Training

Before I start, let me say that the conversation with Crystal was completely deleted out of his phone, so obviously he is hiding something. Asshole.


Apparently I wasn't supposed to work this first shift, but since one of the managers wrote down that I was working a split shift today, the manager on duty said that it was ok for me to stay. She wanted every trainee to be fully trained (whatever that means) by this weekend. I suppose that means that they want me doing my own tables on Saturday, since I am continuing my training tomorrow.

They assign me to work with Chris, this young and highly energetic guy but I had a feeling that training with him wasn't going to be beneficial to me. He works too fast for me, as a trainee, so I had no idea what he was doing on the POS. Of course it didn't help that whenever I was putting orders in, people behind me are in such a damn hurry. I get that their tips depend on the speed of their service, but I'm not walking in knowing everything I need to know. I've never had the food before. I've never seen their POS system. What made it worse is while I am working on doing his refills and whatnot, he is taking orders. Today was supposed to be the day that I took the appetizer orders, so I am hoping I can do that tonight. The only thing I learned was that salads and pastas don't come with a side. Sandwiches don't automatically come with fries as a side, so you have to ask. I also learned that salads come with a croissant. That was only because he explained that to me beforehand. I have no idea which meals come with two sides. Oh, I forgot, the classics one is everything chicken related and the classics two is seafood, but I don't want to assume that everything I need are in those two buttons. I know that once I get the POS system down, I'll be fine but I need someone to sit down with me and do this.

In O'Charley's, we had a manager card so that we could practice. Trainees sat with a trainer in the bar and were explained how things went. You took notes. You asked questions. An hour later, then you were on the floor. You could practice with the manager's card as long as you needed. The trainer would sit and say "I want a sweet tea, spinach dip and I want a sirloin. Medium rare, no make it medium. Does it come with sides? Ok, I want mashed potatoes, no make it a baked potato. For dessert, I want cake." They usually let you do it for about half an hour just so you could get acclimated to where things were. It also taught you how to answer questions about the menus at the same time. They didn't just throw you on the floor to follow you. Of course my trainer at O'Charley's sucked. I also had lost my voice so I was trained weird anyway. I really hope that my training here improves because I can't be set loose on the floor not knowing anything about what gets sides, what sides there are and how to put them in the computer.

With that said, I am going to go through my paperwork. The floor plan on the paper isn't accurate so I have to just eyeball it, but I am hoping the paperwork I have to read through will explain what has sides, what has two sides etc. I'm also hoping that the trainer I will have this evening will take more time. My job last night was just to watch and observe. I'm almost hoping I get the same trainer tonight because he slowed things down a bit, but I have a feeling that I will have a different trainer every time.

For now, I will just enjoy a two hour break.