skip breakfast at home and opt to stop by the hotel lobby to chug 2 glasses of OJ and grab a nutragrain bar of the strawberry variety. I shove it into my pocket and head out into the snow of the parking lot.

I get to work on time despite the 20 mile per hour drive to find that I beat the manager I was to be working with, Scott. I decide to call Dean, since it is our anniversary, but he is still sleeping and does not answer the phone. The only other store open is a coffee shop in our shopping center. I walked over this empty parking lot to have a cup of mocha and a yummy blueberry muffin with the crystallized sugar on top.

As soon as I get comfortable by the warm fire, Scott pulls up about 7:30ish. We chat about the crazy weather as we wait for the truck, which never came. We started making bets as to who would call in and say that they could not make it to work because of the weather. I won the first one because our prep cook Miguel (below center) called us at 8:30 and said he could not come in.

This meant that I was the prep cook for the day. Because of the weather, we thought it best to do minimal prep, because who would be stupid enough to drive in this weather? Usually when schools are out for weather related issues, we get a lot of kids in, but this was to much even for them.

Over the next hour we got 3/4ths of the employees call in and say they could not make it. Besides me and Scott, we only had one bartender and one kitchen guy. The assistant GM Rick came in at noon and we had one table thus far. He sent the kitchen guy Darrell (right side in the previous pic) home for the day. Rick said that I needed more time in the kitchen alone and threw me an apron.

Scott, the other manager, got a call from him mommy because she was stuck at work, so he left to get her. He never came back. Not even a phone call.

As I was in the kitchen, a few tickets came back, then a few more, and before we (Rick was in the kitchen with me) knew it, the whole ticket rail was full. Our bartender Jon, the sole server on the floor, needed help, so Rick sent me out to assist him.

I ran all the food that was done and went to every table to see what they needed. Half the restaurant was full, and more employees were calling in for the evening shift. I was running the restaurant alone in a worst case scenario.

Running food, refilling drinks, pouring beer, taking orders, running more food, talking to every table, answering the phone that would NOT stop ringing; it was crazy. I blinked and it went from 12 to 4:30.

People were calling to see if we were open and then came to the store in droves; we were the only place open since at 2ish the mayor asked all businesses to close for the day because of the “state of weather emergency”.

Why the hell were we open? Because all of the BWW Regional and General managers were in fucking sunny California! Oh, they knew of the blizzard, but told us to remain open. When it looks like this outside:

YOU CLOSE THE DOORS AND GO HOME!

But we kept going. And going and going and going. After I blinked and it was 4:30 we had one cashier come in and Rick left to pick up another employee that did not have 4 wheel drive. By this time Dan, another manager, came in and was in the kitchen. Rachelle, the cashier, ran the counter and phone, so I could spend more time making the guests happy. By this time Jon was about to collapse and my body was screaming. I was running around so much that my ass was literally chapped.

Rick got back with Dave, another bartender/server, and then Kevin, my fellow trainee, came in. Kevin and Dave began taking tables and soon, the brand-new-just-out-of-training-server, Linda came in. It did not lessen the work load at all, instead more people came in for dinner.

We went from 3 people to seven and from a half full floor to a wait and a million take out orders. Ticket times which are normally no more than 12 minuets, were 20+ all day. Then the kitchen crew came in. Four more people, but it only helped a little. All the fryers were constantly full cooking food, there was always someone running to the back to grab restock, we ran out of portioned ranch, tables were dirty, kids were screaming, all the employees were exhausted and running low on steam, and I was there 2 hours past when I was supposed to leave.

I went into the office right before I was about to collapse to drink some water. I remembered that it was me and Dean’s anniversary so I called him. As soon as he answered I burst into tears. My brain was not working right, it had been overused. My body was pushed to its limits, and the wall of sanity crumbled as I realized exactly what I had done. The act of telling Dean transformed the experience from denial of this craziness to a reality.

Rick came in and saw me wiping my eyes and hanging up with Dean. I think he suspected that I was losing it, but also knew that this moment of release would allow me to pull it back together for more.

I went on the floor and realized that poor Linda was in way over her head. A usual server has 4 tables, she was serving 13 with one being a party of 7. She was breaking down. I told her to go out back for a moment and release some of it. I went to every one of her tables and got their status and concerns. One table had been sitting for 1/2 an hour and had not gotten their drinks from the bar yet, another table had been waiting for the same time for their appetizer, yet another was upset that they did not get any refills of water (at BWW they have a soda stand that the guests can use at their own convenience!).

I was in the kitchen getting info for all the tables when I saw Linda coming from the back wiping her swollen eyes. Her and I went back on the floor and I resolved all of the issues the tables were having, two of which Linda forgot to put their orders in. I comped a few checks, and the tables were (mostly) happy.

Two more hours passed of the insanity before Rick told me bluntly, “Thank you for today. Go home.” My stomach dropped, I could not jump this sinking ship. It was not right. We were already severely understaffed, and yes, I was going on my 14th hour there, but I could not leave; it felt wrong.

I tried to to convince him to let me stay, but he was adamant about me going so I did. I clocked out and went to the office to collect my belongings when it all started to hit me. I struggled to keep a straight face as I walked out and wished the rest good luck and told them how great they were doing.

I got into the car and speed-dialed Dean. Before he even answered it all came out. He said “hello” and I answered with choking sobs. I cried for several minutes before I could say more than one word at a time. I told him of what happened since we talked last and hated that he had to see me in this frazzled mental state.

As I pulled it back together, I realized that I had not eaten since about 9am. I slowly started to let my body communicate with me: my feet pulsed with swollen pain, my legs burned like fire, my butt was sore from being chapped, my belly was very empty, my back screamed, my arms had lifted too many over-abundant trays, and my brain was severely overheated. I just wanted good food, a hot bath, and a long sleep, but could not decide in what order, but that was the least of my worries because I still had a 10 mile drive through the leavings of a blizzard.

The roads were covered in several inches of compacted snow and I had no snow tires. There were idiots driving 50 miles an hour, one of which almost hit me, and occasional gusts of 40 mile an hour winds that they a blinding wall of snow up in my path, but despite it all I made it to my street…

Only to get the damn car stuck in a snow drift. I waved at a passing dozer truck that ignored me, than a couple of guys in a diesel stopped and got me out. Home at last. Food a bath and bed was the order I chose and here I am now all recovered.

It was without a doubt, the hardest I had ever worked in my life, but there is an upside to all of this. I got to see how I could hold it together under so much pressure, and so did my trainers. The customers were very appreciative, more so than any other day! We have a big bell at the door that reads, “Ring if you were happy with us” or something along those line.

That bell was rang louder and longer than I have ever seen. And every time the whole staff, even in the kitchen, in unison, yelled back “Thank You!!!!!”

I will never forget that night and the bell is still ringing in my ears.