All tied up again

The uniform for servers at my restaurant makes us look just like Olive Garden servers. Except they roll their sleeves up stylishly. And we're not allowed to do that. And we have an extra level of exasperation on our faces because the average price of our entrees is probably half that of Olive Garden's, so we get all the "real OGs" who can't afford OG.

In case you're unfamiliar, it's this entrancing ensemble:


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Black non-slip shoes.
Black socks.
Black slacks.
Black belt.
Black apron, purchased through the managers.
White, long-sleeved, button-down Oxford shirt with buttoned collar.
Light colored undershirt if you wear one.
Pens, a server book, and your own personal bank.
Tie.

The tie has to be solid in color, and it can be any color. 

Except black... 

[ ...and no, I have never heard an explanation for that. ]

When I first started, I bought five ties of varying colors to spice up the uniform a teensy bit. Essentially, I was the matching girl. I matched my tie to anything I could..

...my earrings [ as long as they're studs, not dangles, says the GM *pout face* ]...

...my nail color [ yes, I know I'm not allowed to have nail polish on, and no, I don't care ]...

...my undershirt [ if these cheap shirts are practically see-though, my guests might as well see a fun color instead of my boring white bra, right? Right... ]... 

...my eye makeup [ green's my favorite, matches my eyes ]...

...my hair bow/ribbon/tieback/whatever [ there have been an embarrassingly high number of instances in which I've had to look in the mirror and remind myself "You're a [slightly] mature 23-year-old college graduate, not some ditzy high school cheerleader bimbo, so take that ginormous bow out of your hair!" ].... 

Yeah, I was that girl. Hell, anything to feel one notch more feminine in my uniform than these guys...
 


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Turn those Bibles into Guest Checks and I've got twinsies!! So hot, right?

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NOT.

 

Anywho, I've been working far more bartending shifts than serving shifts lately. In fact, Monday lunch was my first serving shift in over a month. After several minutes of searching for a clean[ish] one, I proceeded to affix my brightly colored choking device tie around my neck, thus leading me to reflect on an important observation:

A server's tie is a disgusting thing.

No, seriously. It is vile.



With every shift, a server gets covered in ranch, ketchup, steak sauce, beer....or, God forbid, Grenadine. Keeping those Walmart-men's-section, so-high-quality-it-comes-in-a-package, itchier-than-chicken-pox shirts looking so fresh and so clean, clean has me going through stain remover sprays, laundry booster powders, and bleach products so quickly that I alone kept Mr. Clean himself employed all year.

You're welcome.

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The pants and aprons get cleaned, too....don't get me wrong. But they're black, and thus way easier to maintain. Most servers only have like one or two aprons, so at the start of a shift, you'll occasionally see someone wet a washcloth, paper towel, whatever and just wipe off any stains from last night's shift. Sanitary? Definitely not. But it least it will look good enough to hold over till its proper cleaning...whenever our next day off is.

It's the tie that is repulsive, though. A tie gets just as dirty as [ if not more than ] the other pieces of clothing, but never gets as clean. In fact, for most servers, the wet washcloth is the extent of the cleaning. A few are more dedicated, though, and will spray some stain remover on first before they wipe it "clean."  

Back when I first started, I took all five of my ties to the dry cleaners, and it cost me $10 to clean them. I never went back. Ten bucks a week to clean ties? That is not the kind of regular expense I feel like adding to my ever-growing list of bills. Not with these tips. So now I wash and dry them at home with the rest of my uniform, though in a laundry bag. I seem to be the only one that sends my ties through that kind of ordeal. I just can't stand the dirtiness.... after about three or four wears, that is....  But, "Dry clean only," they said. "The washer and dryer will ruin your ties," they said.

Well, guess what.

They were right. My ties--all of them--were ruined within a year. Fuzzy, stained, and so not classy. But did I care? No. Hardly a single ghetto drama queen guest who walked through our doors made me feel she deserved a classy looking tie. 

My GM was constantly nagging me about it though, "Princess, you need to get a new tie. That looks disgusting." But getting new ties takes time, effort, and money--none of which I felt like sparing.

"This restaurant isn't worth it," was my silent excuse. I kept telling myself, "I'll be quitting soon. There's no point investing more into this job now." [ Here I am over a year later, I just bought my third pair of shoes, pair of slacks, and bartending shirt.  And I am still telling myself that I'll be quitting soon. Right. ]

For months, I would try to avoid the instances of my GM actually seeing my tie... standing behind another server when she faced me... crossing my arms while holding my server book between my arms and my chest [ thus the tie hides behind the server book ]... Eventually I got too lazy to even try to hide the tie anymore, and my GM started switching her tone. The light and silly vocalization of "Princess, you need to get a new tie" had evolved into the stern, you-know-better-than-this tone of "Seriously, you need to get a new tie," followed up with the guilt trip, "If I'm going to have you training the new hires, I need you to set a good example."

Dang. She got me there.

So I went out and got a whole new set. And then, I made a fantastic investment....

I bought a tie clip.

The tie clip brought about a bit of a moral dilemma though.... Where do I put it?

According to GQ, I should follow these guidelines:

But I very quickly realized that the bulk of the tie was allowed to flop around loosely as I lean over tables to give and receive plates. That's no bueno. So, to GQ this server says...

Thus in keeping my tie actually attached to my body and not to your mashed potatoes, I end up looking like this unfortunate fellow:

Now I'm in heaven! I mean, THANK GOD for tie clips. Right?! With a tie clip, my tie gets in the way of a person's food or drink only a few times a day instead of all the time.  

With a tie clip, my tie looks fresher, crisper, colorfullier, and great!

With a tie clip, my tie stays cleaner!

With a tie clip, I don't have to wash my tie as often!  Yay!

[ p.s. I found this interesting tidbit on MSN today: check it out! ]



[ degreed waitress ]