Hospitality, the one industry where experience counts against you...
Almost 5 months now and nary a nibble, it's harder and harder to pound the streets looking for work, being interviewed by people who have less experience in life - period, than I do in the industry. No industry counts age as a disadvantage as much as customer service, and the online recruiters sending me jobs at mall kiosks and minimum wage isn't boosting my ego much either. I'm definitely an underachiever, but it isn't that bad, not yet, not with the lucrative fall-back in April.
The daughter, just landed her second serving job, 18 years old with all of the attendant life and serving experience, but she's pretty, "we'll train her...".
In the last 20 years I haven't had a job that hasn't offered to have me back, wouldn't be happy to have me back, and given that I have a job guaranteed in April, but not what I want, so I keep looking.
JOEY TOMATOES.
I'm not one to answer cattle calls, I got the email, the "GROUP INTERVIEW", gave it a miss, then talked to someone I knew who actually needed a job and attended.
Hospitality - it's about people - it's not exactly like most other businesses, where you sell a product, no, hospitality the people that you're ordering from, the servers, staff, they're part of the product. Group interviews - I get that they're great for the company - but - frankly - they're lousy for the prospective employee - and give a fair indication of the treatment you can expect on the slight chance you're chosen to work from them. Which is why I don't attend.
The cattle-call at Joey Tomatoes - as recounted to me - (and I'm pretty sure there's no elaboration or embellishment here). 3 Groups of 12, each being "interviewed" for 10 minutes apiece by the manager and the "Chef".
A tangent here. I've worked with some pretty competent and talented chefs. If you're at Joey's cooking pizzas and pastas from the recipes the company provides you don't call yourself a chef. You're a cook. And if you for a moment believe the wall of canned tomatoes are an advertisement for "Fresh" I suggest you refer to your dictionary.
Back to the interview. 10 minutes for each group of 12 - 10 minutes cut short by the 2 minutes the manager and chef take to introduce themselves. That leaves 8 minutes for 12 people to make the best impression possible answering the questions the manager/chef lobs at them. Neither the manager or Chef make notes, so there's a bit of a mystery as to how they know who's who.
Between the manager and chef - 30 minutes apiece - 1 hour total, to "interview" 35 prospective candidates. People are conscious of the time, and everyone tries to "hoard the mike". They have 1 position to fill. And they have three more sessions scheduled - a total of 105 people "interviewed" for 1 position. The people being interviewed - probably largely unemployed, some maybe looking to upgrade or switch their employment - conservatively they've each invested an hour and a half to be here - attend the interview, transport, apply, etc. Conservatively. Between the candidates - easily 150 hours plus invested to attend the interviews. Joeys management - outside total of 3 hours between manager and chef to interview these candidates. At the end they advise the interviewees that they'll only contact the candidate they select, "Don't call us, we'll call you...", fair return for your interest in working there. They set the bar for their self-importance, and you fed into it by attending.
Frankly, I hear the story and I feel the pain - the fact that Joey's is playing upon the bad economy, the desperation of job seekers, and the "Well, isn't it great for them" mentality doesn't cut it - we should probably think about what's great for us, and that might be burning Joey Tomatoes down.
In any event - it would be better to get a job in Calgary - but not on those terms, Calgary, it's right about now got the politicians, the mayor, the premier it deserves, it's a tire-fire of late stage capitalism and if I have to leave to get employment there won't be any tears shed.
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NY Eve at the High Fi Club. Without a doubt - without a doubt - the worst Bar service I've ever come across. Ever. Having Tattoos doesn't make you a bartender. 3, 4, 5 bartenders behind the bar, tattooed girl, fitness top girl, tattooed guy. Not one of them fucking has a clue. Serve people out of order. Don't make eye contact. Don't know who's next, don't care. Make a drink, turn your back to the line, take a drink for yourself. Talk to your fellow barmen. Walk around, look busy, ignore line-up. Take another drink. Someone comes behind the bar and empties the tip buckets - one solitary clink, one coin, I mean, I get it, you guys are so fucking clueless you're not even inept, you'd have to at least be trying. And they'll tell the owners nobody tips...turn around, pretend to smile, accidentally serve someone. First time - in my life - that I kept the change from a drink. Hi Fi Club Calgary - worst - service - ever!!!
That said, once you accepted you wouldn't be drinking at a bar on NY Eve, and that the staff were there to save you money, the music was good, and the crowd, as close to the Kootenays as you could get in Calgary, which is something but not much. Summers coming...
