Hello everyone! Today is Sunday, my Friday, yay!
On the menu this evening, is....
Service.
Good old, quality service.
Well, unfortunately, good quality service is not what it used to be.
I am not sure what has happened in this world, but for some reason, it is no longer a requirement (in the customer service industry) that a person be:
- Friendly
- Polite
- Personable
- Happy(ish)
- Patient
- all about their service or
- sober
Ok, like I said in my first post, I am not one to divulge all about me in a post or two, but you will get a bit here and there, usually related to the subject of that post. In such respect, just know that what you are reading now, is something that I take pretty seriously-not like life or death serious, more like I hold a lot of value in the importance of it. So here it goes.
I have spent almost my entire work history in the service industry (customer service and related)- Waitress, retail, home remodel, repair, bartending, Nursing, and back to bartending, which is what I do now. Yes, I am aware I am way over qualified to be a bartender, given my background, but I really do love it- but more on that later. I genuinely appreciate good customer service. Not just from others, but I expect the same from myself when I work. It is a bit of an art, and it is not for everyone, but those who do it, should really be good at it, and actually give a bit of a s*** when encountering people in general. If you work in customer service, and you don't like people, then what the hell are you doing? Go work in an underground tunnel or something. I don't mean to be harsh, well, kinda, but the value is depreciating exponentially, and people are forgetting to just be nice.
Ok, enough venting, let's get back on track.
In the past few months of working where I am now, I have gotten a lot of compliments on how well I do my job, how great I am with people, and even my boss trusts me enough to run the place while he goes on vacation (for the first time in five years.)
It's not that I am going above and beyond or anything, I am really just doing my job. Apparently that has been very difficult for previous bartenders there, and other places locally who can't seem to show up, or when they do, proceed to out-drink the customers then be incapable of even standing up behind the bar, while on shift, or they fight with the customers during shift, and embarrass themselves by getting wasted in the bar on their days off.
I am finding these are pretty regular occurrences. I, for one, am NOT that way. I wouldn't consider that I take my work too seriously. Instead I prefer to take it responsibly. The difference is that my job is just my job, and while it does impact my financial well being, it really is not that serious, compared to, for example, the well being of my family. Plus, it is really hard to be a "serious bartender"- talk about boring. But I do take it responsibly.
My job requires that I am able to know when a person should stop drinking- to look for signs, and be able to cut that person off from drinking anymore. So if I am behind the bar, drinking, my judgment is impaired and that completely contradicts my job and responsibility as a bartender. Of course people offer to buy me drinks on shift all of the time, and most of the time I decline, or I tell them they can buy me one after my shift. But you will never see me even buzzed while I am working.
Getting back to the subject of service, I have found that good service is on a serious decline. For me, there is nothing worse than going out to eat or to a store and being waited on or assisted by rude people or terrible service. It's like, "Do you really have to act like that?"
Grumpy, impatient, unqualified, miserable, pushy, and just plain crappy people have no business in the service industry. If you hate your job, QUIT!!! Don't take it out on me because you do not want to be there. Seriously!!! What is the point of working in a job you hate? Why?
When I say I don't take my job too seriously, I mean that whatever happens at work, or if I have a rough day, I don't take it home or to my family. If you do, then you will be miserable at work and at home, with no place or time to defuse. There are an unfortunate number of people who absolutely hate their jobs, and often the people they work with.
my advice... don't do it.
Find something you enjoy. So you are not pissed that you have to go to work and angry from your day when you get home. If you are glad to go to work, you will usually be happy when you get home from it. It's true. Try it sometime...
I am not going to say that I have never worked in a job that I didn't like. Luckily they didn't last long for different reasons, but I was always glad to be moving on.
If you think about how much time we actually spend working- away from our families, missing out on things we wish we could be a part of. Wouldn't it be so much better for us if we were happy to be there?
When I mentioned being overqualified for the job, I know I could be working for some big company, using all of my education, pushing a pencil or sitting behind a desk in a corner office, but that is not for me. I love what I do, and I am really, really good at it. I'm not going to get rich from it, nor am I going to do it forever. But I am going to do it while I still can, and while I still enjoy it. Then one day, when I get bored with it, I will move on to something else that I enjoy...
And you should too!!!
Take care out there, and be happy while you're at it!
See you soon.
