Topic: Legends of the part-time job

I thought it would be an interesting idea to make a thread where we tell stories about crazy things that happen at work. I'm a server and a host at a restaurant, so I have all kinds of crazy stuff happen with my customers.

The policy at our restaurant is that no one is seated in a party until the entire group is present. An understandable policy, because--more often than not--one person will show up and wait for the other 6 for half an hour or more. You can probably see where this is heading. One day, a few months ago, when I was working at the front as a host, a group of 8 showed up (3 of them were missing). I took their names and told them to tell me when they all arrived. 30 minutes later they began to get restless and insisted strongly I seat them. For the second time, I informed them I could do nothing if they are not all here.

15 minutes later, one particularly rotund, sweaty, middle-aged woman began to get angry with me. Now, I am the type who does not get stressed. This did not bother me at all, and I stood with our policy, which made her more angry. She peered into the dining room and saw empty tables, which made her more angry, and continued to try and convince me. By this point I started to get a sick sense of satisfaction, having kept this unpleasant lady from her demands. Finally, they lied to me and told me they were all here, so I sat them.

I then told the manager to try to talk to the table, because they weren't happy. My manager went to the table and told them our policy, which did not help the situation, as I'm sure they were well aware of the "policy" by that time. Another manager came to try to help the situation, but the fact was that these people (mostly just this lady) were not happy. When they left, I made a point to find the woman and say "have a nice day" as nicely as possible. She scowled at me and stalked off.

I love my job.

See previous post why I dislike working in restaurants.

I work at a pawn shop so I have seen some crazy things. One time a homeless woman who was crazy drunk came in asking us to call the police. She was slurring every word she spoke and her eyes were half-closed. My manager called the police but wasn't sure why she needed them. Then her (ex?) girlfriend who was this butch younger girl came to the door and was arguing with her and said something like, "See you on the streets!" and left.

The homeless woman was walking around with crutches and went outside and I guess she peed behind the dumpster and tried to fall asleep (behind the dumpster). But the police came and my manager told them where she was. They talked to her for a while and left. Then the homeless woman and her (ex?) girlfriend got in an argument outside of the restaurant by us. People were stopping and watching and my manager (who is 22) recorded part of the argument on a digital camera. That was a crazy day.

Also, we display our bikes outside and attach balloons to them. Sometimes a balloon will randomly pop. A customer was approaching our door and a balloon popped literally right in his face. He froze for a few seconds and then proceeded to enter.

One time a customer came in and waved her hand up and down and said, "What's all this?" My manager responded, "Pawn shop". Apparently she was referring to an electronic item, so she got really upset because I had started laughing and then she walked out and started cussing. It was hilarious.