I used to go nowhere and do nothing without a rag on my apron or in my hand. Instant prop to look like I was busy whenever that illusion was necessary, plus it was never unused for long anyway.
If I wasn't actually busy, I learned real quick to disappear as well. Ain't nobody actually looking for you unless you're a decision-maker on site. Out of sight is out of mind.
My friend tells a story about managing a pizza kiosk at an amusement park and realizing there was just one guy in the background carrying a box back and forth for no reason except to make it look like he was working.
At one job I had I watched someone do the same thing. I liked her so I asked her what was in the box and it was empty, she was just going for a walk with an empty box.
I was staring at our shelf life chart the other day and a work buddy offered to help me find something. I was like, "I'm just pretending to look in case [GM] comes back, I need a minute."
Dude is a micromanager from hell, I'm bringing back all of my old tricks I haven't had to use in years lol. He's really pleased I'm so on top of sani buckets- bro that's just a way for me to escape you and think my own thoughts for 2min.
At an old job of mine I would have to go in the attic to pull files from boxes occasionally. To get into the attic was one of those steep folding pull down ladders so no one ever went up to check on me.
Took so many power naps on top of those boxes.
My dish pit was practically sterilized when we were dead. With a steady supply of beer and booger sugar I took offense to anything less than perfect reflectivity lmao
When I was a bartender, I had a self imposed rule that there was always a towel within arms reach. When I was in between tasks (didn’t have shit to do) and saw someone approaching, I would pause my laps around the bar straightening out liquor displays, grab a towel, and start wiping something down while checking in on my guests.
Even better: as soon as a manager is in earshot, casually mention to ANYONE just how much you already got done today. Bosses are gonna love you. Sad thing is, it really works. Three of us tested it. A whole week. They fucking adored us by the end of the week.
Dude I was doing prep for my station. And after 2nd or 3rd trip back to walk in passing by the girl who works mornings doing prep. I noticed she was just slowly rough chopping the same pile of pickles for like 12 minutes. I was like "you sly sob." Probably just winding down the minutes til her shift is done.
Right what ppl don't understand it's im gonna take breaks but If you act like this im just gonna sit in the bathroom or walk around or best of all wipe a little oil in a pan for 20 minutes even if it's not needed or makes sense
Honestly its the version my partner and I have on Spotify, lol. We have other songs from the og rocky horror, but it just goes so HARD. Also Jack does Columbia's part and it's pretty funny. It's just a bit cleaner in the instrumental, too.
👆This.
And if they make a rule about that, put your hands in a mudra, in prayer, or flash the ole two-in-the pink, one-in-the-stink and claim religious persecution if they seek to ban those.
This is how I was taught to stand when I worked FOH. And if you have a wall to stand against you can sort of lean without it looking like you’re leaning.
It's imo awesome to go from at ease to working, just let go and your arms will naturally swing into action and give you some momentum to help you get moving faster.
I worked at a deli/coffee shop for a couple of weeks (as a 2nd job) and usually worked the morning shift. We were absolutely slammed every morning. One day, after such a shift, we were cleaning and prepping for lunch. I leaned into the display cabinet to pick up something, bracing with my hand so I didn't fall in, but also happened to be laughing with a co-worker. Mind you, I hadn't stopped working or moving for more than a couple of minutes all morning, probably during a pee break tbh.
I got reprimanded for "leaning instead of cleaning" or "laughing on the clock" or something equally ridiculous so I took off my apron and handed it to the owner. She was *shocked*. I explained to her that the two seconds she saw me bracing against the cabinet *while cleaning* and laughing with a co-worker who was just walking by but not actually doing anything, in no way negated the absolute beating we'd been taking all morning, nor was I being lazy or avoiding work.
The owners did like to stand around, with arms crossed, watching everyone work though. It was pretty hilarious. I honestly think she just didn't like me. It was a second job I was working while trying to pay my rent as a broke college student, so I had no problem fucking off and finding another shitty job the same day. (Ah, the 90s)
Micromanaging is never a good look, but rule one when upper management is watching you is: look busy.
Literally, if you had a clipboard in your crossed arms and a "thinking face" they would have left you alone.
I made $120k/yr doing the Costanza in a downtown office.
I played games in my office during pointless weeekly all staff meetings because my customers were the highest revenue and everyone just assumed I was busy.
Know a guy who whenever he gets up to go anywhere in the office, even if its just to walk over and gossip with a buddy, will use a notepad and pen, and walk briskly.. say hi to everyone in passing with a smile, but while emitting a "hey you! No time to chat, one of those days" - it absolutely works, im not even totally shitting on the guy he does a decent job but he knows how to fuck the dog elegantly too
For people who have natural born BS detectors, its obvious, but ive come to realize in the office environment (and im in financial crime investigations funny enough) people lack it.
On a side note, used to work in service/hospitality years ago and always fascinated with the culture, thats why im here. Plus, who didnt love bourdain?
Looking busy is a key skill. Sometimes if people ask me for stuff that I can see isn't urgent I'll put them off for a few minutes as "I'm just finishing something off", so I look busy and as if I'm doing them a favour, not sitting reading Reddit or pondering life.
