Category Archives: There goes the neighbourhood!

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6 drunk guys, an angry Chef and

a baseball bat…

I can only imagine the look on R\’s face when he pulled up in front of the restaurant coming back from a delivery only to find it surrounded by police cruisers…  Needless to say Friday night/Saturday morning was FAR from boring.  We were busy, and by busy I mean not stop total chaos ALL night!  So we decided in the best interest of all of us to close early.  We were running out of food, the fryers had gotten so low on oil that even making an order of fries was complicated.  We had orders flying out the door and for some reason we had a whole lot of drunk people piling in as well.  Which killed me because you can plainly see that were busy and while most people were pretty cool about it, this one emo-tard was being a douche-bag so I made him wait longer for his food on purpose.  Mostly because I could!  Anyway that\’s irrelevant to my \”mishap\” that occurred.

So R had to go on some deliveries because we were totally swamped and we opted to close at 3:30am instead of 4.  So I was asked to watch the computer, and what have you.  No problem!  That is until 6 drunk guys stumbled in the door at 3:35 am…  A large majority of them being black, except for that cute French white guy oh and one girl.  All of them at least half a foot taller if not more so then I and considerably larger then myself.  Yes the whole racial profiling thing has some relevance and I will get to that in a second.  They come up to the counter and after a minute of  hey how are you stuff, they got pretty pissed that I told them due to circumstances beyond our control we had to shift our closing time from 4am to 3:30.  So they were all dissapointed, which was what I expected except for this one guy who wouldn\’t take no for an answer!  He was literally begging me to make him food.  Thankfully C had no more orders working at the time so I stood firm and said no.  I even turned down a walk-in pick up order because we both had enough and wanted to get the hell out of there!

Then this one asshole got exceptionally belligerent and well he just picked the wrong place/date/time to get up my ass!  There was no room left there for anyone else at that point!  All of his friends were like look man she\’s closed let\’s go and he just wouldn\’t leave!  So then he slams his fist down on the counter and says your not listening to me.  So I in turn slammed my fist down on the counter and said no your not fucking listening to me!  So on comes the ultimate screaming match with some random dude…  His friends got smart and left and only that asshole and the one guy trying to contain him were still inside.  He just wouldn\’t get the hint so I went out front to escort them out and possibly punch someone in the face.  All of his friends and a few random customers came in once again and it was getting crowded in there and no one was listening to me.  My co-worker well he was no help what so ever…  So since they wouldn\’t leave I went back behind the counter to grab the baseball bat that we have in the kitchen for some random reason.  That\’s when things got really ugly.

The whole front was total chaos, I was getting ready to start knocking heads off like some people do mailboxes.  So drunk guys buddy gets all up in my face talking shit, saying listen to me over and over again.  WTF there isn\’t anything left to say other then get the fuck outta my restaurant!   My co-worker ended up calling the cops who to my amazement showed up in about 5 minutes and broke the party up.  Turns out because these two girls came in and seeing how it was late I let them stay in there because they were running away from some random dude; drunken ass thought I was refusing to serve him because he was black.  WTF!?!  Are you kidding me?  No I don\’t give a damn what your race/gender/ etc. is if I\’m CLOSED I am NOT serving ANYONE!   So needless to say the cops took care of them, made sure that those of us inside were OK and that was that.  No one at work is going to screw with me now lol.

So yesterday I was only supposed to work from 8-11pm because the other guy I was working with I ended up working for him Friday night but I somehow got sucked into working from 8pm-4am UGH… Anyway G asked me if I knew the guys name so that he could call him and apologize for Friday night.  If ANYONE should be apologized to, its ME.  So what if that one guy orders a lot, I make ALL the damn food that comes outta that place more often then not!  Yeah I get that we need the business (what place doesn\’t?) and all that shit but honestly the personal safety of your staff should come first!  If my own personal safety is threatened in ANY way I will do whatever it takes to protect myself!  Its not as if I was having a bad night and felt the need to get in touch with my inner bad ass.  That really pissed me off!  I spoke to my immediate boss about that and one of the owners.  While I respect their point of view, I don\’t agree with it at all!

Although in spite of all the bullshit, some good things do happen!  The biggest issue I had at work has officially been eliminated 😀 Hooray!  Also good things come in cute packages…  So had Michael not did what he did then I wouldn\’t be enjoying that…  So not only did I get a bitching tattoo, I just might get something awesome outta the deal.  I\’m down with that! 😉  Thanks!

