Friday Night

Starting another weekend of work at the restaurant.

"This place is really Ralph Lauren”—I think was the dumbest thing I heard anyone say all
night.
The person was saying this as they were walking out of the restaurant after dinner.
It is his restaurant. It was a Friday night crowd. Though it seems to be getting worse on the weekends lately.
Maybe I am imagining this since it has probably been that way for a while.

I had three tables in a row start the exact same way. Before even getting the specials out, one
of the guests on the table blurting at me: “What are some of your best known items on the menu?
I mean what are the specialty dishes here? What are you best known for?”
“the burgers. The steaks. The meat dishes”
“What are youre signature dishes?” the lady says again.
This table in particular seems like its going to be difficult. They are already very loud. They
seem like they’ve had a good start already with the drinks. It’s Friday night though and I guess
people are looking to blow off steam. I’m probably not the server they wanted to have either.
Probably not your best Friday night fun guy waiter. I was in a bit of a slump already. The first
day back of 4 nights and its hard to get into it. Im thinking about all the furniture im trying to sell
and how im going to get this move going.

The Restaurant Life

Working another night at the 'Rugby Lounge'...

Have been told that I look like Clark Kent twice in the past two nights. I can never think of anything to say to this. I guess I'm just tired of hearing it and maybe I need some different glasses.

I also received my first very negative Amazon review for book Trashed. It is kind of a relief because I feel that I have been waiting for it since I published the book. It is definitely not the response a struggling writer wants to hear. There was nothing positive in it.

Really looking forward to being off. One more night of madness to go. Finishing my applications for school and looking to hit the gym a few days. Going into the 'Rugby Lounge' for another round and waiting on some of the beautiful people.

Hiking Upstate

Hiking upstate with an old friend who has been touring the country and Canada for almost a year. He has an airstream trailer and has been traveling through state parks and remote isolated locations. I'm envious of his travels and wish to get outdoors more like him.
We take his truck and head out on a hike at the local state park 30 mins from my friends house upstate. We go on a shorter trail since it is afternoon already. I hear about hiking and camping experiences along the way.






Next time I will hope to try some camping. I'm already dreading making my way back to the city and being back in the megalopolis. But until next time I will be trying to keep some zen in the city...

Work and CA

8 07 16

Headed to CA after working three nights. Yelled at today for smoking my vapor e cig in the private dining room while we were on our pre-service break. Thought I was gonna get written up for it but didn't.

8 15 16
In CA. Nice to be out of New York and away from waiting tables for awhile. I would prefer to stay out here indefinately. Aja saying that I should try to be more bicoastal. That has been my plan for the last 12 years,I say. It hasn't quite panned out for me.
Well if you write a bestselling book you can. She says.
I got the book part done just not the bestselling part, I say.
Maybe that will change.
Maybe I should look for a waiting job out here. Some kind of work. Work on the Plague book some more. It doesn't seem as interesting as subject here but think it will translate.
H1NZ. Seeing a guy in LA who is working at a cafe that seems to be infected with it also. He's looking a little macabre. Like you can see his bone structure a little too well.
"Are you coming to the worker's rally tonight?" I ask him.
He looks at me suspiciously. Maybe I misjudged him.

"The Rugby Lounge"

1-21-16

80 days sober. I want to only do the labor part of the job. Be an efficient waiter. Not think about the personality part. People drinking a lot at the restaurant. It’s a Wed night what are these people doing getting trashed like this? Was a weird night. Me getting shit about the table not turning. Too slow. Let another table wait forever. Really not looking forward to it. Failing like shit I guess. The one girl thanking me on the Brett Ratner guys table. I think that she felt really bad for me because every time I asked the table something they flat out ignored me. They ignored me the entire meal. Talking about fucking and all the different women the Rat-guy had been with. While he was rubbing the two women’s shoulders sitting on each side of him. They had these vacant looks like they were empowered but also being objectified at the same time.

Drinking in the city

Went out yesterday to meet up with co-workers after they had finished the wine school training. Met them around 4p at Rudy's one of the oldest bars in the city (according to Eric), serving up 5 dollar beer and a bush mills shot combo all day and night. They probably had 10 rounds of those. I had 4 myself. In the span of about 30 minutes. We were shooting them boilermaker style dropping the whiskey in the beers and chugging them. I was trying to act macho with everyone and show that I could slam a lot also. Towards the end I kept slamming them. Then we planned to go over to the BBQ spot across town where our bartender's girlfriend bartender at. We tried getting into cabs but that wasn't working out very well. The traffic was very bad and some of us decided to split off and head for the train at port authority. Someone needed the bathroom, James or Gaberiel. The other James was with his father and we ended up running back into them in the subway area.
"What are you guys doing?" we seems to be yelling at each other.
They were headed uptown to get sushi and we were going downtown to the BBQ place.
Then we were back off.

