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Losing your cool

post #1 of 19
5/28/04 at 1:08am
Thread Starter 
Tonight I had an incident while at work. It was a nobody's fault situation, but for some reason what happened sent me over the top. We had an order come in, and we were running about a 10 minute ticket time from our side of the line, so the waitress comes to check on the order, and we were just putting in the pass, and by the time she turned around, the customer had walked out. I found out after that she had taken about five minutes before she rang the order in after taking it, but still it was under 15 minutes, which is reasonable. The thing is, this little happening made me mad, and I vented my frustrations, which is not my character to do so. Just wondering if anyone else has ever been in this "boat" before, and how you all handled it.
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post #2 of 19
5/28/04 at 5:19am
Since I took on Customer Service here, I've found many of the employees at Nestle constantly asking for the impossible (600 page rush job print out due in 2 days, dry ice shipment to Switzerland through the long weekend, find a cheaper shipping solution to a $166 job that would normally cost well over $300, the list goes on). I try not to loose my cool, my patients is near endless...NEAR ENDLESS. But to vent my frustrations, I would have gone to karate or to the gym to work out but both options are no longer open to me, my membership with both have expired. Now, I play games online and take my anger out on the poor n00bs of Soldiers of Fortune 2 and Diablo 2 :D

I also find making bread to be a good theropudic anger venting task.
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post #3 of 19
6/1/04 at 3:34am
I used to throw a holy fit! Screaming, yelling... an all out tantrum! I know, as easy going as I appear ;) I would turn into quite the monster. Talking it over with the waitstaff only seemed to build tension and hostility. You know, one of those discussions at a line meeting that eveybody nods their head and pledges to work harder/smarter/quicker, but in reality we all left the meeting plotting revenge. Anyhow, my relief was to make sure that I never looked "out of control." By this I mean I would spend a little longer at the end of the night working on a recipe or spend some extra time cleaning. It made me feel like I was contributing when the others (plotting waitstaff) were slacking off. Also, it gave me something to do with instant gratification. Whatever stress that began to well-up ended up staying at work.

That is the theory, anyhow. Sometimes I would just kick the crap out dumpster and go back to work.
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post #4 of 19
6/1/04 at 6:30am
If you feel you were unfair to someone, you'd be surprised how far a humble apology goes. Yes, this waitress was wrong for having waited the five minutes to punch in the order, but you also recognize that you might have reacted disproportionately. Admitting this and privately discussing this with the offended parties will turn things around and make you look like a reasonable guy. I think it's important for your own credibility that others feel you are not a raving lunatic, but rather a reasonable, though human guy...
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post #5 of 19
6/1/04 at 3:26pm
You don't know what losing your cool is until the day you find out that sales sold a 300 person filet party for $8 per head...

with dessert.
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post #6 of 19
6/1/04 at 4:37pm
BTW, I guess we'll start calling your "J" from now on, instead of CoolJ :)

Kuan
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post #7 of 19
6/1/04 at 4:46pm
I go nuts about something like that once, maybe twice every 2 years. Different things set it off. Stupidity or I should say repeated stupidity is the major reason.
I flip my wig for a few minutes, everyone stops talking and leaves me alone for 20 minutes then I resume my cool. Apologize and explain the outburst. I buy a round and chill late to make sure things a groovy.
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post #8 of 19
6/2/04 at 9:39am
Monday night. Very slow. 2-2 tops in the house. 1 waitress. Table 1 regular people. Table 2 my dentist with his wife celebrating an anniversary. Both tables go up at the same time. Table 1 regular menu items. Table 2 a special meal that I had put together for them. Waitress (very experienced) pays no attention and brings food to wrong tables. We don't discover it until halfway through the meal. :eek: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: I called her every name in the book! I was so P*$%^%*$d off at her, I didn't feel better until later! And do this day I wouldn't dream of apologizing to her for that. There are times that you have to tell an idiot, that in fact, they are an idiot! :D
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post #9 of 19
6/2/04 at 4:58pm
Wow chrose,I guess you must be human also.I think us foodies can be rather brash at times but when it is there its just there.If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and tastes like a duck I would presume it to be a duck! We tend to say it more up front than a lot of other people do when the stuff hits the fan!My own fire got lit yesterday by my boss making a false complaint without checking on it. I gave her both barrels for a couple of minutes and people said it was not a pretty site!I was right and she was wrong and I proved it immediatly. Today she never even made eye contact or came near me(which did not bother me in the least).I accept this part of my nature as my many years of conditioning in kitchens has always taught me to say it like it is.Rants come and rants go as needed so just stay true to what is! Peace, Doug....................
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post #10 of 19
6/2/04 at 5:10pm
It's inevitable,