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The randomness that is my life…

So this is my first week with the schedule change and things are actually kind of OK for the most part.  Its a little different being there during the day working with and conversing with different people which is actually kind of nice.  Granted the totally inappropriate conversations are still very much never ending.  Like the great debate over just how much of a redhead I really am 😉  My hair color has changed somewhat exponentially over the years on its own due to age and the lack of sunshine that I expose it to.  However when I was a small child, my hair pretty much closely matched that of fire.  Nothing like looking as if you have a ball of flames attached to your scalp.  I offered to prove it to one of the owners at work but he declined lol.

Then we got to talking about the hockey game between Canada and the US that I quite frankly could care less about in any way shape or form because well its hockey so who cares.  OMFGWTFBBQ shocking I know…  But anyway I was talking to someone on the phone and they were screaming no no no in my ear and I couldn\’t help but lament on the fact that that was the first time I have ever had a guy scream no in my ear like that…

One can hope when I do decide to converse with said person again they aren\’t so damn crusty.  I can kind of figure out why seeing as how oddly enough there are certain aspects of said person that remind me all too much of myself.  I\’m OK with that, because then at the very least I know how to deal with that.  Nothing wrong with getting in touch with your inner Steph 😉  Then again they\’re also the greatest piece of inspiration behind my tattoo.  Don\’t quite know how to say, thanks to you I have my life back.  well I do, just don\’t know how to say it without sounding totally cheesy.

So were 7 days into the new year and so far nothing has sucked too bad…  Lots of work ahead but visa needs to get paid and the only way I can make that happen is to work my ass off some more.  I\’m not going home this summer, the cost is quite exponential overall which is slightly sad in a way seeing as how I only go to Ontario.  However when you factor in the time I need to take off of work, the cost of transportation, not to mention getting my tattoo fix whilst there and general entertainment expenses the end just doesn\’t justify the means for me when I have that much freaking debt. Well its not that bad, I know people who are FAR worse off in that department then I am but still I hate owing money.  I also hate only getting paid every 2 weeks, that\’s exceptionally irritating!

Soon I\’ll be back in school, that\’s kind of scary!  I\’m still holding off on my website because even though I finally feel as if I have my life back on track, I still haven\’t transferred everything over to this computer yet program wise and all my files are stashed on my other HDD  as well and that\’s just such a cumbersome task that I have little interest in embarking on for the moment.  It will get done, its just a matter of when really.  That and well I have too many other things that need to get out of the way first so it\’s just going to have to wait a little longer!

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updates & upheavals…

Good bye social life, enter into workaholic mode instead.  After I left Gryphon I had some serious time to kill since I left there on a Friday and didn\’t start my new job until the following Wed.  Major shift upheaval at its best.  I went from working my nice M-F 9-5 job to working Thursday-Saturday 6pm-4pm and Sunday\’s 5pm-1am. Which is somewhat OK for the most part since I prefer to have a consistent schedule but not having any time off of on the weekend DOES suck just a little.  Oddly enough getting myself to stay up until at least 4am and not rolling out of bed til around 1pm, wasn\’t that difficult.  Granted its going to suck when I have to be awake and alert for a dental appointment at 8am on Thursday.  I\’m going to try & go to sleep a little earlier then the norm, get my dental work done and then go home and take a nap before work so I don\’t screw myself up too badly sleep wise.

I also seem to have developed a new compulsion: working out.  I\’ve never really been \”anti-exercise\” per say but it was never that high on my priority list either.  Now I work out every day, even if its only a quick 20 minute routine I still do it.  It has very little to do with my overall appearance with the exception of my biceps.  Mostly because I have bitching tattoo work and loss of definition has made me slightly anal about it.  I figure if I ain\’t getting none, might as well blow off my frustration somehow right?  I save the heavier routines for my days off simply because once the adrenaline rush wears off, I tend to crash pretty hard right in the middle of my shift.  Not cool if its busy, which fluctuates quite a bit depending on the day.  Which is exactly what happened on Sunday.  I woke up @ 1:15 and had to be at work for 5pm which was the COC ass-rape-a-thon  starring none other then yours truly.  Having a full board usually isn\’t a big deal for me alone but when the orders are all over the damn place that\’s a whole other story.  The menu is limited, but so is space, equipment and tools required to make things happen like pans…  Which makes what would seem the simplest of tasks that much more tiresome.  Who would have thought that making mac & cheese & grilled cheese would piss me off so much.  Well it does, sounds simple which for the most part it is but there\’s just SO much running around to make it happen.  That and our fridge has no shelves which just makes things that much more complicated.