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These trips, only in town for a couple of days, it's cheaper to eat out than stock the fridge with stuff that will be off the next time I make it back. So I make the rounds of favorite places - Mucho Burrito, Fat Burger. And an Indian place not far from the apartment, for an ethnic restaurant well furnished - by which I mean in a bland, modern, antiseptic way, but an amazing lunch buffet, a couple of dozen items, a mere $15.70, the food, tasty, delicious even, and an easy way to balance the diet. Given that I generally only eat 1 meal a day, this is a great place to do it. And a shame, because every time I've been there it's empty, or close enough to empty, and you know it can't last, and what is it about Calgary that a reasonable restaurant with good prices can't last? Anywhere else this place would be packed every day of the week...
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I'm going to break with a long tradition here and start naming names...enough is enough.
Sunday morning, looking for breakfast in Nelson. Full Circle, the breakfast place on Baker, has a half hour waiting list, which means when you walk past the window there's a dozen empty tables inside but inside the mall entrance there's easily a dozen, maybe 2 dozen people waiting for a table.
This is a Kootenay tradition, waiting for a table in an empty restaurant. This is usually preceded by a "Do you have a reservation?" inquiry from host or server, then a hopeful announcement that they could possibly have you sat within the hour, despite the obvious abundance of empty tables. I used to put this down to the impossibility of getting quality service staff out here, but in a year I've come to realize it's more the impossibility of finding competent owners or management, and this morning I'm not in the mood to wait in line to give someone my money, so I wander on.
Relish, across the street, is open, and so I mosey over there. The patio is full, or 9/10 tables on it are, but I've had enough of the great outdoors today and would happily sit inside. Inside, 4 tables occupied, the other 10 or so empty, 3 servers on, they should have me sat within 10 minutes or so...
I'm not making this up. Relish, they have that reputation here of being one of the better restaurants, their servers, attractive waitresses in short dresses or skirts with the abundance of leg tattoos, I applied here for a job once before I realized their "unofficial" but transparent policy of employing only attractive girls on the service end, and being neither attractive (or a girl) didn't get any sort of callback. Lots of restaurants do this, standard industry practice, and who doesn't like to be served by a pretty girl? But right now I just want to be served, want a bite of breakfast, and am getting a little annoyed with this "wait at the door 20 minutes to sit at an empty table that was clean and empty for 20 minutes before you arrived".
I've been here a couple of times before, the first time with my daughter and friend, I ordered some gravy for my fries and the then Australian waitress told me
"You'll have to pay for that you know", and I was kind of dumbfounded at her mentioning this, was the rest of the meal free? Or was I to pay for the gravy up front? I simply reiterated, in words she would understand, that I would like to pay for some gravy, and she reluctantly brought it just as I was finishing my last french fry.
If you've ever been to Nelson you'll know, the Australians, they kind of have the service industry locked down, they're "managing", after a fashion, most of the pubs and bars, which is ironic if you know anything about service, because having an Australian in charge of your service is a little like kidnapping an Eskimo from his kayak and making him your network administrator, Australians are no more known for their customer service skills than they are for their tipping, but that's another rant...
IN any event there are no Australians here today, this is all Kootenay, 100% Nelson service, and 20 minutes after arriving I'm sat at the empty table that was empty when I arrived right in front of me and the attractive server arrives and pours my water and takes my order and, after a lengthy delay, brings my food. I know, I know, it has to be cooked, and despite the restaurant being empty the patio is full, and the 4 chefs behind the counter are taxed to their limit.
The food, average as always. The service - ?? nondescript, but I'm done and when I get up to pay the bill suddenly it changes, it's friendly, personable even, the waitress, formerly "all business what d'ya want" is now solicitous, friendly, "How was everything?" she asks, presenting me the debit machine, leaning in close, her hair falling on my shoulder, her legs, hips, closer and closer, tattooed legs curling around mine, fingertips lightly guiding my fingers across the confusing tip options...."You can tip 15%, 20%, 25%, or other...." and down to other and she's continuing "Oh, good choice...lets see...you could leave me a castle in Europe, or a private jet, I would need you to leave me a pilot as well, and maybe a credit card for gas, I have a lot of friends, or you could leave me a ... more options, a diamond tiara, a kilogram of the finest Colombian Cocaine...we should party sometime...", she's needlessly working herself up and getting herself excited and it's not my imagination, she's now grinding on my hip, helping me navigate the confusing minefield of Nelson tipping, ah, service in Nelson, the perfect marriage of incompetence and entitlement, I was 20% when I came in, it was decided before I even sat down to eat, 20% rounded up, but all this attentiveness, too much, too late, it's infuriating me, and my blood is boiling and not with the reasons she's trying to incite...
It doesn't have to be this way. Seat me at the empty table when I come in. Tell me the kitchen is a bit slow. Let me order, bring my food, let me tip and get the fuck out. But out here, everything is just that little bit more over the top...
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