Now, it was Saturday night and I was relieving the opening cook of her cooking duties, but not of anything else. So, I get there, clock in and see that there are a few orders up that need to get done. So, I put a few things that the other cook forgot and just watch the stuff while I think she's in the back doing dishes and stuff.

Well, one of the orders was a special that I hadn't made yet and so I called her up so she could tell me how to finish it. One of the off-the-clock waitresses just happened to be in the kitchen helping herself to a soda, and she tells me that the other cook left already. I'm just like "No she didn't, she's in back!" So, I go and look and sure enough, her coat was gone and she was no where to be seen.

Pissed as all hell right about now, I asked the general manager how to make the order and told him that the other cook had left without telling that she was leaving and without telling me how to cook this. He told me that she was just outside. So, I said that he should go and tell her to get her ass back in there.

So, she comes back in a few seconds later and I asked her how to finish it, and she got this HUGE attitude with me and acted like I was a complete moron because I didn't know how to cook an order that I had never cooked before. Of course by that time, I had just guessed how to finish it and was completely right, so that was all good.

As she was walking away, I told her thanks for telling me that she was leaving. She came back and said the one thing that blew my top. She said, "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to give you the opportunity to tell me I didn't so something." Can you believe that!!?? It's her JOB to finish her job and she goes and leaves so I can't take the time to tell her that she DIDN'T do her job. Then, when I started yelling at her, she got in my face and told me not to freakin yell at her. So, I lowered my voice and said, "Fine, it comes down to this, It's MY job to tell you what you didn't do, so you can do YOUR job." She's just like, "whatever" and walks away.

So, there I was, stuck finishing the prep, doing the dishes, AND cooking all by myself. Now, how fucking bad can that get? Most of the prep wasn't all that important and was just stuff that needed to be done. Of course, when I got an order for a Caesar salad and I don't have any romaine cut, that kinda got on my nerves. Then, when I got an order for a Strawberry malt, only to find out on my own and was not told by the other cook that the kitchen was out of ice cream, that didn't make anything better. The fact that I wasn't told that we were out of Onion Rings just put the final nail in the coffin.

To make matters WORSE, the other cook STAYED at the pool hall for like 2 or more hours after she clocked out, so it's not even like she had to rush home or anything, or that she had something she had to do. It's just plain freakin laziness and it pissed me off. Of course, being told by the kitchen manager the day before that he didn't know why he was told that I can't cook worth shit, and then have this freakin happen didn't exactly put me in the highest of spirits. They say I can't do MY job!? Look at her god dammit! Whoever said that I can't cook doesn't know jack shit about the kitchen and isn't a cook, THAT'S for damn sure.

My rant this week is me basically saying: People, do your fucking work. It's not that hard. If you're working your ass off for 8 hours or so, take a break, and then FINISH your work. Most times, especially when you work in a restaurant type atmosphere, your job isn't done when your shift is up. It's done when you no longer have anything else that's required of you. If you have a personal problem with one of the coworkers, like this cook had with me, leave it at home. You're there to work and not to have some personal spat. You're just going to make it worse anyways by not doing your job and leaving him/her to finish it for you. You're there to do your job, so dammit, freakin do it, or don't come into to work at all. Leave it to the people that actually care about earning their paychecks.

Well, I think I've said my piece. I don't think there's anyone that can write me and say they love it when you get left with other people's work. It just doesn't happen, in any field, or in any job. If there's someone out there that likes that sort of thing, seek help, you certainly need it. If you have a story about something like that happening to you, I'd love to see that I'm not the only one out there that's had this kind of problem.