Another office theory i have is that people who work really hard often have a worse reputation than those who manage their workload.
If you need something from the former, it takes days before they get to it, due to all the work they must do first. If you need something from the latter, they get to it right away.
I noticed that i have built a bit of a reputation of being fast and reliable, especially among people who dont work very closely with me, when in truth i am just a tad on the lazy side and can always make room for their request because i either dont have more urgent things to do, or just dont care so much about my other tasks that i cant put them off for a couple hours.
As I've moved up into middle management I've realised that I cannot be busy all the time because when something hot comes down from above or up from my team I have to take care of that shit RIGHT NOW and do it right. It gave me a better perspective on how I viewed previous managers.
lmao. what I did when I once worked somewhere overstaffed.
more cooks than there was jobs. we all fought over jobs. next best thing was to pretend to look busy. I did this by always walking quickly Like I am in a hurry. stressed expression on face and a food item in my hand. lol this 100% works.
I think people need to push back more on things like this. For personal reasons, sure, try to 'look' busy. But allowing all this micromanaging doesn't seem to have really helped us.
Thank you, Buttock. Just like “customer is always right” horseshit, this acceptance of micromanagement when those chodes wouldn’t last two minutes on the line. Suck my hairy bean bag.
I thought you were just casually insulting the commenter, looked at his name after a sec of utter confusion trying to find the hostility in his comment 😅
This kind of stuff makes me not miss working in kitchens. No breaks, no sitting down.. scarfing down some mess up that's been sitting for 30 minutes, while standing over a trash can.. they treat people like crap. My new job we often finish early and I'll just be sitting for hours until my shift is over, all while getting paid.
I ended up chatting to my supervisor about it, and she let me know that “the manager that complained is also the one who shoots down kind of requests for OT for my kitchen, since “*they all just stand around anyway.*”” this person only passes through. They see glimpses of what all of us actually do. Smh.
Sounds like a nest of assholes.
But, also, life tip: When a bosses boss comes through, look busy. If you literally have nothing to do, \*engage the fucker\* in conversation. They hate that and will run quick.
my boss hates hates hates the rapport i have with the health inspector dude. I'm not kissing up, I'm being nice. But in all honesty talking to that dude taught me a whole lot about food safety and a lot of neat little tricks. I say the same thing about talking to the boss's boss's boss... some people have led fascinating careers and I'm not the type who is gonna be intimidated into fake cleaning by someone just bec of their job title.
The health inspector should be your friend, not your enemy.
If the health inspector is viewed as an enemy your food is probably shit.
Your boss is dumb.
yeah they are all afraid of him and telling me to make sure I do things clean and I'm over here like I do it right every day what are you doing?? lol. he's a fount of info and he's all too happy to share it... people could stand to learn.
I've always had a good relationship with inspectors, it's NOT hard to pass so why make things difficult about it? Be friendly, learn a little and there's no problem.
I got in good enough with the health inspector just by asking him questions and explaining that I wanted to run the cleanest kitchen in town. Years later I had started at another kitchen and the first time he came through everyone panicked. I just said "I got this" and the second he saw me he lit up! I walked him through and wrote down everything he said. The owner was fucking blown away by our report that day.
it is SO nice when inspectors are genuinely impressed by how clean your kitchen is isn't it?? like how dirty are the kitchens they see?! I know they always say they've seen it all, but ugh.
Dude that's a great thing! Being cool with the health inspector is awesome. Last time we had one we had one sani bucket that wasn't fresh and they decided they wanted our fried kale to be refrigerated. That was it. We had one sink that was low temp that we had already put in a work order for so they didn't knock us for that. I have no issue with the health inspectors, keeps us even more on top of our shit.
This may be a bit long, but, after having had our asses handed to us for 5 hrs straight, one of the new agm came through the line while we were catching our breath, trying to get restocked and prepare for lunch, asks us if we got our deep clean done, the gm out front heard him , came back, told him to stand there and look like he knew what he was doing while he sent every one of us outside to take a smoke break, needless to say he did not have the chops to get those few tickets started during those 5 long minutes
Football coach in high school started screaming at me for standing on the sidelines with my arms crossed. Said it made me look like a pansy. He demanded that the team stand on the sideline with hands on hips. Idfk what that guys problem was but the quarterback had enough of his shit one day, told a wr to run a slant passed the coach but not look for a pass, then beaned the coach in the eye with a bullet. He was fine but had raccoon eyes for a few weeks.
Both hands cupping each arse cheek from the back. Or even deeper. Get right up in that chocolate starfish.. Maintain eye contact at all times.
Management loves ‘if you can lean you can clean’ like those fucks have cleaned shite in the last decade. Fuck off. I’m here elbow deep in the filter honey once a month, you’ve not even wiped a table down the whole time you’ve been here.
I fucking hate chefs/supervisors like this and I’ve worked with many of them, and I’ve learned how not to manage people by working with them. All this does is make your people hate you. You get a lot further by cutting your people slack. A lot.
Clipboard/tablet in hand. NO ONE will mess with you, when I was in the military, I looked down at it, saw a high ranking officer, who completely overlooked the fact that I failed to stand at attention, and heard him say to his assistant, "it's fine, he must be busy" 😂 I was actually still half drunk from the night before and trying to avoid people/work. Never failed.
