*Small Smile*

I just want to say that I am so thankful for siblings that are angry in my behalf. It makes me feel better. To make things even more interesting, apparently the Mom of this employee who allowed me to be stiffed (the mom was apparently one of the ones at the table) insisted that the manager speak to me about my horrible service. Bill took me aside and asked what the deal was. He wasn't angry or anything. But he was just following through. I told him my side of the story. He told me that Casey had spoken in my defense (I love her). And he also said (though this could have been because he wanted to keep both sides appeased) that he has no sympathy for families of employees that come to eat at Bob Evans because they are only there for the discount. Anyway, I wasn't written up or anything. Good.

In the continuing saga of SARAH AT BOB EVANS

Monday of all days was one of the worst that I have had at Bob Evans so far. It will probably remain in the top five along with the day that I got three complaints in a row because I table hopped. To start off the evening, I was 1/2 an hour late because my car had died(left the stupid lights on again). I had to call several people before finally getting a ride from Scott Mitchell. I got there and the only people working were me and Bill. No cook, no hostess, no dishwasher and no other servers. This really wasn't a problem because Bill can cook and host at the same time. And we weren't too busy. Then a man comes in and tells the hostess that just showed up that he's going to have 9 other people joining him. This is no problem. The restaurant is completely empty. They trickle in. I get them all drinks. They are all nicely dressed and are here for a business meeting. A few other couples walk in and I am able to handle them just fine. I have gotten most everyones orders and it's getting a little busy. More and more people are coming in.

Around 5:25 Amber shows up and it seems like it will be fine. But the people don't stop coming. And our hostess is new and still doesn't understand that you don't seat a section twice if you can help it. She keeps doing this and so Amber and I keep taking each others tables to counter this. For a time, Bill would ask me how I was doing and I would smile and just say "Great!" halfway meaning it. But around 6:00 I was hoping that Bill wouldn't ask me how I was doing because I would probably say something snide or unhappy. I don't know how I managed to get everything done. My service wasn't 100%. Probably around 60-70%. Thats D-C range. Anyway, it was horrific. 6:30 brought us Justin thank goodness. After he showed up, things settled and I was back to doing Great except that my brain was leaking out of my ears.

Not a happy night, but I made a total of $103. What is it with a Monday being busy? Who knows. I got a $10 tip from a two top last night but only a 5-dollar bill from a seven top (3 of them were kids). And as much as I respect Spencer as a server and he's fun sometimes, ther are times when I want to shove a fork up his nose.

In other life news, I really have no other life. I'm depressed because I have a friend coming into town tonight and she will be here for the weekend but I will have almost no time to spend with her. *tear*. In a little happier news, I have now officially decided that I am going to be Special Agent Dana Scully of the FBI for Halloween. My new hair color seems to match that pretty closely and I wont get crap from mom for cross-dressing.

Anyway, thats about it. Life moves on and I sometimes wish I could just stand still and forget about it.

I have intentions of posting a movie review at some point...so look for that.

Crispy

I am in long sleeves. I almost cannot believe it. I cant see the skin of my arms!!!! What do I do!! Okay, breathe Sarah. This is what you wanted. Aww...the theme from Buffy just came onto my iPod and I miss that show...*sigh*. So believe it or not, this year there is a pro and a con to it becoming autumn. Pro, all the things that I love about this season. Con, the colder it gets, the less insects they are to collect and freeze. Which means that it's time for another plug...

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! I CAN USE ALL THE HELP I CAN GET!! NO PRESSURE BECAUSE IT'S MY OWN FAULT FOR LETTING ALL THIS TIME PASS. BUT IF YOU SEE AN INSECT (NO SPIDERS PLEASE, THOUGH THEY ARE COOL) TAKE A SECOND AND CONSIDER CATCHING IT. BEGGARS CANT BE CHOOSERS SO I WILL TAKE ANYTHING BUT WHILE I AM ON THE TOPIC, I WOULD PREFER THEM IN TACT AND NOT SQUISHED. THOUGH ANY BUG IS BETTER THAN NO BUG AT ALL. THANK YOU!!

