Saturday, December 10, 2005

MAYBE

All I need is a vacation... far away from here. Away from you, you, you and you (random people). I wanna go to a cold country and bury myself in the snow til' I turn blue.

IT'S THE HOLIDAYS MAN! I've been waiting for this break since God knows when! But why am I not enjoying it? Nope... it's got nothing to do with work. My colleagues are nice people. Majority of the customers at BB are friendly, except a few women who're suffering from PMS that make me feel like going into the kitchen, snatching a pan from whoever's cooking and slamming it into their faces.


Thank Jesus for Theresa, who's from the Philipines.

We started work around the same time; late November/ early December. So last night, after our shift, we sat at the coffee shop and I asked her if she liked working at BB. Her answer was shocking.

It was a simple, "Nah!".

Ok, despite having certain misunderstandings with the diners of BB, I have had quite a pleasant time working there. The staff there are exceptionally nice (this is the hundredth time I'm stating this). Usually, if you wanna make new friends, you gotta make the first move in getting to know them right? But it's the total opposite at BB.


Example One:

My 3rd day of work, and I walked past a group of waiters to go into the store to change. I didn't know any of them, so I didn't even bother glancing at them. I came out of the store, went into the kitchen to punch in when Zi Qi just popped out of nowhere and said, "HELLO! What's your name? I'm Zi Qi."

Phwoah!!! Sibeh automatic hor? Haha! But he's a fun chap to hang out with. On that very same day, after the customers left, I provoked him by leaving footprints on the area which he had just finished mopping. Wahahaha! He was like, "Aaaaahhhh!!!! Kimberly ah!!! You see your leg!!!!".

I know I'm evil~

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Example Two:

Cleared a few tables and I was washing my hands when Young (a frickin' tall guy) came and stood behind me. Yeah, he was so tall, his shadow was cast above me. So I turned around and there he was, holding a cabbage and smiling some goofy smile.

I starred at him! Which sane human being would hold a cabbage and smile at someone?! Anyways, he told me, "Eh, why you look so moody? Smile lah!".

What did I do? I gave him a blank look and asked, "I where got moody?". He replied, "Don't have meh?". I shrugged and walked away. Oh no!!! I was soooo unfriendly. But no worries. We're buddies now! Kwahahaha!

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Example Three:

I apologised to Young (on the same day he was holding that vegatable) for showing him attitude. He, naturally, didn't mind and kept asking me to smile. -_-"

Then this other kitchen staff, a very chio girl, came beside Young and said, "Eh, really leh! You should smile more. You look _______ when you smile." I was gonna reply her when, alamak!, I had to clear tables again!

Blah blah blah, wiped the table, set cutlery and skipped past the bar when that chiobu looked up at me, grinned and said, "Wo jiao Serene." My reply to her was, "Ok! Wo jiao Kim!"

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Of course there are many more examples of friendly people like Cecilia, Lemon, Kathy, Mindy, Gen, Eugene, Paul, Bani, Kris, Nicky etc. etc. etc.

BACK TO WHY THERESA DIDN'T LIKE THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT!

She, being a foreigner, did not click well with the rest of the crew because she doesn't speak Mandarin. She also told me that some of the kitchen staff laugh at her whenever she asks for the bill.

WTF!

I know she has an accent when she speaks, but what do you expect?! She's filipino! Another thing she's afraid of is to make mistakes while taking down orders. Theresa told me that once a customer asked her for some mayonnaise and BB was crowded, so she forgot totally about getting mayo for that customer.

That customer blew up! Hello, you're pissed off because she forgot to give you some stinking white sauce? Be reasonable lah... people not purposely one right? A Swensens waiter once forgot to serve my family iced water but did we yell at him in public? All you have to do is remind the fellow nicely and he'll get it done right away!

Poor Theresa. Came to Singapore for training to earn S$450 a month and she's living a nightmare. Cut her some slack, peeps! She's so stressed out that she smokes a whole box of cigarettes every night! Her family's not here, she doesn't have her boyfriend's shoulder to lean on, Singaporean customers are scarring her.... SHE NEEDS A BREAK MAN!

Urgh! Argh!
(here's the ultimate stress reliever), RRRRROOOOAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!


But Theresa doesn have an advantage in being able to speak in a different language. Whenever someone pisses her off, she goes, "Damn you!" in tagalog.

WAHAHAHAHA!!!!! My head was rolling on the ground because of all that laughing after she told me about how she curses customers. Good for her! As for me, I'd be sacked immediately because I can only cuss in English, Chinese, Malay and Hokkien.

"Fuck you lah! What's your problem?!"

"TaMaDe! Bu xiang huo le shi bu shi?! Qu si la!"

"Diam lah bodoh! Pepek kau busuk!"

"Wa si nin lao bu! Kua wa buay song ah?!"


If I even have the guts to mouth of half out of one of those sentences, Mac is gonna have me fired (not before sliting my throat open). THERESA!!! TEACH ME TAGALOG!!!!!!