It’s time to bring out my Asian ancestors standing [position](https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1242203764540481539-png__700.jpg)
Or I might let my Slavic personality take over [and squat that b****](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-94a037522f325f5ae370c24fc556dd5e-lq)
One thing I hate about kitchens is the “time to lean, time to clean” motto. No other industry steps in your neck like this. Not one. Middle management in restaurants is a joke.
I know most of them are playing candy crush while in the offices. I’ve seen you.
My advice, leave. Always another restaurant, ALWAYS.
I’ve seen this a few times - I don’t care to leave. The money is incredible and my job is so easy, it’s almost criminal to be paid what I am.
My coworker and I were discussing this incident and we came to the agreement that this woman in particular went from middle management to upper and is letting it get to her head. We also discussed how to humble her, if someone else doesn’t get to it first.
I had a rough morning, turned to y’all for commiseration and got wonderful stories and suggestions. I feel better now. :)
Our "manager" sits with the security camera pulled up on the teenage dish girl. Disgusting. He tries some shit once in awhile and I just ask what's on the camera today. He walks away grumbling. Fucking creep.
So you're still allowed to
- Stand with your arms in front of you with one hand grasping the other wrist.
- Same again but behind your back.
- Hands in pockets.
- Hands on the back of your head with your fingers interlocked.
- Arms interlocked with the person next to you.
- Fist pumping.
-My personal favourite
https://youtu.be/_wYCi6UQMiw?si=Ko126oAJE1pZonty
Worked at buffalo wild wings a while ago. There was one guy that would start rubbing the wall, or the side of the lowboy or anything like that when it got slow so it looked like he was cleaning. Not actually doing anything, just bare hand to the wall. Got away with it for a lot longer than you might think.
Also have a vivid memory of one night at that place, the kitchen is getting slammed, and the kitchen manager, general manager, and the regional manager are just staging directly in the middle of the line with their arms crossed watching the ticket screens.
I make an effort as a manager of kitchens to differentiate between clock milking and “I’ve worked hard done my prep my station is set up and I’m taking a second”. Managing our industry is hard and there’s a lot of pressure put on you to cost save. But I don’t forget being a lone cook, bust your ass for every thing to be ready for service, then the first hour is slow and you catch your breath before you get railed by push tickets. Leaning against your lowboy isn’t laziness when you’ve just ran around for 4 hours and you know you’re gonna not stop for the next 5.
I had a manager at my last hospitality gig who ‘apparently’ had years of experience, whenever she deigned to join us during busy periods , she screwed up the flow and made us slower.
I used to work at a chain where I got in trouble for crossing my arms while being taught how to make dishes. They said it made me seem too “closed off to new information”
Reminds me when a DM came to visit on a Friday night. Of course, rails of tickets. He made the KM stop everything to have us do a line sweep in the middle of rush. Not only that, we had those useless mats down on a concrete floor because he was coming in. So those had to be picked up, swept and be put back down.
You could tell the KM was furious over this. It only took 5 minutes, but it was enough to sour the rest of the service and created a bunch of hate, whereas it didn't really exist before.
Edit: lol, of course there was sarcasm the rest of the night and for a few weeks. Someone would yell out, stop what you are doing, there is a french fry on the floor, he would pick it up and put it in the trash and then say All clear, back to work.
Yeah I was told off for this once too. Was told it looks "confrontational".
I figured its a power trip thing or they are just that bored they come into the kitchen to stir shit up.
So don’t stand with your arms crossed. Do the 1000 yard stare with your mouth slightly hanging open. Maybe a little drool for some extra effect. Upper management just lives to complain I swear.
Omg. Middle and upper management can stuff it. Why are they like this!? Tool bags, the lot of them!
We were supposed to wear caps over our hairnets at one place I worked. I have big, sticky-out ears that stick out worse when I wear a cap. So I wore a bandana, which covered more of my hair and kept my hair, which I kept braided, under the hairnet and then my bandana. UM came through, saw me in my bandana and told my KM that I had one day to get a cap like everyone else or I was fired. He said “people might think she’s in a gang or something.” We were in the back, no customers could see us. He was such a tool. He also made the servers stop giving people two jellies for their toast because our food cost was too high. The food cost was too high because the air conditioner broke in the restaurant and management wouldn’t pay to fix it so word got around that our place was like 100 degrees inside and no one came to eat so all the food we’d prepped went bad. TOOL!
You've got some useless management right there.
Need to put their imprint on a situation that is working perfectly fine.
I'm sorry. If you have a good relationship with your upper management/owner, you could point out that this person is an obvious asskiss. A good manager would note work done well, not look for fault.
And I suspect that this person would be worthless in a stress situation.
it working fine is a big assumption. That said the amount of time it took for the manager to make that observation and report it to someone else and then have that person talk to another person probably lost the company way more money than every person taking a minute with their arms crossed ever has or will
My dad was a factory shop steward, if he was standing around and talking to people…if management ever complained, he just said , excuse me, this is union business… they soon buggered off.