Sorry. Thats two time in a row. I'm just starting to feel the crunch. Eww, bugs go crunch...

So I think that Bob Evans needs to have a seminar on common restaurant courtesy for it's employees. One of the morning servers and a morning hostess came in...for the second time I might add. It was about 8:00pm. And I had three other tables and Danielle had just been given a 10 top. So we were are scrambling around to help people and help Danielle with her plight. Shoulder some of the load. These two employees (I feel only slightly bad because I can't remember their names) who are friends apparently, have 5 other people that come and join them. They start at one of out long tables that can seat 8 comfortably, but they seem to be unable to conserve space, so as more and more people come along(it was originally supposed to be only a 5 top) they decide that they need to move to another table. The round table in the corner. They also decided that three of them wanted to order and they said that they would be the only ones( they are the only ones there at this point.) I take their order.

By this time the 10 top has arrived. Goody. I was going to take it, but Danielle spared me. I Have been helping her and my other tables when the rest of my 5 top, now a top shows up. I get their drink orders and then go to do other things because I was under the impression that no one else was getting food. Then one of them decides that they want food. And the waitress wants banana bread. All around they are not the kindest of people anyway...but this takes the cake. I was busy then for the next 20 minutes trying to get everything in order and get my food out. Get my tickets out and get people refills. I do have to admit that I spent the least amount of time at the round table with the two employees. But it's not like I was never there. And they were pretty demanding. They needed something every two minutes. Haven't they heard of asking my to get jelly at the same time they ask my to get honey or ketchup? No. I guess not. I know that this entry is long. Bare with me, I am almost done.

After a while, we get everything out to the 10 top and I am now ringing up tickets for people. I am in the process of ringing up needy tables ticket, when the phone rings. Casey(the wonderful and delightful hostess that works Thursdays) answers it. Moments later she comes up to me and says, "the round table called for you."

"Okay," I answer

"No, they literally called for you. On the phone."

I look at her uncomprehending for a moment then raise my eyebrows.

"That was them just now on the Bob Evans phone?"

"Yeah"

"Cute."

I make my way over there with an smile plastered to my face. I apologize that it's been a while since my last visit over there. Before I can ask what they want, A man who was part of the party(he looked about 50) spoke up. "Oh, don't worry. It will be reflected on your tip."

I cant tell if he's joking so I just smile and ask what I can do to help them. They want their check. okay good. I tell them that I was in the process of working on it when they called. They laugh at their little "lets call our waitress over by calling the restaurant" joke. I smile and walk away to get back to what I was doing feeling a little smug that calling me over only insured that they had to wait longer. Casey is just as exasperated with them as I am which makes me feel better because it's not just because I am oversensitive. I get them their ticket and they leave immediately. Thank goodness. But later when I go to clean off the table I see no cash tip. Thats okay. They probably left me a tip on credit. I go to print off my credit tip report. I look down the list and see their ticket. (by the way, it was a good 30 dollars). And guess what? There was no tip at all. The man was not joking. Apparently my service to their table was so bad that I don't deserve to make any money at all from them. A complete waste of my time. All I got out of it was a headache. I have noticed that sometimes there are people who just don't tip, or forget. This table had two employees of Bob Evans. Two employees of the restaurant business. And they let me be left dry. I told this to Casey and we were incredulous. I do think that I need to talk to Steve or Bill about talking to employees about courtsey to your co-workers. Go somewhere else if you want to be a complete jerk. Don't so it to your won team or as Bob Evans calls it "Family".

Okay, I am done. I just needed to vent. On a side note, Danielle got only $5 dollars from her 10 top. I can't even remember how much the check was. But it was a lot and that was a ridiculously low tip.

Sorry. Now I can move on. Moving on...why do all vents seem to be epics? I think it's because we explain in great detail because we want people to feel our anger and justify it to those we are speaking to. And to ourselves. Maybe.

I'm pretty much failing...

