The First Casualty of Black Friday is Innocence
the second is your feet....The weekend was tough. Not the worst but tough all the same. Next Friday though, the 14th, is Black Friday. This was more charcoal Friday than Black. Black Friday is the busiest day of the year. It's like all hell is let loose and it needs to be fed in five 2-hour sittings. No other day is more eagerly anticipated and feared by chefs, waiters, and bar staff alike. I'm not doing it justice.....
It's fucking hell on earth. It's the perfect storm. It's the tenth circle of hell. It's 14 hours straight, no break, no food, no smokes, no coming up for air. It's not for the weak, the fainthearted or those of a nervous disposition. And certainly not for those who cant work four hours in a row without resorting to quoting European Employment law. All bets are off, all workers rights are put on hold. By the end of lunch you have served more tables than you would on a Saturday night and you still have three sittings to go. If you are unfortunate enough to die during service then you can expect to be moved to the side. Someone will send your next of kin a text message to come and collect you. This is the Champions League/Superbowl of restaurant work. The big fight of catering. The rumble in the restaurant. The Olympics for waiters. Anyone for steroids? It really doesn't get tougher than Black Friday....
It's all about the anticipation of what might happen. Actually it's all about what might go wrong. If we get it wrong on a Tuesday night we might annoy 2 or 3 customers. If we get it wrong on Black Friday we might end up with a riot on our hands. Hell hath no fury like a mid ranking Civil Service manager who has to wait longer for their turkey and ham than they hoped. And with communications being what they are these days you can expect a withering email of complaint before you have even got the tables reset again. I've never been involved in a Black Friday disaster, touch wood I never will. But stories of other restaurants serving desserts at 1 am and customers who had to wait an hour and a half for their first course last for years. It sends a very cold shiver down my back at the thought of it. Your adrenalin is fueled by the desire not to be the one that fucks it all up and personal pride in the job. But mainly the former reason.
Conversely, it's also the greatest rush you can get working in a restaurant. It's a fucking high. The adrenalin is pumping from the moment you put on your uniform. A restaurant in full flow is a beautiful thing. When it flows right, when all you can hear is the laughter of your customers and the popping of corks, when all the staff are moving as one as if choreographed, when the plates go out full and come back empty, when the chef still calls you by your first name and not fuck-wit then it truly is a joy to behold. Not that you have time to behold anything. You will work harder on Black Friday than on any other day in the year. You will also make more money than on any other day. Which is nice. Black Friday is also a very Golden Friday too...
And it's all I can think about....sweet Jebus I'm scared......and excited too.....but mainly scared.....
