| Monday, September 19, 2005 |
| Slammed |
The good news: I'm still alive.
I'm afraid this post might sound like whining so, if it does, my deepest apologies. I was a little hesitant about running headfirst into my first non-trainee week and, apparently, I should have been. "Mondays are slow," was the refrain I heard from everyone at Panera. But as the lunch hour approached the crowd got bigger and bigger. It was absolute lunacy. There were people everywhere. I'm not sure if every other restaurant in the Hyde Park area was closed, but it seemed that way. At the end of my shift, the manager said they've not had a lunch rush this crazy in more than four months.
The toughest thing about being in this situation was my "newbie" status. I love using my hustle to cut down on time and help get things done; today I felt like a gawker at an accident scene who thinks changing out a broken tail light on the demolished automobile will make a difference. Because I only have limited knowledge concerning what to get done, I couldn't swoop in and alleviate the problem. Maybe it would have helped if they had trained me more, but I think I was able to help out here and there. I think I'm on a decent learning curve, but I have to keep figuring out how to do other things so I can be a go-to player.
Just a sidenote, I have to give it up to my manager, Sandi. She's always been very nice to me, and I wondered how she'd react in a high stress situation like today. Sandi didn't stop moving the whole day; she was in before I was and was there when I left. She had to delegate quickly and step in wherever needed, and did it without a negative word to anyone. She's the champ. So far, I think she's happy with my work.
So maybe the real good news is: tomorrow can't get any worse. |
yet another musing of steve-o @ 3:38:00 PM  |
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