Hey Now, 

  A few more days of Red Sox in the Fenway and some catering this week. Sonora Hot Dog special all week $5.25 eat them in moderation if you don't have health insurance. Remember what happened to Charly when he ate too many

  A quick note about phone calls, if you answer the phone and they ask for the manager, the person in charge of advertising or as for James or Jimmy- then you have a pretty good idea its a salesperson making an unsolicited sales call on our main business number. I try not to be rude to these people but I don't want to tie up the main number and have the counter staff having to run around looking for me. The reason to say that I am there but cant come to the phone is, they will just keep calling back but if they leave their information, there is at least a 50/50 chance that they will go away. That is unless its a Yelp Ad call- those people are likely hit with stun guns if they don't call for me 10 times a day. 

  Lets keep it simple, 'he is in and he cant come to the phone right now could I take message" 

  For Catering Calls- take the name, phone number, email if you can get it and then text the information to Carissa. Our website is being redesigned and will allow catering customers to put in orders online (subject to our schedule). This is a good place to direct people if you are alone on the counter or if its busy. It will have a lot more functionality which we will go over in more in depth this upcoming week.

  Guest complaints or problems- 

Over the phone: be sure to apologize and get a name and address, depending on the level of fuck up, either I or you will write the apology note and we can stick a few gift cards in to make up for it.

   In person: apologize do what you can to fix it, you have the authority to make it right and give a little more. No one ever went broke being generous to their customers. If you feel like its turning in to a big deal and you need help- feel free to ask someone to step in and help- sometimes a guest is less angry with a third party or authority figure. I am happy to step in or grab a manager.  Its not the mistakes that we make, its what we do about them that matter. Except if its the same mistake over and over. Then expect merciless cutting sarcasm and self esteem crushing wit at your expense.

  Let have a good time this week. Drink a lot of water- it will make the craving for hot dogs go away.....hopefully 

Hey Now,

Good Fun this week my pals, Now on to business, Monday starts the time of the year when I really need you. We have been preparing for this time for a while so I know you are all ready. I am going to try this email in a different more direct way.

Facts

It is going to be busy every shift so be prepared-don't judge the day by how it looks at 11am or 5pm be ready-you know what to do

Be on time we have no room for error, if you are going to come in at 5 o'clock be ready to go right away-if you want to eat and chat first come earlier.

Read back orders to the customer both at register and handing food out- if something gets screwed up its because you didn't care enough to do this 

Allergy Modifier is on both registers, know your allergies and follow our procedure, if you fuck this up you know I will hear about it and hopeful no one gets hurt....by the allergy... not by me(maybe by me)

Do your job, I don't have time to make sure nightly cleaning gets done, so as I always say if you are the type of person who need some on to stand over them, let me know and I will help you find another job.

Treat each other like the family that we are, if you give kindness and patience you will receive the same. Nobody likes a douche, its one of the few things I know for sure

Have some fucking fun, smile and we can take what we do seriously but we don't have to take ourselves seriously 

In the wise words of James Hoben:

 "if we are going to bother to get out of bed today and put on some pants, they we might as well be extraordinary or whats the point"

PS 

Fiery Fifteen Wednesday-Camera Crew in Brighton for that night, 

Red Sox start Friday, Saturday Sunday,

Hey now,

       I hope those who had a spring break had a good one and hopefully won't show up in an adult video in a few months. This week it’s going to start picking up and for Fenway it’s going to revolve around the weather. If it’s warm be prepared this week one day would be double the sales of the next and only because of the weather. I think everyone knows about this:

  Flan

Chimichanga

Vegan Cheese

Sat breakfast

Text message service

add double tortilla on request

Art theft

Allergies 

-so if you don't know what all those are ask someone at the start of your next shift.

         This week Carissa is going to send out an email explaining GrubHub and some special events we have this week-fun shit and you will be on the clock.

         I wrote the below tips about what to do at closing-not because we have ever had an issue but so we will never have one-This something I think we do well but just so everyone has the same info and guidelines AND read the 8 things that you can do at closing or I will start getting political

    Too late I am going to tell you all about an African warlords who kidnapped children, murder families, commit genocide and the US government doesn't give a fuck because they are black and there is no oil in those places. It’s getting to be the time for all citizens to stand up and ask our government to make genocide and murder of innocents in in our "strategic foreign interest"

        I have also read the criticism of the Kony movement and other anti-interventionists, but the critics only say these simplifications have minor factually errors or it cautions against being swayed by emotion in foreign policy(like that has never happened before) The saddest thing is it gives young people one more reason to be jaded and not feel any power to change what is happening. Whether these human rights abuses happened in a different countries or at different times than has been stated by the Kony movement it’s not an excuse not to care. You can be assured genocide, plague and starvation occurred that could have been prevented by US and European nations providing security and infrastructure. Instead we will do anything NOT to think of Africa. 

