Order Up!
Retro-posted to the actual day.
Today I did my second annual Guest Server night at TGI Fridays. It was a fund raiser event for Habitat for Humanity. Last year I was on standby and got asked to help. This year I volunteered early. The premise is that people from my company volunteer to be servers for the evening shadowed by real servers. 100% of the tips go towards Habitat. Don't worry, the servers were compensated at least a bit by being paid a respectable hourly rate. Each team was given a section of 3-5 tables (we had 4).
I was paired with Michelle, also nicknamed Dee Dee. She was a 19 year old college student who had only been working there for 2-3 months. We got along well and soon found a groove working together. She let me do pretty much everything, from taking and entering orders to handling the payments. She prevented me from screwing up too badly.
Before the event I had posted a status or two on Facebook telling people what I was doing and when. That actually seemed to work pretty well. I had a pretty good showing of people I knew. Next year I'll start the harassment earlier.
I should mention that going into the night, I had a little side bet going with a co-worker, Casey. We were competing for the most tips at the end of the night. The loser had to put a sign in their cube that stated they wanted to work for the other person's department. I knew that I was the underdog going into the evening. Casey can be quite charming and outgoing. I figured that I would give him a run for his money, but that he would win. More on that later.
The first hour was pretty slow. We got there around 4:00 to technically start at 4:30. We got through "orientation" in about 10 minutes, so sat around for a bit. After 5:00, things started to pick up as people got off work. From about 5:30 to 8:00 is mostly a blur. We had a lot of fun and got to talk with some people, but we were pretty busy.
I'm very thankful and humbled by the generosity of others sometimes. Our first table was a woman eating alone. She seemed to want to be left alone and was reading a book at the table. We figured she would hold up our table. When she left, we picked up her $15 check and saw a $20 tip! That was a nice way to start the evening.
When people came in, they could request a specific server. My first request was Holley, the PM I've worked with on the same project for about 2.5 years. She brought a friend, her kids, and her friend's kids. My second request was the Howards. Our section was full by then, so we traded a table with another server. It was really nice to see them. The drove from South Lyon to Troy, a good 35 miles I would bet. They brought Miss Jane who, of course, got a lot of attention with her curly hair and overall cuteness. (I'm not biased.) Probably 15 minutes later, Casey told me that he was waiting on a table that had requested me. I looked over and saw the Giffords, so I went over to say "hi". I also told them about my bet with Casey. I told them that I wanted them to support the cause, but not to tip Casey. :) My last requested table was filled by Theresa and Nicole, two high school friends I had not seen in almost 10 years! They had seen the FB status. How cool is that? Later on we had a request for our section, but it was for Dee Dee. Her aunt and uncle showed up.
Towards the latter half of the evening, we had a party of 8 seated in our section. It turned out to be some work folks including one of the VPs (John) who has been at CMW for decades, Colleen, the woman who runs the Build sign-up for our office, and Tom, the husband of one of the other guest servers (Christina). They had brought some people as well. Once Casey saw who I had, he cried "foul". He knew that was a money table. It turns out that John also picked up some of the other co-workers' tables, but those tips went to the corresponding servers. He tipped a solid 15% on a large bill. However, both Coleen and Tom chipped in some extra cash. We pulled $80 in tips from that table!
Another funny surprise was from the Giffords. Before they left, I had a chance to sit down with them for about 2 minutes. While I was sitting there, Kristin handed me a check. She said that was for my tip pool. Suck that, Casey! ;) I took the check and put the cash equivalent in my till. All my tables tipped well. Even the German guy who barely spoke English and didn't really understand what we were doing gave 10-12%. (Not bad for a European.) I was sure to thank everyone, especially my friends who went a little overboard.
I've always had a healthy respect for those that work in the service industry and it was renewed again. They have to take orders, enter orders, cash out tables, help with menu questions, fetch drinks, deliver orders, and even bus tables. When one server isn't busy, they help deliver orders and bus tables for other servers. Plus each server has "side work", such as helping with dishes, wrapping silverware, etc. They work hard for their money. But they also have fun too (sometimes). You can tell they all develop a strong bond.
Back to the bet. Casey and his partner cashed out right around 8:30. We were just wrapping up our last table, so I told him to not tell me his tally. Dee Dee and I cashed out 15 minutes later. When I asked Casey how he did, he said (I think) $210. Our tally: $253! Asking around, we were the highest, but there were still two servers left. One came in around $160. The last one stayed late upon request to serve a table of 9-10 people brought in by another co-worker. When she cashed out, she had something like $272. So we got bumped out of the lead at the last minute, but I still beat Casey. :) He was given tons of crap about being such a "loser" the next couple of days, but he deserved it. He loves to "dish it out" and can take it well.
