Fingers Crossed. And Toes.

If anyone (all one of you) wants a few laughs and maybe a little restaurant etiquette training at the same time, go to waiterrant.net or bitterwaittress.com. Waiterrant.net's writer is a very good and perceptive author and is getting published. Bitterwaittress has a great forum where servers and bartenders from all over write in and commiserate on what a thankless job it is. Although I've been in management for many years, I started as a server and never forgot where I came from. I still enjoy reading about some of the f-ing retards who keep the chairs warm at restaurants. Oh, the stories I can, and will, tell. And to all of you who tip 10% for decent service, karma is a bad mo-fo.
I had my (fingers crossed) interview this morning, and it went very well. I would almost promise to turn uber-religious if God/Mohammed/Krishna would present me with this job. Just the thought of a Monday - Friday work week, holidays off, etc. is almost too much to imagine. I won't go into detail, but I'm very qualified, and from the owner's demeanor, it's in the bag. Now, I just have to charm the wife/partner next week. If I don't get the job, I'm screwed, and I have to look for another restaurant manager (RM) position (Oh, please, Goddess, no!). Or maybe a server/bartender job. Anything hourly. Hell, I'd commute two hours a day to not have to deal with the whole RM thing again.
I once got a not-so-good Performance Review because my employees liked me a lot. It wasn't that I let them get away with anything, but I LISTENED to them. I was on the floor bussing tables, seating people, refilling water, making the shift run smooth. I was a 100% table visit kind of manager. I'll never forget the time I was sent to a different restaurant to fill in, and I visited all the tables. A server came up to me and asked "Was there anything wrong with my table, why did you go over?". Surprised, I go, "That's what we're supposed to do, and they said you're doing a great job." I've never seen a happier server. All people want is to be acknowledged and listened to. And for that, I got graded down on my performance, even though I turned my restaurant from the worst-surveyed store in the Southeast to the best in a three month period...because my employees liked me.
Oh, and thank you "anonymous" for the comment, the check is in the mail...if I had your name...or address...or e-mail...I have Paypal!