We all got to the bar and got some tables. I had a smoke outside with Eric and we started laughing about something. It happened later when we went back in. I don't remember the joke but we were laughing hysterically at the bar. I had tears streaming down it was so funny. I wish I could remember what was making us laugh like that.

Nate ordered the gigantic sampler platter for everyone and we feasted on that. His girlfriend was helping us and she also happens to be pretty hot. Nate doesn't seem to mind when you point this out. Later when I'm giving her a tip her tells me to put it in her shirt. So i go along with it. She's very cute and has a great rack. The day gets blurry from here. We end up at an outdoor rooftop bar/club but I can barely remember it. (TBC)

My Book Giveaway

Please check it out. It's my first official Book Giveaway!!!!!!!!!

The books will also be signed as an added bonus if I am ever to become famous may be worth some money!

Thanks for looking. Please join!

RHR

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Trashed

by Robert Hagen Rich

Giveaway ends September 15, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Just another day at the office...

There is this guy that comes in I've seen who appears to be from some other time period, or era, or world completely. I have been wondering about him and his visor, thinking that he may be able to zap somebody with it. We were wondering if he was from the future. People were calling him Robocop. He has a little bit of an intimidating quality to him I would say. I will try not to piss him off...





(Photo credit to Jack, who went deep cover to get it. We were trying to get a shot from the front also but were unable to. Possibly if we encounter him again)

The Restaurant Life

Still working at the same French bistro restaurant in the West Village. Have seen a lot of changes of management throughout my 4 years of working there now. The atmosphere has changed. The lights are always turned down very low and the new manager likes to blast 90s rock music throughout the dinner shift. People often complain about the music being loud and lighting being dark, "this is the way that we want it to be" is the manager's reply. Usually not to a table but just to me, leaving me to deal with the complaining. Most of the time I agree with the people but some are just crabby and hard to deal with. In any event the atmosphere is sucking and I think I may need to leave. We'll see.
Published the book on Amazon. Have a few people looking at it. Sold a couple of copies and have gotten some feedback on it. Trying to get it reviewed by people. Also trying to put together an event, some kind of reading and trying to get it to bookstores.
Going to be blogging more and seeing if anyone will ever read these.


RHR

The Restaurant Life

We lost a great manager over the weekend. It saddens me that he will no longer be working with us. He was a good worker and always helped to make the shifts go by or in my case sometimes go on longer. In any event he was a good man and will indeed be sorely missed.

I will also throw in a quote about work and how it degrades.

"One of the saddest things is that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day, is work. You can't eat eight hours a day nor drink for eight hours a day nor make love for eight hours—all you can do for eight hours is work. Which is the reason why man makes himself and everybody else so miserable and unhappy."-- William Faulkner.

More cheap-ass tippers in the restaurant

The summer has been fairly slow waiting tables here in the city. I might add that some customers have been a little less-than-generous. There are nights when I want to drink myself into oblivion while working.

One night recently it was getting to me really bad. I was about to lose it on a table. Then one more and I did lose it. Girl telling me that I was a shit ass waiter and I called her a stupid immigrant. Because my manager was standing behind the bar and drinking for the whole shift and not doing his job I guess would be why I wasn't fired immediately. He started to go off on me and I blew up a little back and then got sent home with my tables being transferred. I thought maybe I would be fired and kind of panicked. I got home and thought that I don't want to do this anymore. Why do I have to put up with this bullshit?

I was scheduled to work the next night also. The manager that sent me home wasn't working until later that night. I tried being as patient and tolerable with everybody now. I had had a brush and didn't want to lose my job. I saw the girl from the night before walk by with her friend and she did not appear happy to see me standing there working again. She cursed and flipped me off. I was afraid she would make a bigger scene but kept walking.

Later at about the end of my shift the other manager came in. He didn't say anything to me. I went up to him when it was time for my cash-out and apologized for what had happened. He had a suspension slip he was going to give me but said that since I apologized he would forget it.

Cheap Mother*****rs not tippin me!

Life was good and all the tables were leaving pretty good tips and then a couple tables just screwed me over in the end and ruined the night for me.

