“Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.”
It was the Friday of Labor Day weekend and I found myself sever ely short-staffed and desperate for help. With some employees out of town for the holiday and a few calling out sick, we were in a very tight spot.
Though staffing shortages aren’t unheard of, the timing couldn’t have been worse. After all, the weekend before Labor Day is historically one of our busiest of the year.
As I rushed to get things prepared for the day, a million questions and stresses blasted through my head. I thought of all the bad reviews we’d get and all the upset customers we’d have, knowing in my mind that they don’t understand.
How could they understand? It’s not their fault because as a business owner, I need to be able to serve my customers regardless of things thrown my way. Even so, I don’t know what more I could do.
Just when I started to mentally prepare for what could be the worst shift of my life, a lightbulb went off.
“I’m just gonna check my kids out of school, and make them work,” I thought.
When they walked into the school office and saw me, they were confused at first, then quickly got upset when I told them that they had to leave school to come help me at work. I knew that would be their response, but at the time they didn’t understand how dire of a situation I was in.
We arrived at work just in time for opening to a line of happy customers, eager to eat at the best restaurant in existence, in my opinion, at least: Chubby’s Cafe.
Internally, I was stressed out of my mind, as I still worried about the shift. Externally, I put on a smile and greeted them, knowing I couldn’t let them feel the stress, or see it on my face.
Just when the craziness hit and tickets started to fill the screen, I noticed one of my fryer vats wasn’t getting up to temp.
Restaurant equipment is hands down the worst part about what I do. Equipment breaking is inevitable and it seems likely that it’ll happen at the worst possible time. After all, Murphy’s law is by all definitions, a law.
Usually, I’m pretty handy and can figure out how to fix just about anything, or at least get it working temporarily and limp it along until I have time to fix it the right way. This time, I ran out of luck. And just when I started to accept that we would just have to be down a fryer vat, I heard words that would put my luck below empty.
“Half of the grill is out,” was heard from the kitchen.
That day tested me in every way, and it’s those types of days that make me question my career choices.
Ticket times got high and wait times were longer than our standard, but we got through it. And, not to my surprise, customers were patient, still happy and understanding as they usually are; I just had to get out of my own head.
When we finally started to slow down, my daughter said “Dad, I’m sorry for being so upset at first. Now I understand why you needed us so badly.”
Owning and operating a small business is not easy. At times, it makes me want to cuss, quit, fire everyone, punch stuff, throw stuff, and take a sledgehammer to each piece of equipment as vengeance for giving me so many problems.
Even with all of that, this life I’ve chosen is also rewarding beyond anything imaginable. It has helped me make connections, build relationships and friendships, and has given me a deep love of community.
I am grateful beyond explanation for the hard lessons I’ve learned and for the friendships I’ve gained.
Submitted By Alan Moak