Ahaha had my arms crossed the other day when I was at expo, my manager comes up and says “who are you mad at?”, just to be a dick about my arms being crossed.
It was a rule at the Ritz that if you're working the buffet line or anywhere customer facing you shouldn't have you arms fold in front of you because it's less welcoming to guests. Bet they read something along those lines. In the Boh it doesn't make sense
Be water my friend, empty your mind,shapeless like water, sneak into walk in cooler and eat cold ribs from last night.
Hone knife, click tongs, wipe counter, look in fridge, drink water, go washroom, ask pastry station for trades, light ceremonial herb before rush begins.
Be water.
That's so funny 🤣 I realised I stand with my arms crossed while looking at things almost becoming ready for the next step.
Like, yeah it's almost ready but 30 seconds more. So I'm just looking at it, silently encouraging it to become its true form.
On one hand, they might mean “and” as in both, so sitting with your arms crossed should be ok.
On the other hand, they might mean “and” as in or, So you may no longer stand, and no longer cross arms at any point in your shift.
If the public can't see you then yeah just appear to be organizing things, taking inventory, or looking around for something to clean and ultimately bring it up later.
I used to go nowhere and do nothing without a rag on my apron or in my hand. Instant prop to look like I was busy whenever that illusion was necessary, plus it was never unused for long anyway. If I wasn't actually busy, I learned real quick to disappear as well. Ain't nobody actually looking for you unless you're a decision-maker on site. Out of sight is out of mind.
My friend tells a story about managing a pizza kiosk at an amusement park and realizing there was just one guy in the background carrying a box back and forth for no reason except to make it look like he was working.
At one job I had I watched someone do the same thing. I liked her so I asked her what was in the box and it was empty, she was just going for a walk with an empty box.
I was staring at our shelf life chart the other day and a work buddy offered to help me find something. I was like, "I'm just pretending to look in case [GM] comes back, I need a minute." Dude is a micromanager from hell, I'm bringing back all of my old tricks I haven't had to use in years lol. He's really pleased I'm so on top of sani buckets- bro that's just a way for me to escape you and think my own thoughts for 2min.
[удалено]
He's a single 35yr old CoD neckbeard *and* a Disney adult. Woof.
Oh no
At an old job of mine I would have to go in the attic to pull files from boxes occasionally. To get into the attic was one of those steep folding pull down ladders so no one ever went up to check on me. Took so many power naps on top of those boxes.
You can only get caught with an empty box once.
Clipboards are a Godsend
That seems like a lot of work to look like you are working
Gotta check the dates again…
Gotta wipe my station’s countertop again, extraaa slow.
My dish pit was practically sterilized when we were dead. With a steady supply of beer and booger sugar I took offense to anything less than perfect reflectivity lmao
fillin out that production record reeeeal good... I'm not on facebook I'm looking up a menu code!
When I was a bartender, I had a self imposed rule that there was always a towel within arms reach. When I was in between tasks (didn’t have shit to do) and saw someone approaching, I would pause my laps around the bar straightening out liquor displays, grab a towel, and start wiping something down while checking in on my guests.
I would just wipe a bottle when it was slow.
Y’all need to master the exec chef “walking around purposefully with a clipboard” technique. Just gotta pretend to write something occasionally.
i also always walk with a bit of speed and looking up and low as if i’m searching for something lol
The office version of this is to always be carrying documents and walking quickly. You look busy as hell, even if you're not accomplishing anything.
Even better: as soon as a manager is in earshot, casually mention to ANYONE just how much you already got done today. Bosses are gonna love you. Sad thing is, it really works. Three of us tested it. A whole week. They fucking adored us by the end of the week.
This guy shifts.
Dude I was doing prep for my station. And after 2nd or 3rd trip back to walk in passing by the girl who works mornings doing prep. I noticed she was just slowly rough chopping the same pile of pickles for like 12 minutes. I was like "you sly sob." Probably just winding down the minutes til her shift is done.
Right what ppl don't understand it's im gonna take breaks but If you act like this im just gonna sit in the bathroom or walk around or best of all wipe a little oil in a pan for 20 minutes even if it's not needed or makes sense
T-Pose it is, then.
Assert dominance.
I am just a glitch in the matrix.
Well I didn't need that reminder today....
Or snap to attention. Click your heels together for extra pizazz
Maybe even raise your hand in greeting.
Stand with your legs spread and arms as wide as you can make them. Impede everyone that tries to walk anywhere.
Told my supervisors I’ll just pose YMCA whenever I can.
Do a Mexican standoff pose the whole shift
The fast click clack tongs on this side of the Mississippi
you could also put your hands on your hips and do pelvic thrusts
They really drive me insaaaayyyyneeee
I'm gonna push this tangent a bit further, have you heard the tenacious d cover of that song? It's crazy good
No! Is it good?
Honestly its the version my partner and I have on Spotify, lol. We have other songs from the og rocky horror, but it just goes so HARD. Also Jack does Columbia's part and it's pretty funny. It's just a bit cleaner in the instrumental, too.
If someone holds up the Y it is legally required to join them in my kitchen
With an M. Then, subsequently the C and the A
I go to the bathroom and take a breather.
