Work at a Restaurant: Part 3

When your server brings you your drinks, he or she will ask you if you are ready to order. This is not meant to pressure you, so please just be honest with us and tell us if you need more time. At this time, your server should inform you of any special events that evening, if they didn't do so before. If you have any allergies, it is very important to tell your server right away, because they will put an alert with your order to ensure that the kitchen is informed and makes necessary arrangements. Guest safety is our number one priority. We want you to leave full and happy, not in an ambulance or with a rash.

Your server will also brief you on specials for the day (Thursday night is martini night! All martinis for only $4!), and the soup of the day. If you have any questions about menu items, feel free to ask. I know at our location at least, we know the food well, because we eat it ourselves. Personally I couldn't work for a restaurant if I didn't like the food there myself.

Once your server has taken your orders, they go to the Positouch, which is a touch screen computer. Each server has a magcard that they use to unlock the system. Here is where your order is punched in, and it is received on another screen in the kitchen, as well as a screen in the fast lane for the expo.

When an item is first entered, it is highlighted red. Once a cook begins preparing it, they are to "bump" it to the next step, and it becomes highlighted blue on the screen so that the expo and the server knows that it's on its way. When the order is fully prepared, it gets sent across the counter to the expo, and it gets bumped to green. The expo makes sure that it is prepared correctly, and that all side dishes are present as well. They put knives with steak and ribs, spoons with soup, etc.

Once the server gets the okay from the expo, the order is then brought out to the table. We bring everyone's meal at once, even if something is prepared early. No one likes to have half the group finish before the rest even get their meal. When things are very busy, it may not be your server who brings the food to you, someone else who has a second will run the food to you.

Enjoy!

Work at a Restaurant: Part 2

When we last left off, you were comfortably seated with menus. This is where your SERVER (me!!) comes in.

The SERVER comes over and introduces him/herself, and since here in Canada we are bilingual, most servers are also bilingual. We take note of what language menu you have (at Boston pizza we have a French menu and an English menu, not one bilingual menu. The HOST will have offered you the choice when you walked in.) and address you in that language, but if you begin speaking the other language, we switch also.

If you seem in the mood, we will try and make a bit of small talk to be personable and friendly ("You're among friends at Boston Pizza!"). For example, I decided to tell my first table that they were my first customers, and they had a lot of fun with that. They even wrote me a little encouraging note and left it with my tip. So talking with the customers makes both parties feel relaxed.

Usually customers will not be ready to order this early, so we offer them drinks first. The SERVER gets soft drinks or water him/herself in the "fast lane," but any specialty drinks or alcohol come from the bar.

Let's back it up: What is the fast lane anyhow? It is located between the kitchen, or the "heart of the house," and the dining room. There is a counter on either side of the fast lane. One side has things like the coffee machine, the takeout warmer, and the soft drink dispensers. The other counter is where the food comes out of the kitchen. The EXPO lives in the fast lane (more on this later). The fast lane is a one-way street, to keep it flowing since it's not very wide.

So your SERVER gets your drinks from there and brings them to your table. Have I mentioned refills are free at Boston Pizza?

Work at a Restaurant: Part One

I'm betting my friends are all sick of hearing me talk about it, but I just adore my new job waitressing at Boston Pizza! It's a lot of fun and a great environment, not to mention an establishment I can be proud of (I will take this opportunity to assure everyone of how sanitary everything is).

However, one thing that has forever been spoiled for me is the magic of eating at a restaurant. You sit down, order, and the food just arrives to you, right? You rarely question how it got there.

Behind the scenes it is crazy. Fun always, but crazy! I can't emphasize that enough! Here's some stuff you need to understand:

You enter in the doors and are greeted by the HOSTS/HOSTESSES, who seat you. How do they do this? Behind that desk is a whiteboard with the floor plan on it, the tables are all given numbers according to their section and position. This floor plan is divided equally between all the servers on shift that night. This is called "cutting the board." When a server goes home, the board gets "recut" to cover that section. When seating guests, the HOSTS always try to give booths before tables, and to keep all server's sections equal.

HOST also operate the cash register and receive take out and delivery orders by phone. There are usually three HOSTS on duty to be able to cover all of these requirements.

All that work, and you have only just sat down...

Counterfeit Bus Tickets

The OC Transpo strike is over. Ottawa is moving again. If it still takes you three hours longer than usual to get to work, you need to buy a new car; it's not the traffic.

Besides the new HUGE tickets (What did they do? Hire blind drivers?), something new, at least to me, is the rumour of counterfeit bus tickets.

