Tuesday, February 03, 2009
i started working today at Astons. got all hyped up and cldnt slp in the morning..think i woke at 7. I was like thinking to myself: Finally! No more moring days where i stare at my computer and tv! Rolled around until like 8+ b4 i got up. Since i live so nearby, i reached there at like 11am. Lol. Got 3 new comers. 2 part-time, 1 full time. Me and another girl were the part-timers, quite pretty and also going TP. AHEM! Ya then, we got briefed abt the table numbers, laying the tables, miscellanious and maintenance work. It is all the tedious stuff, but still essential in makeing the customers visit a pleasant one. the first few week for new comers are abt the same till we familiarise ourself, only then can we take orders. So i received this paper abt ordering system and how the food is liked. Memorise abt 2/3 of it on the spot. Smart eh? The full-timer got the paper like last week so he know everything le..cheat rite?
Here comes the bad news. The manager came up to my leader and said: 'hey we need help washing the dishes. get one of the part-timers.' So i was like shit! One girl, one boy, guess who HAS to wash the dishes? ME DUH! Im satrting to think wat YC said was correct. What if they got my name wrong? Or worse, they hire me as waiter, but sort of politically force me to be dishwasher. Something abt wat the manager said made me worry. She said to the part-timers: 'U must work atleast 3 days to get ur pay, if u work 2 days, u wun get any pay..it wld be like working for free.' So guess how many days am i working this week? THREE!!! Gosh..this is extremely worrying. And the worse thing abt the system is that, u ldnt know if ur working nxt week..so maybe they hire me this week, and on thur say 'Here ur pay boy! U don't need to turn up nxt week!' HORRORS OF HORRORS!
Oh wait, i cant bad mouth my employer. So i was given this opportunity to be behind the scenes of the great food serving at Astons. How honourable eh? It started out fine, as i have to wait for the lunch crowd to slowly stream in, eat their food, and then for me to wash. The worse thing is this, all of a sudden, there will this huge pile of plates and cutlery stacked up for me. This is when i rushed like mad. And as there is limited cutlery at Astons, i have to plan wat to wash nxt. Like should i wash the cups first or the cutlery? Both are in shortage, and i have to clear the plates or they will be at risk of falling and breaking. Didnt know dish-washing cld be so taxing to the mind. And i tink i need to slim down..the narrow passage from the dirty plate collection point to the dish washer is hardly able to squeeze 2 person who are rushing abt. And the thing abt peak hours is that everyone is rushing and wants to have things done quickly, causing them to be easily irrtable.
Worst part abt dish-washing is that u can nvr really stop, coz there will always be things to wash. Take for after the lunch period, the cooking crew will be wanting their pots and pans washed. And there are tons of cups and cutlery and plates and many other things waiting to be washed. The hardest things to wash is the kitchen stuff. Burnt, stuff like mash potato and rice sticks to the side. Those stians are so stubborn that i have to scrub, wash, scrub, wash many times b4 they are clean. All the while, the kitchen crew chasing down my neck for the pots and pans for them to prepare dinner. And the stack of dirty plates just seem nvr ending. Good thing? i tink my muscle is growing! :)
Staff there are pretty awesome and friendly. Just know who to mess with and who not to mess with and im fine. Quite a few pretty waitresses too. Lets all hope tmr, i dun get to do dishes.