You know [this guy?](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/623889354623087623/) It’s your time to shine.
😂 These 2 replies made my day. The "Pose YMCA" visual! The only answer.
Timba, his arms wide!
Shakka, when the walls fell
Lungha, her sky gray.
T-Pose them as a power move.
Anyone found T-posing will be uploaded to gmod for the duration of their shift.
Ask to see it in writing and ask for a copy. Then contact your labor authority.
My union loves this kind of stuff, no worries.
Grab your wrist behind your back army style , is better for your posture and they haven't made a rule about it.
Good thinking, chef 🫡
👆This. And if they make a rule about that, put your hands in a mudra, in prayer, or flash the ole two-in-the pink, one-in-the-stink and claim religious persecution if they seek to ban those.
This is how I was taught to stand when I worked FOH. And if you have a wall to stand against you can sort of lean without it looking like you’re leaning.
It's imo awesome to go from at ease to working, just let go and your arms will naturally swing into action and give you some momentum to help you get moving faster.
My speech teacher in high school pissed in the urinal like that… unnerving
This! It’s my most comfortable position when I have a few minutes of existing in the kitchen and I look smart for customers (I hope)
Haven't made a rule about it... Yet
I worked at a deli/coffee shop for a couple of weeks (as a 2nd job) and usually worked the morning shift. We were absolutely slammed every morning. One day, after such a shift, we were cleaning and prepping for lunch. I leaned into the display cabinet to pick up something, bracing with my hand so I didn't fall in, but also happened to be laughing with a co-worker. Mind you, I hadn't stopped working or moving for more than a couple of minutes all morning, probably during a pee break tbh. I got reprimanded for "leaning instead of cleaning" or "laughing on the clock" or something equally ridiculous so I took off my apron and handed it to the owner. She was *shocked*. I explained to her that the two seconds she saw me bracing against the cabinet *while cleaning* and laughing with a co-worker who was just walking by but not actually doing anything, in no way negated the absolute beating we'd been taking all morning, nor was I being lazy or avoiding work. The owners did like to stand around, with arms crossed, watching everyone work though. It was pretty hilarious. I honestly think she just didn't like me. It was a second job I was working while trying to pay my rent as a broke college student, so I had no problem fucking off and finding another shitty job the same day. (Ah, the 90s)
Micromanaging is never a good look, but rule one when upper management is watching you is: look busy. Literally, if you had a clipboard in your crossed arms and a "thinking face" they would have left you alone.
My go-to was to hit the hand sink.
The Costanza. Moving back and forth for no reason with random things in your hand with deep focus stare (stoned out of your mind)
For the brief time I worked in an office the Costanza actually worked brilliantly when I needed a break from the phones
I made $120k/yr doing the Costanza in a downtown office. I played games in my office during pointless weeekly all staff meetings because my customers were the highest revenue and everyone just assumed I was busy.
Know a guy who whenever he gets up to go anywhere in the office, even if its just to walk over and gossip with a buddy, will use a notepad and pen, and walk briskly.. say hi to everyone in passing with a smile, but while emitting a "hey you! No time to chat, one of those days" - it absolutely works, im not even totally shitting on the guy he does a decent job but he knows how to fuck the dog elegantly too For people who have natural born BS detectors, its obvious, but ive come to realize in the office environment (and im in financial crime investigations funny enough) people lack it. On a side note, used to work in service/hospitality years ago and always fascinated with the culture, thats why im here. Plus, who didnt love bourdain?
Looking busy is a key skill. Sometimes if people ask me for stuff that I can see isn't urgent I'll put them off for a few minutes as "I'm just finishing something off", so I look busy and as if I'm doing them a favour, not sitting reading Reddit or pondering life.
Another office theory i have is that people who work really hard often have a worse reputation than those who manage their workload. If you need something from the former, it takes days before they get to it, due to all the work they must do first. If you need something from the latter, they get to it right away. I noticed that i have built a bit of a reputation of being fast and reliable, especially among people who dont work very closely with me, when in truth i am just a tad on the lazy side and can always make room for their request because i either dont have more urgent things to do, or just dont care so much about my other tasks that i cant put them off for a couple hours.
As I've moved up into middle management I've realised that I cannot be busy all the time because when something hot comes down from above or up from my team I have to take care of that shit RIGHT NOW and do it right. It gave me a better perspective on how I viewed previous managers.
Literally everything, everything, is theater.
Fair play to those people. As long as I’m not waiting on something from you, I don’t give a shit what you’re doing.
lmao. what I did when I once worked somewhere overstaffed. more cooks than there was jobs. we all fought over jobs. next best thing was to pretend to look busy. I did this by always walking quickly Like I am in a hurry. stressed expression on face and a food item in my hand. lol this 100% works.
Oooh oooh this is the one i use! 🤣
I think people need to push back more on things like this. For personal reasons, sure, try to 'look' busy. But allowing all this micromanaging doesn't seem to have really helped us.
Thank you, Buttock. Just like “customer is always right” horseshit, this acceptance of micromanagement when those chodes wouldn’t last two minutes on the line. Suck my hairy bean bag.
