Over the Edge

I will put it on the line right now: not only am I not in My Happy Place, I am certifiably, undeniably, 100% pissed and bitch-tastic. Anyone who wants to back away quietly (without taking your eyes off me, in case I attack) is excused. If you're still here, I'm going in to full on Rant Mode now. You've been warned.

Got in to it with one of the sous chefs today. Every meeting I plan, every menu I confirm, every timeline I have for an event, every decision I make, is published on an event order (BEO). This tells the banquet department and the kitchen what is required of them. And while I DO make mistakes, and I do overlook things by times, I have been doing this for a while, alright? I have a pretty good handle on how to to do my job.

On an average day, I put out eight BEO's. On a super productive day, a day when my phone isn't ringing off the hook and I only work from 8am til 7pm (even though I stopped getting paid at 5pm), I might crank out thirty.

Yesterday was such a day. I got out thirty. And today, I received several phone calls from this sous chef. Let's say, oh, I don't know, thirty. (slight exaggeration, but this is my blog.)

"How come..."
"Why didn't you..."
"Can't you change..."
"You didn't tell me..."
"Where did you get that price..."
"Are you crazy.."

No, I am NOT crazy, I am doing my bloody job. And I'm really sorry that you misunderstood me when I asked for that menu, and I'm sorry that I can not change the date of that menu tasting, and I'm sorry apparently everything I do is shit, but BACK OFF.

My job is hard, okay? You may think that all I do is dress up and eat in resturants all day, but I work my ass off. I have an average of three meetings a day, and receive and respond to, on AVERAGE, almost 100 phone calls and emails. PER DAY. And above and beyond that, I initiate at leat another fifty phone calls/emails. And in the middle of that, I find time to "make friends" with my clients, take care of details that other departments should be responsible for ("Oh, but Jenn, you have the relationship with them, so could you....") and upsell clients to spending more on food and beverage than they planned to. The reason I work late almost every day of my life is that, because I am so busy being on the phone and nudging clients towards the better menu all day, the first chance I actually get to do some WORK is right around 5pm.

I am not the only one with a hard job. I am not the only one who routinely puts in 60 hours a week. All the Banquet supervisors do it, and all the sous chefs do it, too. The difference seems to be that I am the only one who gets shit on every time I turn around. The difference is that, when an event runs flawlessly, there is unending praise for Banquets and the kitchen....the fact that somebody PLANNED this perfect event is never mentioned or considered. The difference seems to be that I completely acknowledge I couldn't in a million years do what they do, but they seem to feel that a small child or drunk monkey could do MY job.

I would never suggest to this particular sous-chef that we trade jobs for the day, because I can't cook. And do I really have to point out what the flip side of that equation is?

I am tired of getting no respect, I am tired of being questioned and berated, I am tired of having to explain myself, I am fucking tired.