Overall I like my job, less responsibility and bullshit then the last one.  FAR more respect since the boys who are running the place aren\’t exactly qualified quite like I am so when I talk, they listen (woo hoo!) even the exec Chef is fresh out of culinary school (class of \’08).  But the demographic is a lot different.  I thought hoped that I would get away from whiny FOH staff but oh no, such was not the case!  So I got into it on Sunday with the girl answering the phones she\’s like I need blah blah blah, to which I fired back I need 5mil and a pool boy but doesn\’t mean I\’m going to get it right away now am I.  Put her in her place pretty fucking quick.  Yeah I get it, I\’m the new girl I expect *some* flack and/or criticism/corrections however BOH reins supreme over FOH and I ain\’t going to take shit from a kid who isn\’t anywhere near as qualified as I am.  Overall aside from almost cutting a piece of my index finger off, burning my right butt cheek on a sandwich press and my stomach on the fryer, I kinda like my job.  Wonder what D is going to say when I tell him I essentially need all my working days off for Christmas this year.  Ticket is bought, tattoo appointment booked.  There ain\’t NO WAY, I\’m NOT going home…  Especially if I get screwed with all the crappy shifts that no one wants…  He\’s going to OWE me come the end of December.

So that\’s about it, I\’ve done nothing but work and exercise and I know that a thrill a minute for you all.  Oh and well Heddy has become an anorexic/bulimic since the arrival of Xavier, whom she hates quite a bit still.  So she\’s super stressed out and refuses to eat & only occasionally drinks.  I\’m screwed if she ends up with renal failure so I\’ve had to force feed my poor baby with water and baby food.  I have to be careful because if I give her too much at one time, she just throws it back up again.  Yeah like you needed to know that…

In other news, Monday was a stunningly beautiful day here and there\’s an abandoned building at the end of my street that I\’ve been dying to investigate.  This odd fascination I have, I know.  I was prepared to walk down and around to the highway underpass (which I\’ve done countless times to get up on the roof & watch the sunrise) since I didn\’t feel like hopping the fence but to my surprise, the gate was wide open so I just walked right in SCORE!  It was late in the afternoon though and fairly muddy so I didn\’t really venture too far into it since it was getting dark and I didn\’t have on proper shoes.  I do however plan on going back tomorrow since I have Wed off before it gets too late in the day and doing some better \”investigating\” if you will 🙂

Sucks that the flash on my camera is being pissy, I\’m thinking its time to buy a new one.  Otherwise I would have gotten far better images then I did.  I\’m buying a new computer first, that\’s my up-most priority since I need a better model for school and well I just want to replace my laptop that I miss so dearly.  Then I\’m buying a new camera, I already know which one I want, its just a matter of obtaining it.  Since I\’ll be working my ass off, this shouldn\’t be mission impossible  come the new year.  Got to pay off my visa bill first and I have school to think about as well.  But CC bill takes priority overall of course.  So Wed, I\’m going to take care of things around here and enjoy the day off that I have and then Thursday morning at 8am, I have to have a filling replaced.  Which I\’m oddly happy about because every time I floss my teeth it gets stuck because its starting to come up and its not hardcore painful yet, but letting it go is NOT an option.  Besides, silver fillings are gross in spite of the fact that amalgam fillings (the tooth colored ones) aren\’t as strong.

Had a lovely leisurely day with my friend Jen this afternoon.  She texted me on Monday saying \”hey girly, I miss you, how are you?\”  meanwhile I had un-read text\’s from two other people and I replied back to who I thought was Jen \” miss you too!  We need to get together soon, I should get my schedule today\”  So then Mat (my \”neighbor\”) texts me and he\’s like huh?  Turns out my phone likes to text random people a little too often!  Which only happens when I have un-read text messages waiting from others.    A mutual friend of ours was supposed to join us, but I have to admit I wasn\’t the least bit dissapointed when she bailed out.  She\’s nice enough of course, but I wanted Jen all to myself so we could talk, catch up and gossip 😉  So we had lunch, did some shopping which I shouldn\’t have done but you know…  We had a ton of fun just the two of us!  I\’m getting too girly, its kind of crazy!  I\’m slowly changing some aspects of my appearance or at the very least stepping out of my comfort zone.  Having more liquid assets comes in handy too, can\’t wait to my pay is more regulated!   In the meantime, I take comfort in knowing that I\’m helping to keep visa in business.

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So it begins…

Started my new job yesterday which was interesting to say the least…  Mostly because the guy who was supposed to be training me wasn\’t in due to the flu.  I however have become a little too accustomed to be being \”fed to the sharks\” and adapt pretty damn fast to these situations.  So I was working on the line with the owner last night which wasn\’t all that bad.  Except at first, I had no clue that he was one of the owners oops!  We got on well and rocked it out but the place was a freaking zoo at one point.  Rush from hell kicks in, were SO not prepared for it since we were short people who work during the day to make this whole prep thing happen.  All in all it was OK, it had its moments of total and utter fail but at least we got on well.