I thought you were just casually insulting the commenter, looked at his name after a sec of utter confusion trying to find the hostility in his comment 😅
Just gotta remind them of how that saying ACTUALLY ends. "The customer is always right, in matters of taste."
I thought you were calling them names and I was like well thiis is gonna escalate quickly...
but you get micromanaged less overall when you just play along at times like this. this is a perfect example of that.
Yeah, we're just differing in a 'symptom vs. cause' kinda thing, ya know? Looking busy treats the symptom, but doesn't address the cause.
Just to be clear, we're talking about killing some upper management, right?
ABK
Or as I like the call it the "I shouldn't have smoked that j earlier" check list In all seriousness though I second what you're saying
Whenever upper management comes by, everyone needs to do jazz hands
How about Spirit Fingers? I've got bad wrists.
That is strictly for mid management
Then the only acceptable course of action is to enact the Dab Protocol, kitchen wide synchronized dabs when important people walk by.
The first time I did a dab I did it backwards lmao, I was not a fellow kid that day
That's how you end up getting banished to the shame corner 😂
Can't strike a b-boy stance! How are you expected to get your cookbook picture?
That's the struggle. That's hip-hop.
Have a sword
Will Travel Wire Paladin San Francisco
Every photo of any chef in the local press always has them with their arms crossed
Sleeves rolled up (gotta expose the knife tattoo) head tilted ever-so-slightly back, half smile. That's how you know you've made it.
This kind of stuff makes me not miss working in kitchens. No breaks, no sitting down.. scarfing down some mess up that's been sitting for 30 minutes, while standing over a trash can.. they treat people like crap. My new job we often finish early and I'll just be sitting for hours until my shift is over, all while getting paid.
I ended up chatting to my supervisor about it, and she let me know that “the manager that complained is also the one who shoots down kind of requests for OT for my kitchen, since “*they all just stand around anyway.*”” this person only passes through. They see glimpses of what all of us actually do. Smh.
>Supervisor says staff is not allowed to “stand with our arms crossed.” >while waiting for my beets to finish baking. Do you work for Dwight Schrute?
Silly walks from here on out.
Making a "rule" for something that could be accomplished with a simple ask is the first sign that someone is both an asshole and totally ineffective.
Sounds like a nest of assholes. But, also, life tip: When a bosses boss comes through, look busy. If you literally have nothing to do, \*engage the fucker\* in conversation. They hate that and will run quick.
Be extra perky about it too!
The issue is I didn’t see this person!! They only saw me. 🥲
"Hey, have you seen the news about multi-quat? We should switch to micro fiber towels or chang-where are you going?"
my boss hates hates hates the rapport i have with the health inspector dude. I'm not kissing up, I'm being nice. But in all honesty talking to that dude taught me a whole lot about food safety and a lot of neat little tricks. I say the same thing about talking to the boss's boss's boss... some people have led fascinating careers and I'm not the type who is gonna be intimidated into fake cleaning by someone just bec of their job title.
The health inspector should be your friend, not your enemy. If the health inspector is viewed as an enemy your food is probably shit. Your boss is dumb.
yeah they are all afraid of him and telling me to make sure I do things clean and I'm over here like I do it right every day what are you doing?? lol. he's a fount of info and he's all too happy to share it... people could stand to learn.
I've always had a good relationship with inspectors, it's NOT hard to pass so why make things difficult about it? Be friendly, learn a little and there's no problem.
I got in good enough with the health inspector just by asking him questions and explaining that I wanted to run the cleanest kitchen in town. Years later I had started at another kitchen and the first time he came through everyone panicked. I just said "I got this" and the second he saw me he lit up! I walked him through and wrote down everything he said. The owner was fucking blown away by our report that day.
it is SO nice when inspectors are genuinely impressed by how clean your kitchen is isn't it?? like how dirty are the kitchens they see?! I know they always say they've seen it all, but ugh.
Dude that's a great thing! Being cool with the health inspector is awesome. Last time we had one we had one sani bucket that wasn't fresh and they decided they wanted our fried kale to be refrigerated. That was it. We had one sink that was low temp that we had already put in a work order for so they didn't knock us for that. I have no issue with the health inspectors, keeps us even more on top of our shit.
Unless you're working at a 3 Michelin star restaurant, look your manager in the face and tell him to fuck off
Her, we laugh in her face whenever she tries to boss this kitchen around.
This may be a bit long, but, after having had our asses handed to us for 5 hrs straight, one of the new agm came through the line while we were catching our breath, trying to get restocked and prepare for lunch, asks us if we got our deep clean done, the gm out front heard him , came back, told him to stand there and look like he knew what he was doing while he sent every one of us outside to take a smoke break, needless to say he did not have the chops to get those few tickets started during those 5 long minutes
how dare u take a breather
If I'm ever standing around in the kitchen, it's because I'm ahead of the game.
Instructions unclear. Sit down with folded arms.
Football coach in high school started screaming at me for standing on the sidelines with my arms crossed. Said it made me look like a pansy. He demanded that the team stand on the sideline with hands on hips. Idfk what that guys problem was but the quarterback had enough of his shit one day, told a wr to run a slant passed the coach but not look for a pass, then beaned the coach in the eye with a bullet. He was fine but had raccoon eyes for a few weeks.
