July 4th and restaurants

Howdy!

Belated Happy 4th of July to you all (this is being posted after midnight where I am). By now the fireworks are just a memory of ooohs and aaaahs and I hope it was a grand event for you and your friends.

I was thinking today about this Holiday and how restaurants handle it. I've worked at all types of restaurants and depending on the climate of the restaurant, they treat these summer holidays differently. Well, at least they should.

At one place, we were on the main street and were a more casual dining place in the day and more elegant at night. There was, as I remember the right staffing for each shift according to the tendencies of the past. We all know how things can be inconsistent, but still, good owners and managers tend to look at past trends, throw in some common sense and go from there. Other places....not so much.

One year I missed a family reunion in Canada because of poor planning. I worked at a very elegant place in a resort town that is known for out door activities. The owner/manager thought we would be very busy and wanted a very full staff. I on the other hand knew we wouldn't be busy, but couldn't convince her of that fact. She was relatively new to the restaurant industry and that coupled with the fact that she wasn't wearing her common sense hat led to my missing a fun family event. People bbq on this middle-of-the-summer event. They don't tend to go to posh places in droves. It's a hamburger kind of Holiday.

Well I was also thinking today how this simple situation in the life of waiter or waitress could be a scene in the remake. A casual way to educate managers. I was out to lunch with a pal last week who had recently watched the movie and she told our waitress how she learned something not to ever do again when she went out with friends. It was the separate checks with couples all over the place scene. The movie is a way to educate as well as entertain.

That's all for now. Oh yeah, by the way, that 4th of July night when I was forced to miss the reunion? I waited on 2, yes count 'em, 2 people. The next night wasn't much better...;-) Ah well, that's the biz.