Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Losing It


I had a melt-down this evening.
Up until now, I’ve been able to keep these things quiet. I’d go somewhere where no one could see or hear me and just sob like a two year-old. Tonight, unfortunately, my husband was in attendance when I just…lost it.
The theme of this month’s incident was "It’s all too much." I have way too many things to think about, to do, to accomplish….complete with deadlines. And I’m SOOOOOO friggin’ tired.
Today was a fourteen-hour day that followed a fourteen-hour day. One of my key employees is out on vacation this week, and the only one available to stand in the gap is, of course, me. When I made the schedule last week, it looked almost easy. It looked doable. I thought I’d gotten off pretty easy, only having to work TWO double shifts. But hours on paper and hours on my feet dealing with a constant barrage of shit hitting the fan are two different things entirely. The last straw was our last group of customers last night. A party of eight who began arriving twenty minutes before we closed. They stayed until nearly 9:00 (we close at 8:00) racked up an $86 tab (which is really a pretty reasonable cost to feed eight people), displayed some kind of inappropriate sticker shock when they got their bill, and left all of ten dollars for a tip (which is not even 12%, in cast you’re trying to do the math…) Talk about a "WHY THE F**K AM I DOING THIS, AGAIN?" moment…
I struggled to get the money counted and paperwork completed (the first thing I lose when I’m tired is my ability to count money…) All I could think of was that I had to be back at it in less than ten hours. I reached into the closet to grab my purse and coat, looked in my briefcase and spied the stack of bills I’d been carrying around for two days that I would have to deal with before I could go to bed. And I burst into tears.

9 comments:

  1. I am sorry you had a bad night! suckie tippers suck!

    I hope today is a better one for you!

    ~make it a great day!~
             Sharon
    http://journals.aol.com/buggieboo1/ImASurvivor/

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  2. Once again....I'm wishing I could just appear there and give you a hand.  I would if I could.  How well I know that feeling of hanging on by a well frayed thread.  A melt down was probably the best thing you could do.

    {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{LISA}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

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  3. {{{{{{{{lisa}}}}}}}} Oh, let me hug you!  Somedays life is just too tough.  

    If there was one thing I could really do for you -- like be there serving -- I would.  Just know that I'm on your side and would happily pitch in.  

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  4. sometimes a crying is all there is...



    xxooxxoo

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  5. First, I've sent an armload of candles your way.

    Second, some folks are just clueless. Mom and I never get out of a place for less that $15.00 or so apiece. We have a few RV customers that I swear will pinch a penney until it screams and then pinch it again. They're buying a coach that costs more than your house and the cafe put together. I guess that's how they got enough to do that.

    But, short of posting a sign that says the kitchen closes a half hour before closing I don't know what you can do and if it happens often enough  to be worth the hassle.

    I wish I could be there to give you a big hug, but I'm imagining it really, really hard.

    Jackie

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  6. Well I"d cry to if I was exhausted from overwork and lack of sleep and then got gypped on a tip.  I hope they catch a 24 hour flu and lose all the wonderful food you fed them the hard way!

    Storms Whisper and Oceans Scream:

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  7. {{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}}

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  8. I agree with Christina, sometimes a good cry is really, really needed...and sleep, too, of course...

    thinking of you.

    J

    p.s. - and shame on that group, for leaving such a miserable tip!

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  9. Lisa, I'm sorry.  I don't know why it has to be so hard.
    http://searchthesea.blogspot.com/

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