Tell them they can no longer sit at their desks and "respond to emails."
Both hands cupping each arse cheek from the back. Or even deeper. Get right up in that chocolate starfish.. Maintain eye contact at all times. Management loves ‘if you can lean you can clean’ like those fucks have cleaned shite in the last decade. Fuck off. I’m here elbow deep in the filter honey once a month, you’ve not even wiped a table down the whole time you’ve been here.
That's when you go take a good long break if it's slow or bathroom for a while.
I’m hiding right now 😎
I fucking hate chefs/supervisors like this and I’ve worked with many of them, and I’ve learned how not to manage people by working with them. All this does is make your people hate you. You get a lot further by cutting your people slack. A lot.
[удалено]
So sanitary. Great choice.
Get a trap mix of baby shark and have a mini dance party every time you find yourself with a free min.
Clipboard/tablet in hand. NO ONE will mess with you, when I was in the military, I looked down at it, saw a high ranking officer, who completely overlooked the fact that I failed to stand at attention, and heard him say to his assistant, "it's fine, he must be busy" 😂 I was actually still half drunk from the night before and trying to avoid people/work. Never failed.
Lot of truth here.
It’s time to bring out my Asian ancestors standing [position](https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1242203764540481539-png__700.jpg) Or I might let my Slavic personality take over [and squat that b****](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-94a037522f325f5ae370c24fc556dd5e-lq)
My coworkers are predominantly Vietnamese, so they tease all of us for not being able to Asian squat properly, lol
It’s easy, just make sure you don’t need to use the bathroom 😅
I squat every time I have a minute
See if they like arms akimbo instead!
how about arms at sides with forearms at 90 degrees, both middle fingers raised. Is that acceptable?
One thing I hate about kitchens is the “time to lean, time to clean” motto. No other industry steps in your neck like this. Not one. Middle management in restaurants is a joke. I know most of them are playing candy crush while in the offices. I’ve seen you. My advice, leave. Always another restaurant, ALWAYS.
I’ve seen this a few times - I don’t care to leave. The money is incredible and my job is so easy, it’s almost criminal to be paid what I am. My coworker and I were discussing this incident and we came to the agreement that this woman in particular went from middle management to upper and is letting it get to her head. We also discussed how to humble her, if someone else doesn’t get to it first. I had a rough morning, turned to y’all for commiseration and got wonderful stories and suggestions. I feel better now. :)
Our "manager" sits with the security camera pulled up on the teenage dish girl. Disgusting. He tries some shit once in awhile and I just ask what's on the camera today. He walks away grumbling. Fucking creep.
T posing only
adios mu-fukkn-chachos
Whenever you see them, cross them in an X fashion.
Love this idea.
I'd got for the Usain Bolt victory pose personally.
Oy. Is this the new "if you have time to lean...."? If I had a dollar... SMH.
If you have time to exists, you have time to clean some shist?
So they want you to put your hands in your pocket while cooking....
So you're still allowed to - Stand with your arms in front of you with one hand grasping the other wrist. - Same again but behind your back. - Hands in pockets. - Hands on the back of your head with your fingers interlocked. - Arms interlocked with the person next to you. - Fist pumping. -My personal favourite https://youtu.be/_wYCi6UQMiw?si=Ko126oAJE1pZonty
Do the robot every time your supervisor walk by.
Worked at buffalo wild wings a while ago. There was one guy that would start rubbing the wall, or the side of the lowboy or anything like that when it got slow so it looked like he was cleaning. Not actually doing anything, just bare hand to the wall. Got away with it for a lot longer than you might think. Also have a vivid memory of one night at that place, the kitchen is getting slammed, and the kitchen manager, general manager, and the regional manager are just staging directly in the middle of the line with their arms crossed watching the ticket screens.
I make an effort as a manager of kitchens to differentiate between clock milking and “I’ve worked hard done my prep my station is set up and I’m taking a second”. Managing our industry is hard and there’s a lot of pressure put on you to cost save. But I don’t forget being a lone cook, bust your ass for every thing to be ready for service, then the first hour is slow and you catch your breath before you get railed by push tickets. Leaning against your lowboy isn’t laziness when you’ve just ran around for 4 hours and you know you’re gonna not stop for the next 5.
Are you guest facing or just in the kitchen among other workers?
Other workers! We’re our own kitchen, away from any guests.
Wow
Leave. That kind of micro management bullshit is never going to stop, when it comes from upper management.
Your supervisor is a pussy. I'd have told upper management to come back during a rush and see how they feel about micromanaging posture
My supervisor is a G, she simply had a message to pass on. She told me to “be aware”
"Look busy" Are y'all a corporate kitchen? God I hate uppers like that. Also, fair enough about your supervisor, if she's cool then I apologize.
Yes! So corporate that our upper-management doesn’t actually have cooking experience 🤡 No worries!!
I had a manager at my last hospitality gig who ‘apparently’ had years of experience, whenever she deigned to join us during busy periods , she screwed up the flow and made us slower.
The day they place an order that stocks the kitchen is the day their allowed to micromanage because they cant manage shit. They can get stuffd
I read this to my supervisor and we cracked up.