Poop happens, it all depends on how you scoop it up.
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post #11 of 19
6/5/04 at 3:29pm
Thats really good!!!CC you have such a way with words.
I have a really hard time doing the meeting gig .....oh man, I'm directing a cooking stage tomorrow and there have been way too many meetings that have NOTHING to do with me that I'm called to attend. Goofy stuff has happened that if I didn't check up ,it'd be disasterous.....the city added 36 seats to the demo space, neglected to tell me and if I had not counted would have gone on the original number (100) .well the chefs are providing samples, they would have shown up 36 short......GREAT, so paying patrons would not get a taste of what was demoed. that kinda stuff irritates me, or rolling with the punches and then having the coordinator continually saying how this is a fund raiser and I'm the only one getting paid.
Guess as an independant contractor because everyone else is salried or makes 60% of gross from selling to 35,000. :(
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post #12 of 19
6/6/04 at 5:56am
At my current job which is at the same place I just finished my internship, one of my jobs is working on the salad and dessert stand on weekends. Last night was the busiest night I've ever seen. The guy I was working with has been there a little shorter than I have (about 3 months) and i can tell he just does not give a crap. He doesn't move. We'll have a string of tickets up and he'll be looking at the ones coming out of the machine. He stands around when I'm making salad, knowing he has to get the rolls. This was the first time I ever had to work with him and I had no idea how bad he has. I didn't totally lose my cool but I had to "motivate" (yell at) him a few times which didn't really seem to help. We ended up having waitresses help us. It was awful but it wasn't my fault! I was given permission by the chef before service to yell at him, so I felt okay about the whole thing! :D
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post #13 of 19
6/6/04 at 2:38pm
Thread Starter 
There's alot here to work with, Thak you all for your advice, and CC what a way to put it. I was talking with a friend yesterday about the food industry in general, and we touched on tempers in the kitchen, to my knowledge she has no experience with the industry but has a great interest, anyhow, in talking to her and thinking about things it lead me right back to poop happens, it all depends on how you scoop it up.
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post #14 of 19
6/9/04 at 5:19pm
true, but there is also the other side of the coin. The place i currently work at has this, hmm, hes not really a chef (in the technical sense of the word.)

anyway, we were in service, and i had just sent up a eggs bene to go out.

he had assembeld the dish and passed it on to me, i put it under the salamander to brown the sauce. Put it on the pass with garnishes. 2 minutes after i put on the pass, the poached egg rolls off.

He goes spastic at me. for what? he put the dish together and i put it on the pass. Now theres the quandary, got broadsided for not taking care with the bene, yet hes the one who plated it up.

go figure.

i must admit that i occaisionally lose the plot, but in the end the buck stops with me and passing on tension only increases it in the workplace.
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post #15 of 19
6/9/04 at 6:07pm
Nick,

It is really about ourselves and how we react, (or don't) that sets the mood of our own ability to cope with a given situation. I truly believe patience comes with maturity. I also believe that a arse is a arse and sometimes we need to either plug there hole, or pull our figure off the wall that seems to support there swelling ego that breaks the **** and the water flows.
I am to simple of a person to believe in anything other than the power of ones own ability. BTW, when you go to bed at night and think about the quality of your eggs Benedict, and you smile with assurance that they we're perfect.............that in of it's self should help.
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post #16 of 19
6/9/04 at 8:26pm
yeah i know CC, this is one i should let go......

My supposition is that, you cant help somethings going wrong. all you can do is to correct the problem and to move on. perhaps a little zen, however, the fact remains that you cannot turn back time.

by being like this saves you time and energy to do more important things.

anyways, once again, thanks for your kindness and knowledge.
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post #17 of 19
6/10/04 at 9:58am
I've posted it before and I'll post it again: :eek: :D
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post #18 of 19
6/10/04 at 4:49pm
One further addition to this thread coolj.What we do is cool! People rave at our abilities to transform the raw ingredients into something that tastes great and looks good also!So , we are cool ! Or in the infamouse words of Aurthor Fonzerelli (AKA the Fonz) Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy........
Peace , Doug..............
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post #19 of 19
8/17/04 at 9:49pm

The same thing......

Brother I have (sort of) the same problem....

I work in a small 40 seat bistro and my pass only hold 3 plates in the hot section and 3 plates in the cold. And the one thing that makes me LASH OUT at the servers is seeing them walk by the food and the thing is it happens so much I would figure that Ill be used to it by now but nope I still get mad and make a *** of myself..
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