A group of younger people out on the patio who split the check and didn't tip any on the cash portion. It's one of the most frequent occurences in the stiffing department. People pay part of the check in cash and then only leave a tip on the part they pay with credit card. People dismiss it as negligence and act like tipping is not a big deal. It happens quite frequently. Splitting the check and then stiffing.

I asked the manager to go say something to them and then said that i would go when he said he wouldn't. He said, "Let it go". Then I asked two of the guys if everything was alright with the service as they're leaving. 'Yeah' 'Great' they were saying as they were already speeding past me and out the door. The girls get up and follow them out quickly also. I see them all standing for a second outside on their way to leave and give them half a bird subtly but not all the way. Not like completely flipping them off in front of people. Just enough so they kind of see and look at me a little strangely and maybe got the message..

Book Work

The teacher in the writing class saying that maybe the character drink vodka instead of whiskey during the shift. Saying that was what "they" (her and her work people) would drink and suggesting it had a less conspicuous odor.
I guess it was part of the recklessness of the character of him at the time and not really caring about it. Vodka does make more sense to drink though when working and there is a scene where the character Hayden runs into a co-worker at a bar before work and the guy, "Old Spice", is having some vodka soda juice concoctions. He isn't really happy to see Hayden there either. As they had just blown each others' cover or something. Ruined their chances of escaping.
I wonder how that guy is doing these days now even. If he IS doing...

Maybe we're all on the same sinking ship. Who knows!??

Christmas

The Tree!!!!

The Dreams of Writing live On!

Trip Upstate

Me and Nikisha heading upstate for a trip this fall. Taking the Amtrak up from Penn Station and she forgetting the Iphone at the TGIF's that we were eating at in the station. Realizing as the train was taking off.

We got to the beautiful Inn and were taken to our room. Turning the fireplace on. The weather having turned cold already. It was nighttime. I opened a bottle of the wine we brought with us. Breakfast in the morning made by Dini, one of the owners of the Inn. Their dog, Pysche (who he told us is famous now after having shot in a film at the Inn also), joined us for our breakfast.

Later we got dropped off at the Estate, Olana, and hiked and took pictures. Taking in the beautiful views of the Hudson River Valley and playing in the woods.

We dined at the great DA BA restaurant in Hudson. Getting a great amuse bouche and then settling in to a quite enchanting meal...

Halloween

Working

Standing in the restaurant. Giving people some bad service after they told me they were going somewhere else for dinner and just gonna have "a coffee and a gingerale". Got a little pissed off. Later on I was waiting on this other pretentious table. A director or something and some woman/aspiring actress-diva-wannabe-bitch that pissed me off. Annoying people. 15 percent tip when they should have left 20 at the end. Sitting for two hours and having coffee refills. Oh well. Fuck these people. One day I will get even with everyone. I will get even with the world and all that life has taken from me!
* * *

Summer ending and college kids coming back. Noticing them all filling up in the city. Waiting last night and other nights. Feeling good for fall. Can't wait for the change of season now.

The OC and back to New York

First night back to work last night. Was hard going back. Made 135 around. Got a horrible tip from French couple ($2 on 85$). Hope to see them again so I can put a gratuity on those fuckers’ check! With their rude and superior attitudes.. Damn you French!


Went down to the beach in Corona del Mar on the last day of vacation. Walked down from my sisters apartment. Laying in the sand and then swimming a couple times. Water was cold there. Beautiful day. Sunshine. Sad feeling. Thought of it ending. Going back. Returning to new york. Wanting it to go on forever. Want to sit at the coffee shop there with the fountain. But every second there now there is some douche-bag it seems like, in his 40s or 50s, on his phone talking as if he were talking to everybody in the whole shopping center. The place is getting more and more ruined by these a-hole types everywhere. Driving expensive cars and acting like big-timers. It's really kind of annoying actually. But I would still take it though. To be back to the beach and going surfing. Love being in the California sun. Miss it out there.

Summer

The Lady with the young boy who likes poetry and might become a writer one day, saying the other day when I was serving them. After I was telling her other places I worked before coming back to this restaurant.
"You worked at all these hot restaurants" she was saying. "What are you doing here?" she says, smirking kind of.
They had come back from the Hamptons. "You should go work out there" she said.
She was talking about how busy it was and staying up all night there. Yeah I should, I thought.

* * *
Later in the night. Actually around 5 in the morning because I was working a double that night. The late-night manager saying "life is not always what we expect huh?" "Life is not always a rose garden." he says, facing to the bar as I walk out to finish putting sugar caddies on the tables as the first glimmers of light are starting to appear outside. Not exactly...