Funny enough another one of the owners (I think there\’s 5 of them) used to attend the university I work at and on the occasions that I was working in the actual cafeteria itself as opposed to the kitchen, I\’ve served him before.  So we both thought it was pretty funny that I went from serving HIM coffee, to having him sign MY cheques.  Everyone there is really cool, though.  Were all in the same relative age bracket, everyone is English which is awesome since my French is terrible at best.  So those two things alone make work suck a little bit less.

Of course there are always a few downfalls, as one would find in any kitchen.  The hours, OMFG there goes my life…  Sunday they\’re open from 2pm-1am, Monday-Wed 5pm-1am, Thursday-Sat. 5pm til 4am, yes that would be four o\’clock in the freaking morning!  Guess what shift I\’m working tonight and Saturday…  There\’s a few \”problem area\’s\” that need to be addressed but not so many to the point that I wouldn\’t want to be there unlike one place that I worked at.  So I\’ll be doing my damnedest to make that happen.  John himself said if anyone can whip that place into shape it you lol.  He is right though, years of experience do help and I have reached a point in my career that you know what\’s going to work and what isn\’t.

I have to admit though that the times that I have upstaged them thus far, they\’re pretty good about it.  Yesterday being a prime example: you work in any kitchen that has a grill and you\’ll know what I mean.  Each one has a drip pan underneath it that generally slides in and out.  Most places cover this with tinfoil because when your grilling chicken, the oil in the marinade tends to catch on fire.  However I was told that it was broken, I was like broken?  Dude its a drip tray, how on earth can you break that?  He said that its been jammed in there all day and no one could get it out.  That was until *I* came along and yanked that sucker out in all of 2 minutes.  I\’ve never seen a  bunch of boys so excited over such a  thing!

Tonight pending the exec Chef comes in, it should be interesting.  I like him, he\’s nice enough BUT he\’s also a recent graduate (class of 2008) and I also happen to be a few years older then him and he\’s a little cocky, but too much so.  Needless to say, we\’re going to be having a discussion today if he comes in.  No its not *my* kitchen, and I am OK with not being anywhere near in charge for a change but certain things just don\’t sit well with me for justifiable reasons.  Mostly I get into \”anal retentive Nazi\” mode when it comes to organization, cleanliness, food safety and efficiency.  Those are the 3 key areas that I always find need to be addressed to some degree or another.  Not that I\’m saying that my new job has a profound amount of those issues thankfully, it just needs \”the Steph touch\” 😉

Its a HUGE change from the life I have grown somewhat accustomed to and my schedule and its time constraints tend to turn people off more often then not.  Not that I can say I blame anyone for that because it takes a pretty tolerant person to date someone in this business.  The hours are insane, its stressful, becoming an alcoholic is always an issue (thankfully not for me, that\’s why I don\’t drink that much), its very demanding overall and you tend to become exceptionally bitter and jaded at best.  In any case I consign myself to the fact that I\’m getting out sooner as opposed to later.  I signed up for this life, it was my choice and like several other things I choose to do, you can either take it or leave it.  Not like it matters, since the last few dates I have been on haven\’t been all that remarkable.  I have a few ideas as to why, but mostly people automatically assume that because I work as much as I do, with the most random schedule ever that I won\’t have time for them.

WRONG…  I ALWAYS make time for those that matter.  Granted I can\’t bet here for everyone 24/7 but I sure as hell don\’t expect them to be there for me that much either.  Which makes the time you do have with them that much more precious.  It also makes dating someone who\’s in the same industry as you a hellish nightmare at best…  But its been done and if I was destined to, I\’d do it again.  Not that it matters because the last few have totally lacked the whole wow factor for lack of a better term.  I don\’t know if its one situation that I can\’t seem to let go or if I\’m just dead inside.  At this point its anyone\’s guess and there\’s only one way for me to narrow it done, but I have to nail down that one opportunity first to see.  Which very well might never present itself at this rate.

In other non work related news: I booked my ticket to go home and my annual Christmas tattoo appointment as well 🙂  Now I just need to take the time off of work.  I\’m hoping that won\’t be an issue…  I\’ll only be gone for a few days, I leave the morning of the 24th @7:30am and I have to leave Cambridge on Dec 28th @ 9:30pm to make my connection in Toronto for 12:30am the following day.  But it\’ll be nice to go home & see everyone and get my memorial tattoo for Jason as well (which in case you were wondering is booked for 3pm on the 28th YAY!).  If  your wondering what I\’m getting,  I\’m keeping a closely guarded secret.  Only one/perhaps 2 people know what I\’m getting and even Tim doesn\’t know yet.  I just said that I\’m getting a memorial piece and nothing more.  I\’m excited though!  I was going to get Gil to do it a few months ago but I thought better of it and decided to wait until I went home instead.  I need a little more time to heal and the tattoo usually helps, but in the end there\’s no point it rushing it either.