Thursday, September 6, 2007

Corporate=Hell

so i didn't get a chance to write yesterday so i'll post two today and hopefully that will make up for missing yesterday. The reason I didn't get a chance to write yesterday is because I was working. I tried though. I took my laptop to work with me but my wireless connection wouldn't work for some reason. and I didn't get off work until 3 am so as you can imagine I was a bit tired when i got home...not really in a blogging mood. I love my new job though. I recently started working at Young Avenue Deli in midtown at the corner of Cooper and Young. If you've never been there it's a bar/restaurant/pool playing place/listen to kool bands place....but it's awesome. I've always waited tables but I've never worked at an independant place before. I've always worked at corporate restaurants. Which kindof gets me to what I was thinking about when i started writing.

Corporate restaurants. They suck. T.G.I. Friday's, O'Charley's, RED ROBIN....all corporate. Has anyone ever seen Office Space? That's what i think of when I think of corporate restaurants. Chochkeys (sp?)...the place where Jennifer Aniston worked in the movie where she had to have so many pieces of "flare". It's totally like that. I worked at Red Robin this past summer. There are so many rules that there are rules on top of rules. Uniforms to the way we wear our hair to the way we greet a customer. I felt like a robot when i talked to customers. and i could hear them getting bored with me going on and on with "thank you for choosing Red Robin...have you ever dined with us? no? well here are all of our sandwiches, burgers, drinks, appetizers, salads, entrees, soups, and desserts....and don't forget we serve bottomless french fries....are you ready to order?" it was just so long and annoying.....i wanted to slap myself in the face sometimes. I just don't understand why businesses feel they have to dictate ever detail to impress the customer. Customers just want pleasant, efficient service. They don't need all the bullshit. How many people are really offended by my nose ring? that's right I couldn't wear that. I just don't think corportions go about things right. Take my new job for instance. I can wear whatever I want, I can sit down if I'm not busy which is completely out of the question at Red Robin, and all the while my customers are still being served. Even with my noe ring in! GASP!

My point is that corporations like Red Robin say they are all about their "people" meaning the employees. But when they force so many rules on us, it just makes things miserable and forces people to quit. Everyone I knew from Red Robin just about has quit. Whereas at my new job the people who work there have been there for years. It's because there aren't so many miniscule details and rules. I mean really....when you go to a restaurant do you care what color your server's shoelaces are? Or whether or not they have a goutee? I don't. I just care if they are polite and bring me my food.

(I tried to do better on the punctuations and paragraphs Wendy.....hope that helps)

1 comment:

cline said...

Corporate anything is hell. This is a bit different from a restaurant, but I worked at a corporate office of a company that gave me a summer job this year. It SUCKED. You couldn't do anything unless you were working. They really had no need for me at all because everyone did all there work because the bosses would walk around and just about fire people for not doing anything. On one of my first days, I had actually been given something to do which occupied me for several hours. After working for about four hours straight, I sat back in my chair to stretch and take a breath. Just then, the boss of my division walked by my cubicle. She was mad as hell. Everyone else was mad at me after for telling her that I was done with my work when she asked me why I was just sitting there. Luckily I was moved into a smaller division across town where my new boss played the thong song and brought us food.