Today I did my second annual Guest Server night at TGI Fridays. It was a fund raiser event for Habitat for Humanity. Last year I was on standby and got asked to help. This year I volunteered early. The premise is that people from my company volunteer to be servers for the evening shadowed by real servers. 100% of the tips go towards Habitat. Don't worry, the servers were compensated at least a bit by being paid a respectable hourly rate. Each team was given a section of 3-5 tables (we had 4).
I was paired with Michelle, also nicknamed Dee Dee. She was a 19 year old college student who had only been working there for 2-3 months. We got along well and soon found a groove working together. She let me do pretty much everything, from taking and entering orders to handling the payments. She prevented me from screwing up too badly.
Before the event I had posted a status or two on Facebook telling people what I was doing and when. That actually seemed to work pretty well. I had a pretty good showing of people I knew. Next year I'll start the harassment earlier.
I should mention that going into the night, I had a little side bet going with a co-worker, Casey. We were competing for the most tips at the end of the night. The loser had to put a sign in their cube that stated they wanted to work for the other person's department. I knew that I was the underdog going into the evening. Casey can be quite charming and outgoing. I figured that I would give him a run for his money, but that he would win. More on that later.
The first hour was pretty slow. We got there around 4:00 to technically start at 4:30. We got through "orientation" in about 10 minutes, so sat around for a bit. After 5:00, things started to pick up as people got off work. From about 5:30 to 8:00 is mostly a blur. We had a lot of fun and got to talk with some people, but we were pretty busy.
I'm very thankful and humbled by the generosity of others sometimes. Our first table was a woman eating alone. She seemed to want to be left alone and was reading a book at the table. We figured she would hold up our table. When she left, we picked up her $15 check and saw a $20 tip! That was a nice way to start the evening.
When people came in, they could request a specific server. My first request was Holley, the PM I've worked with on the same project for about 2.5 years. She brought a friend, her kids, and her friend's kids. My second request was the Howards. Our section was full by then, so we traded a table with another server. It was really nice to see them. The drove from South Lyon to Troy, a good 35 miles I would bet. They brought Miss Jane who, of course, got a lot of attention with her curly hair and overall cuteness. (I'm not biased.) Probably 15 minutes later, Casey told me that he was waiting on a table that had requested me. I looked over and saw the Giffords, so I went over to say "hi". I also told them about my bet with Casey. I told them that I wanted them to support the cause, but not to tip Casey. :) My last requested table was filled by Theresa and Nicole, two high school friends I had not seen in almost 10 years! They had seen the FB status. How cool is that? Later on we had a request for our section, but it was for Dee Dee. Her aunt and uncle showed up.
Towards the latter half of the evening, we had a party of 8 seated in our section. It turned out to be some work folks including one of the VPs (John) who has been at CMW for decades, Colleen, the woman who runs the Build sign-up for our office, and Tom, the husband of one of the other guest servers (Christina). They had brought some people as well. Once Casey saw who I had, he cried "foul". He knew that was a money table. It turns out that John also picked up some of the other co-workers' tables, but those tips went to the corresponding servers. He tipped a solid 15% on a large bill. However, both Coleen and Tom chipped in some extra cash. We pulled $80 in tips from that table!
Another funny surprise was from the Giffords. Before they left, I had a chance to sit down with them for about 2 minutes. While I was sitting there, Kristin handed me a check. She said that was for my tip pool. Suck that, Casey! ;) I took the check and put the cash equivalent in my till. All my tables tipped well. Even the German guy who barely spoke English and didn't really understand what we were doing gave 10-12%. (Not bad for a European.) I was sure to thank everyone, especially my friends who went a little overboard.
I've always had a healthy respect for those that work in the service industry and it was renewed again. They have to take orders, enter orders, cash out tables, help with menu questions, fetch drinks, deliver orders, and even bus tables. When one server isn't busy, they help deliver orders and bus tables for other servers. Plus each server has "side work", such as helping with dishes, wrapping silverware, etc. They work hard for their money. But they also have fun too (sometimes). You can tell they all develop a strong bond.
Back to the bet. Casey and his partner cashed out right around 8:30. We were just wrapping up our last table, so I told him to not tell me his tally. Dee Dee and I cashed out 15 minutes later. When I asked Casey how he did, he said (I think) $210. Our tally: $253! Asking around, we were the highest, but there were still two servers left. One came in around $160. The last one stayed late upon request to serve a table of 9-10 people brought in by another co-worker. When she cashed out, she had something like $272. So we got bumped out of the lead at the last minute, but I still beat Casey. :) He was given tons of crap about being such a "loser" the next couple of days, but he deserved it. He loves to "dish it out" and can take it well.