Is this people's way of exacting revenge on OC Transpo for the inconvenience they suffered during the strike? That's the only way I can think to explain it, since it's likely more expensive to produce fakes than to buy real tickets.

Maybe it's the rush of getting away with it, I don't know. But come on, people; it's not like you just robbed a major bank. If you need to feel like you're a rebel, stick to your virtual video game worlds.

HPV Vaccine- More Info

I found a very good site when it comes to researching the lesser-broadcast dangers of vaccines. It should be noted that it is extraordinarily pessimistic, however they bring up valid points. Here is the page on the HPV vaccine I wrote on earlier:
http://www.vran.org/vaccines/hpv/hpv.htm

The Flu Shot: Useless

Here's an interesting tidbit: the flu shot this year does not actually protect against the flu.

As I explained earlier, because the flu is a virus that changes and mutates, a new vaccine must be put out each year to be effective against the current flu. Well, when the next year's flu shot is being developed, it's more or less educated guesswork. This year's flu shot was guessed wrong. It does not protect against the current strain at all. It stops a very rare form of the flu that is barely prevalent and not a concern.

If you've had the shot this year, don't panic, it's not harming you; it just isn't helping you. So the moral of the story is, wash your hands and drink your orange juice!

More general info on this vaccine: http://www.medicalconsumers.org/pages/FluVaccineisRarelyEffective.html

Skipping: In High School, It Doesn't Mean Jump Rope

In high school, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who has never skipped a class by the end of the four years. I'm sure there are some, but it seems like these are an endangered species.

Some reasons I've heard for skipping:

• Issues with teachers; meaning, strict teachers, conflicts between students and teachers, etc.
• Incomplete homework, or a presentation of some sort that the student is unprepared for. Often, In group projects, one person of the group volunteers or is elected to take one for the team and save the rest by skipping the class.
• Other homework. I know a lot of people who will skip a "less important" class to study for a test or do homework.
• Study hall or supply teachers. The rationale behind this excuse is that nothing useful will be taught during that period anyhow. Work periods are also included in this. When asked, the student will probably say, "Well, it's just (fill in the blank)."
• Pure laziness, carelessness, or other plans. By "other plans" I am not referring to valid reasons such as doctor's appointments. I mean, "Yo, we're all skippin' English, gonna go play Rockstar at Jeremy's; you in?"

I'm sure there are more, but those are the main ones. I am not a skipper by nature, I have a theory that my conscience is about 12 times the size of the average person's. However, I have skipped a handful of study halls after convincing myself that they weren't really useful.

And maybe there are some times where skipping can be seriously justified; I don't know. How does one judge that? But I do think that there is a lot of excessive skipping, and it is problematic.

My two main issues with chronic skipping are lack of respect for authority figures, and lack of work ethic/selfishness.

Your teacher has chosen to condemn themselves to be in a classroom everyday for a career, to help teenagers grow, to teach. Maybe you don't feel they really care, and maybe they aren't passionate about their job. However, think of the term "high school career." If high school is your work place, where we work to earn grades rather than money, then your teachers are your superiors, and as such, you must respect them. Skipping is blatant disrespect. You may as well say, "I do not care about your class. The information you are passing on to me means nothing. I don't have to listen to you."

And in this way, the issue of disrespect links to the issue of self-centered attitudes and terrible work ethic. What happens when we graduate and take this mind frame with us into the work force? When we "enter the real world," as we are so often told?

We get unreliable employees who call in sick just because they would rather stay in for a day, who aren't committed to their jobs, who expect everything to land in their laps, who produce very little. What started with skipping French, ended with a less than motivating dead end job, that you are probably at risk to lose.

If you must take it selfishly, you're not doing yourself any favours.

"Do You Want to Choose the Gender of Your Next Baby?"

Apparently in vitro clinics in the US have started advertising something new: gender selection. Now, I don't know very much about the process behind it, but no matter how it's performed, I have definite issues with the concept.
First of all, this could create gender ratio inequalities like what we're seeing in India (see http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/gender/gender_india.html for some more information on this). Which obviously in turn causes all kinds of other issues.

But even more, unconditional love, acceptance,and affection are crucial in a child's development. Would it really be unconditional love if it's basically a mail-order baby? Having kids is not about satisfying parental desires; if you are fit to be a parent then you will care for any child you have regardless of gender or other physical aspects. And what about sexism? There is already a definite preference for boys requested through this gender selection.

At least one clinic is even offering selection of hair colour, eye colour, and even skin colour (Is this ringing the racism bell, anyone? The sexism bell should already be pounding loud).