   In the meantime READ below or I will make you all my child soldiers

    Polite Ways to Let Customers Know It’s Closing Time

  First, we happily serve customers right up to 11pm, even a few minutes after if the drawer hasn’t been taken downstairs already.  If a customer comes in just before or at 11pm, we should make them feel just as welcome as if they had come in at 6:30pm. 

  This list is intended for the customers who are still sitting and eating past 11pm.  Do these things a few minutes apart, always smiling and being pleasant to the customer.  The absolute worst is when staff makes you feel like you are intruding for being a customer.

  1.  Shut off the Xmas lights

2.  Turn the music off

3.  Count tips, take the soda machine apart, take care of all side work short of sweeping and moping

4.  At 11:15 politely tell the customer we are closed and ask if they would like us to wrap anything up for them

5.  Sweep the dining room without putting chairs up

6.  At 11:20 Politely let customers know you are going to be putting the chairs up and will be mopping soon so to be careful as they exit so as not to slip.  Give the people a minute or two to collect themselves and head out

7.  Start mopping

8. If they aren’t gone by now they are real douches and the manger can take it from here.

  Again, it’s very important that these steps be taken only if it is after 11pm and people are really not making an effort to finish up and leave.  For the most part, customers have just gotten caught up in a conversation and don’t mean to put us out so the gentle touch goes a long way.

If someone makes you feel uneasy for any reason have the manger on duty or the biggest cook speak to them. Don’t be afraid to call the police. They will only try to help us.

  The good news is this never happens and the latest anyone ever stayed past closing is like 11:15 and everyone is usually very nice about it

    Jim

Hey Now,

  I put together a list of most of the common or funny answers taken for all the submissions. Lots of good and funny things in there. I think the best part of this is seeing how everyone is able to interact with the customer as themselves and not in some pre-programmed way. Large companies and chain restaurants don't trust employees intuition to interact with guests in an authentic way so instead they work off a script.

   I trust everyone here is able to make customers feel welcome in their own way. It really comes down to treating people the way you would want to be treated. As you all know, I have given you the authority to fix 99% of the problems that come up and I usually only ask one question- did we treat the customer right? I know we can’t make everyone happy and that always a small part of the population takes advantage, but I am unwilling to adjust the way I do things for fear that someone will get over on me. If they do, its a short lived and only makes them less for trying.

    For Guests

  1. Carried out food to people who wanted to sit outside

2. Talked to a customer for a while because he liked my earrings

3. Gave someone an extra salsa fresca

4. Informed guests about breakfast on Saturdays

5. Directed a vegetarian customer how to get a meatless el guapo

6. Took a customer’s order in Spanish

7. Clear food trays from guests who were eating but still hung out for awhile

8. Gave some on a Habanero and a little Horchata to try

9. A few people offered samples such as-spicy mayo, chips, a few plantains, limed onions

10. Gave out a few flans

11. Talked to customer about Vegan Tamales

12. Pretend to like someone’s child

  For Co-Workers

  1. Let co-worker leave early because they were feeling ill

2. Helped train a new person

3. Read all my emails

4. Made a list of new Spanish songs for me to buy

5. Bought a cake for someone’s birthday

6. Sassed one co-worker and was mildly amicable to the others

7. Only eating half a quesadilla to save me money

8. Told Virgillo they went to church often to make him happy-it was a lie

9. Helped talk Spencer in to growing a handlebar mustache

10. When down stairs with Charly in the morning because he was scared

11. Fixed the internet mid shift

12. Told Rene he was handsome

    On to the winners-  Zoe, Nina, Susana

 This is a hard one to judge, we could have about 5 winners but I am too cheap to part with $500. It was very close, but I would have to give it to Zoe, Nina, Susana I selected them for their creativity consistency and humor. These are very funny and I will post them at each store so you can all judge for your self

    A few quick points-if you are still reading after you looked quick to see if you won

Next week area schools will be on Spring Break so it may slow down in either store but when classes resume we will be in the busy part of our year and both stores will be very busy. Stay organized behind the counter and be prepared it make the shift go by so much earlier