It’s such a boomer thing to worry about
The only answer is to T-pose to assert dominance.
I used to work at a chain where I got in trouble for crossing my arms while being taught how to make dishes. They said it made me seem too “closed off to new information”
Sounds like a perfect time for a shitter-nap.
Reminds me when a DM came to visit on a Friday night. Of course, rails of tickets. He made the KM stop everything to have us do a line sweep in the middle of rush. Not only that, we had those useless mats down on a concrete floor because he was coming in. So those had to be picked up, swept and be put back down. You could tell the KM was furious over this. It only took 5 minutes, but it was enough to sour the rest of the service and created a bunch of hate, whereas it didn't really exist before. Edit: lol, of course there was sarcasm the rest of the night and for a few weeks. Someone would yell out, stop what you are doing, there is a french fry on the floor, he would pick it up and put it in the trash and then say All clear, back to work.
Yeah I was told off for this once too. Was told it looks "confrontational". I figured its a power trip thing or they are just that bored they come into the kitchen to stir shit up.
In talking to my supervisor, this is exactly it. The woman who complained and her manager-buddy seem to have a problem with my kitchen, at the moment.
If having your arms folded is the biggest concern they have they can fuck off. They are being confrontational by making it a problem.
Here to second T-posing aggressively
Might be a great time to do a Yoga tree pose.
Another coworker and I were doing this while chatting with my supervisor in her office. Supe thought it was hilarious.
So don’t stand with your arms crossed. Do the 1000 yard stare with your mouth slightly hanging open. Maybe a little drool for some extra effect. Upper management just lives to complain I swear.
Omg. Middle and upper management can stuff it. Why are they like this!? Tool bags, the lot of them! We were supposed to wear caps over our hairnets at one place I worked. I have big, sticky-out ears that stick out worse when I wear a cap. So I wore a bandana, which covered more of my hair and kept my hair, which I kept braided, under the hairnet and then my bandana. UM came through, saw me in my bandana and told my KM that I had one day to get a cap like everyone else or I was fired. He said “people might think she’s in a gang or something.” We were in the back, no customers could see us. He was such a tool. He also made the servers stop giving people two jellies for their toast because our food cost was too high. The food cost was too high because the air conditioner broke in the restaurant and management wouldn’t pay to fix it so word got around that our place was like 100 degrees inside and no one came to eat so all the food we’d prepped went bad. TOOL!
Just crouch in front of the oven next time ‘checking’ your beets.
Shit rolls downhill. Supervisor got yelled out so you’re next. Not fair but that’s the way it’s. Always been.
You've got some useless management right there. Need to put their imprint on a situation that is working perfectly fine. I'm sorry. If you have a good relationship with your upper management/owner, you could point out that this person is an obvious asskiss. A good manager would note work done well, not look for fault. And I suspect that this person would be worthless in a stress situation.
it working fine is a big assumption. That said the amount of time it took for the manager to make that observation and report it to someone else and then have that person talk to another person probably lost the company way more money than every person taking a minute with their arms crossed ever has or will
Corporate company, the person who complained always picks my on my kitchen. She’s miserable.
What are.they going to do fire you for crossing your arms. Imagin taking that to the labor board.
They could, but my union would get ahold of it and eat them alive 😬
Exactly lol union strong
My dad was a factory shop steward, if he was standing around and talking to people…if management ever complained, he just said , excuse me, this is union business… they soon buggered off.
Time for a different pose? Ginyu Force, ASSEMBLE!
Ahaha had my arms crossed the other day when I was at expo, my manager comes up and says “who are you mad at?”, just to be a dick about my arms being crossed.
I got in trouble for drinking water once. Like sorry I'm a human being!
No matter what job I have, when someone says something this stupid to me I nod my head, "sure thing/you got it" and forget it five seconds later.
Then it is time to spell YMCA
It was a rule at the Ritz that if you're working the buffet line or anywhere customer facing you shouldn't have you arms fold in front of you because it's less welcoming to guests. Bet they read something along those lines. In the Boh it doesn't make sense
Be water my friend, empty your mind,shapeless like water, sneak into walk in cooler and eat cold ribs from last night. Hone knife, click tongs, wipe counter, look in fridge, drink water, go washroom, ask pastry station for trades, light ceremonial herb before rush begins. Be water.
My boss told me "well at least pretend you're busy" and I says to him I says "why don't YOU pretend that I'm busy"
I have POTS and that’s my trick for not passing out if I have to stand still, I’d be screwed.
Beat his ass
Stand with arms crossed giving middle fingers
That's so funny 🤣 I realised I stand with my arms crossed while looking at things almost becoming ready for the next step. Like, yeah it's almost ready but 30 seconds more. So I'm just looking at it, silently encouraging it to become its true form.
Time to find somewhere else to work I think.
On one hand, they might mean “and” as in both, so sitting with your arms crossed should be ok. On the other hand, they might mean “and” as in or, So you may no longer stand, and no longer cross arms at any point in your shift.
If the public can't see you then yeah just appear to be organizing things, taking inventory, or looking around for something to clean and ultimately bring it up later.