Why are we accepting this? Check out this excerpt from http://www.gene-watch.org/genewatch/articles/17-1darnovsky.html :

"Recent trends in consumer culture may warm prospective parents to such offers. We have become increasingly accepting of — if not enthusiastic about — “enhancements” of appearance (think face-lifts, collagen and Botox injections, and surgery to reshape women’s feet for stiletto heels) and adjustments of behavior (anti-depressants, Viagra, and the like). These drugs and procedures were initially developed for therapeutic uses, but are now being marketed and normalized in disturbing ways."

We have been lulled into accepting this kind of thinking, placing conditional value on human beings. It's a scary place to be, ladies and gentlemen.

Superflu

Everyone is home sick lately. There have been so many people missing from my classes it's astounding. There is definitely something going around, something very flu-like. And a lot of people have mentioned in conversation how bad the flu is this year.

And in light of the flu shot, they're surprised. Well, I'm not.

The flu is a virus. Viruses change and mutate to overcome resistance. That's why you have to get the flu shot every year; because after a year, the strain has changed so much that your immune system no longer recognizes it as the flu it was vaccinated against. It's not like most other vaccines, where it's one shot, maybe a booster, and you're covered.

So when you think about it, we are really creating a superflu. To overcome the vaccination, the virus gets worse and worse, and it hits those who are not vaccinated incredibly hard.

Which raises the question; is this morally sound? Or safe? What happens when someone brings our superflu overseas to some place where they aren't vaccinated and exposes them to the virus? Scary stuff to think about.

And You Thought the Cries for a Pony Were Bad

My mother just came home with a very interesting story for me. One of her coworkers had a five year old daughter who had been invited to a birthday party.

On the invitation, it read: "Child is registered at Toys "R" Us."

Yes. That's right. A gift registry for children. Where kids can sit down and make out a whole list of demands for their birthdays. Check it out: http://www.toysrus.ca/registry/index.jsp

The theory is that this is helpful, that the guests won't have to stress about what to buy. But what is this teaching the children? Instead of being grateful and pleasantly surprised, they expect everything they have demanded.

If I were the mother of the child who received that invitation, I would use it as a learning opportunity for my daughter. I would make a donation to a charity in the birthday girl's name, and my daughter would learn what giving is really about... which, by the way, is NOT making sure a five year old's every whim is met.

Mom, Dad, I Want Boobs

With my graduation fast approaching, I was astounded to find that the number one requested graduation gift by girls in the US is (drum roll please)...

A boob job.

Yes, plastic surgery. Would someone please tell me what this fixation with breast size is all about? Why are some girls so obsessed with their perceived inadequacy that they would rather have silicone implants? That seems so weird to me.

And don't assume I'm saying this as someone well-endowed... No, I'm on the small end. But I have never even considered... implants. I'm actually flabbergasted.

And the one question remaining in my mind is,
How do the parents of these girls respond?

An Update on the OC Transpo Strike

So things are getting a bit ridiculous here in the capital, anyone agree? OC transpo has been on strike now since December 10th of 2008. The City has been putting all kinds of offers on the table, but the Union has consistently walked away, mainly because their demands concerning scheduling are not being met.

I don't think very many citizens of Ottawa are particularly pleased with OC Transpo. Because of the timing, it's being called "the strike that ruined Christmas." Besides drivers who have to deal with heavy traffic, the two main groups of people being hurt by this strike are students and seniors.

Students are beginning to be accommodated with carpooling and some yellow buses, and the City has being trying to coordinate rides for those in need, but still, many are slipping through the cracks. Seniors, many with conditions such as diabetes, are missing their doctor's appointments.

And what of the OC Transpo employees in all of this? They are only being paid $50 a week, and only if they picket a certain amount of hours. Who knows how long the Union will even be able to keep this up? Alain Mercier (Oh, him again... *shudder*) is warning us that, even after the strike, it could be three months- yes, THREE MONTHS- before the buses, which have not been touched in ages, are all back in working order.

I think the City is right to hold firm. Many reasonable offers have been made. However, they are at fault in this: It is their legal right to put together a temporary replacement service. They say that they have only recently become aware of this. So my two questions are as follows:

1) WHY didn't they know? It is their job to be informed on these matters and to consider all options. I think that they should have known, and frankly, I'm not entirely certain that they're being truthful when they claim that they were unaware.

2) Why aren't they acting on it now? Even a partial service would help immensely. I'm aware that it takes time to train bus drivers and set it up, but they're not doing it! And I think that some of the OC drivers would cross the picket lines at this point. That vote wasn't unanimous.