So I never com here to post anymore. The truth is, i feel like I have to invest more into these entries to keep my family updated on my life. I have another blog where I just type whatever jumps into my brain about my life. I could do that here but people actually read this and they may not be able to understand the random firings of my brain. Most of the stuff I think has nothing to do with my actual life...well thats not completely true. OK I'll get to the updating.

Work: Not too shabby. Last weekend was almost a disaster. But I managed to pull myself through it. Money this week has been pretty good so far and I hope that this trend continues. But I'm going to have to work a lot harder it seems. We just fired two people and have two new trainees but they won't be up and running for at least another 5 days or so. I like working at Bob Evans when people do what they are supposed to and help each other out. There are some who do not think that this is necessary and make the night horrible for everyone else. And unfortunatly, Bill seems to like these people and won't fire them though he's fired for less. Oh well.

School: I failed my Ecology Test. Well, I got a D and that is as good as failing for me. I continue to underestimate the difficulty of this class. It all seems to make sense until it's put into exam or quiz form. This was the problem with Ornithology. What is it with the ecology people and not being straightforward? Actually it's really me not being able to apply concepts I guess. Anyway, I took a Physiology exam today and aced the first half. Not so sure about all the stuff on Sensory neurons and blah blah blah blah blah...Oh sorry. I almost want into a tangent involving something I really know nothing about. I am running out of time to collect insects. It's going to get cold soon and thats when they all go away. So I WOULD LIKE TO ENLIST SOME HELP FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO READ THIS!! IF YOU FIND ANY INSECTS, WOULD YOU COLLECT THEM FOR ME?? THEY CANNOT BE SMASHED. THEY MUST BE IN TACT. THE BEST TO PRESERVE THEM IS TO CATCH THEM NICELY, PUT THEM IN A SMALL ZIPLOC BAG AND PUT THEM IN THE FREEZER. I DO NOT NEED SPIDERS SADLY. I COULD REALLY USE BEETLES AND BUTTERFILES. MOTHS ARE OKAY BUT NOT AS IMPORTANT. THIS CAN INCLUDE YOU PEOPLE NOT IN COLUMBIA AND NOT IN MISSOURI. I'LL FIND A WAY TO GET THEM THANK YOU!!!

I'm done with that now. Sorry.

Life in general: The beginning of this week was interesting. Katie Whitman (a person much of the Lambson family should know, but I really didn't until a few weeks ago) went out of town and needed someone to look after her two boys (Jack (10) and Andy(8). I spent the night Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I made them dinner, made sure they got to bed, took them to school and picked them up. It was a very educational experience. I learned that Disney channel shows are addicting and dangerous to ones health. I think that they should be ranked above cigarettes. This channel ruins lives with movies like High School Musical and Twitches and their even worse sequels. Anyway, Andy was a major whiner but this is expected from an 8-year-old boy who resents me because his mom is gone and he misses her. Jack was little to no help in making things easier for his younger brother. They got along some of the time. At least Jack listened to me and did what I said. Probably to show Andy how an older boy should act. And I do have to say that Jack inherited much of his grandfathers humor. He is quite an amusing boy. Nothing bad happened. No emergencies, though Jack did loose half of a tooth from eating a sugar baby. Kati's bed was very comfortable. And I wonder if, when I have kids, I will dream weird dreams about them like I did every night while I was babysitting.
Oh, they pranked me the last night I was there. They were real sneaky about it too. Andy came up to me and asked if I would get him a hair tie from his moms bathroom because he wanted to see if he could put his hair up (it is pretty long). Both boys go over to the sink a little later. The Jack goes to the couch to watch more T.V. A minute later Andy asks if I can turn to water on for him because he can't get it to work. I go to the sink and turn on the water and get a chest full of the rinse hose. I am assuming that this was all craftily arranged by Jack. They had put the hair tie around the handle of the hose so that it sprayed me when I turned on the water. We all had a goos laugh. Kudos to them for fooling me. Thought that is not very hard to do.

Well, that wasn't too bad or random of an update. I tried not to be too boring or too random at the same time. I'll try to be more diligent in my updating in the future so each entry won't be so lengthy.