So here we are, with no end in sight.

Coalition Put to Bed?

So what is going on in our parliament these days? Do you know? Yeah. Didn't think so. But I bet you're aware of Obama's inuguration tomorrow.

Well, if you remember, the threat of a Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition caused Stephen Harper to ask the governor general to prorogue parliament. We're coming close the the end of the cooling period, however, and the question on everyone's mind (Well, the ones who aren't completely obsessed with the aforementioned inauguration. Look, I appreciate that the US has finally been able to elect a president who is not an old white man. But I live in Canada. We have a government too.) is, now what of this proposed coalition?

As promised, Dion is finally gone. Now, Michael Ignatieff is on the scene, making pretty speeches in the style of... you guessed it. Obama. Seriously, guys, can't we do better than try to be Americans?

But to get to the point, the "c" word has not been mentioned yet. Keep your ears to the ground and your eyes peeled... as the kids say.

The Highest Canadian Honour?

At President-Elect Obama's upcoming inauguration, the Canadian Embassy will be honouring him with "Obama tails."

Canada's famous pastries were first sold on the Rideau Canal, but have since spread, and are offered in a variety of flavours: maple, killaloe sunrise, raspberry, etc. The newest addition to the menu is the Obama tail; basically the maple tail with an "O" drawn on it. The new creation is avaliable now on the Canal.

Because that's what this world needs...

Marketing Beauty

I've recently become aware of an interesting phenomenon: Lipstick sales go up during economic recessions.

Which got me thinking. Lipstick is hardly a necessity, and I can't see how we would need more of it in a recession than normally. Clearly the main consumers of lipstick are women, so I'm going to continue on under the assumption that women are buying all this product.

It's a fairly simple equation: Women like to feel beautiful. Women like to indulge themselves (mmm... chocolate). Lipstick is an inexpensive way to feel special. Normally, not under a recession, I assume these women would be likely to spend more on various other cosmetics or beauty products.

For special occasions, women spend hours of time and hundreds of dollars to feel like they look beautiful. Through advertising, the beauty industry is effectively trying to sell us our own image. And very clearly it's working.

I don't believe there is anything inherently wrong with trying to look good or playing with your image. As an artist and an actress, I actually love it. I wear makeup most days. I love buying clothes that make me feel good. But I try to keep that separation of enjoying my body, compared to frantically trying to chase down an image I can never achieve. I choose to celebrate what I have, not wallow in dissatisfaction.

It's difficult. Because the beauty industry doesn't care about us as people. They are, however, interested in our wallets. For this reason, they prey on girls who only want to feel special and gain approval. They do their best to convince us that we can buy this in bottles and jars. Murale, Sephora... these are entire chains that survive selling nothing but beauty products.

Just know this. Buy that cherry lipstick or green eyeshadow if you want, try it on and let yourself feel glamorous. But don't let it consume you in some desperate attempt to loose yourself searching for whatever is missing. Nothing is missing. You are complete and valuable as you are.

The World in Your Pocket

Recently I have been cell phone shopping. I already have a phone, but it's about three years old, and I'm beginning to feel slightly outdated with all the new gadgetry out. Not to mention Rogers Pay-As-You-Go is only cheap if you pretty much NEVER have your phone on.

I used to keep it under $15 a month quite easily... when I was pretty much stranded at my farm anyway. Now, I'm finding myself out and about in the city a lot, with an amazing boyfriend from another school I try to keep in contact with, and it's getting more pricey.

I've found little hidden costs in my own plan. I've kept it very basic, no voicemail or anything. just calls and text, and it's free to receive texts. But I get charged 30 cents for every missed call (so don't call me, guys! Text me and I'll reach you!), among other arbitrary means of stealing my money.

Three other members of my family also need phones soon, so we've even considered family plans. Yeah, um, don't bother. They are no cheaper. Plans are advertised as low as $15... before caller ID, voicemail, and other features. I've lived without voicemail alright up to this point, and I suppose I could keep it up, but I love my caller ID. Many plans won't give you that without an extra $6 a month.

ALL the companies are like this. (Yes, guys, hate to break it to you, even Koodo. They're not so bad, but have you figured out yet that their whole Tab thing really is just another contract?) I've found nothing that would serve me for under $35 a month yet. Not to mention buying the phone itself.

Why can they hike their prices like this?

Because they know we'll take it.

We are all growing extremely dependent on technology and the internet. We'll put up with the cell phone fees and the internet packages because we need them. Or so we've convinced ourselves.