Woah.

Hey everyone! If you are still following my blog I'm really sorry for abandoning you for so long and if you have started following my blog since I stopped posting I'm sorry to you as well.

I got really busy with school and I had some other things go on with my family that took some of my time and blogging kind of fell to the wayside. I am still a Hooters Girl and loving it and I am going to try to keep up with regular posts. Since I'm done school for the year I'll hopefully be getting full time hours which means more stories to share with you all!

I really should be getting to sleep soon seeing as I'm supposed to be at a "Rise and Shine" Yoga class at 7AM with Tink. But I have a quick little anecdote for you all first.

We've hired a few new boys for in the kitchen since I last spoke with you all and for the most part they're fantastic. One of them, however, is not. His name shall be "Pits" since he has the hairiest armpits I have ever seen in my life and proudly displays them by wearing basketball jerseys with nothing underneath. I also would like to mention that he is extremely pale and thin and this hair that disgusts me so much is a lovely shade of tangerine.

Though all of that is not very pleasant, my issue with Pits is that he doesn't know what he's doing and he refuses to listen to anyone who attempts to help him. On Sunday, for example, we got slammed. The day started off really slow so we were down to 1 girl and me on bar and there were 2 guys in the kitchen. Pits was one and the other was a fairly recent hire as well but he has a good grip on things and knows what's going on.

When a hockey team with 25 boys (13 and 14 year olds no less) came in, it was a little hectic. Mother Goose was on the floor alone and had 6 tables already with no one else to help her out. She took on the hockey team while I managed both the bar and most of the other tables in the restaurant. The kitchen was a shit show. Pits was messing up orders left and right so GM F stepped in to help out. GM F is big about the guys in the kitchen constantly communicating so that everyone is on the same page. Apparently Pits didn't agree with his philosophy and instead of letting GM F know what was going on and answering his questions, he simply declared "This is bullshit. You do your part and I'll do mine."

Hold the phone... Really?

Just a tip for everyone out there, don't talk back to your GM. Chances are, it's not going to go well. And it didn't GM F made it clear to everyone that Pits was not up to par and had a "talk" with him after his shift. Unfortunately, this "talk" did not lead to Pits getting fired because of the fact that he apparently has a 2 year old child and needs to pay the bills. Which I can see being a valid reason to give the guy a 2nd... or 6th... chance.

Pits is becoming notorious for screwing up orders, changing how the food is made (he put barbecue sauce in a cheese quesadilla because he thought it needed a little "kick"), and just being completely unaware of how to do his job. Another problem that all the girls have with him is that he is just plain creepy.

One of the girls I've been working with a lot lately, Mandi, closed the door to the change room after her shift so she could put her jeans and stuff on before she left. Pits decided he could ignore the closed door and just strolled right in while Mandi was changing. He looked at her and still didn't leave. "Um I'm just changing I'll be done in a minute". Still wouldn't leave because he "doesn't mind, he just wanted to make a call". So he stood there playing with his phone and watched her change. And since then we found out that it wasn't a one time thing. He's done it to a couple of the girls, including me but I didn't even know because he lurked around the corner where I couldn't see him and had to be informed by KJ.

We don't want to make this into a bigger deal than it has to be but it's getting to the point now where we're all feeling uneasy about working with him. If someone doesn't tell GM F or R3 soon, I might have to.

That's it for now but I'll be back soon! My next shift is on Thursday.

Dumb and Dumber

I'm back! Sorry for neglecting you all for so long. I'm still sick but if I'm not sleeping I'm just sitting in bed and that gives me time to do this!

All Hooters restaurants, at least to my knowledge, have regulars. Some are nice, some quiet, some sleazy and some rude. For the most part, we love our regulars. Dumb and Dumber, however, are somewhere in between sleazy and nice and this makes it difficult to decide how I feel about them.

They started coming in not too long after I started and often are there 2 or even 3 times each day. They know all of the girls by name and we all know them. They bring us treats like ice cream, candy, chips and lots of other stuff and we're very appreciative of that. We always say hi and go chat with them when they come in, even if they aren't in our section.

When they're sober, they're really friendly and not at all creepy. They can be a little too chatty at times, though. It's impossible to walk past their table without them stopping you and asking you millions of questions about your day and making small talk like it's their job. If I don't have very many tables, I don't mind sitting with them for a while but when I'm in the weeds and I've got drinks and food to run, the last thing I want to do is talk for 10 minutes about what I ate for lunch that day. It can be frustrating to say the least.

When they drink it's even worse. Asking what I had for lunch turns into asking what I wore to bed the night before and what my favorite position (in bed) is. Obviously, I don't really like answering those questions and I usually just laugh them off and pretend I have something to do. Most of the girls avoid them altogether when they start drinking.

Unfortunately, this won't be possible for them in a couple weeks. Because GM F invited Dumb and Dumber to our STAFF Christmas party. Yup, they're coming to the place with an open bar, dance floor, and all the Hooters Girls all in one place at one time. I have no doubt in my mind that they will be taking full advantage of the first of those. Which makes me fear for the second and third.

The girls at work are all pretty unimpressed with GM F since he didn't run it by anyone before he invited them. Some of the girls don't even want to come to the party anymore because of it.

I think that he probably should have asked us if we were okay with them coming before he went ahead and asked them. What do you think?

Sorry Sorry Sorry!

I've been neglecting my blog and I feel horrible about it but I've had a lot going on recently. It seems like all my profs decided that they should assign essays with crazy deadlines all at the same time so I've been doing lots of research and writing and reading. And last week I was in a car accident and have been in the hospital but I'm getting much better and I'm hoping to be back at work in another week or so. I promise to write more often once my life is a little less hectic!

Let's Play Dress Up

As many of you could have guessed, Monday Night Football is big at Hooters. It's the busiest night of the week and the only thing that brings in more people than that is the UFC fights. I'm not exactly sure what the reasoning behind it is but every Monday night, the girls that are working have to dress up. There's a list of themes in the back that tell you what you will be dressing up as for each game and there's a little booklet with ideas of what to wear for each week.

I've worked almost every Monday Night Football since I started (tonight I have the night off though!!!) and at first, dressing up was fun. Now it's really just turned into an expensive pain in the ass. I spend, on average $50.00 every week on a costume that I will probably never wear again. I do make the money back in tips that night plus a lot more but if I saved that $50.00 every week, it wouldn't take me long to have enough money for new tires on my car. Which I desperately need before the snow comes...

It also is a bit of a scramble to get a costume together since the schedule for the next week usually up until the Thursday before. I don't work Thursdays, and although I could call and ask what days I work, I don't find out my schedule until Friday night, when I'm working and unable to go shopping for a costume. Saturdays I like to sleep in a little bit and then go out with friends and not think about work and then Sunday I work until about 5PM at which point all the stores close for the night. So Monday, in the 3 hours I have between school and work, I have to rush around the city trying to find myself a costume. Not fun and pretty stressful.

Last week, we had to dress as cheerleaders. So on Monday afternoon I went to 4 costume stores, all of which had no cheerleader costumes left. I went to a couple sex stores but decided that I didn't want people to actually see my breasts while I served them their food and putting a shirt underneath that top just wouldn't look right. I went to a fifth costume shop and found a pink cheerleader costume that came with white pompoms. It was $120.00. At that point, I was getting pretty desperate so I tried it on. The thing was too damn big. So I went to the mall and pieced a costume together. I got a white skirt, a red sweater with a big letter H (perfect!) on the front and some pompoms from the dollar store.

I got to work and changed into my costume. The other girls usually dress a little bit more revealing than me but not too much. This week, they outdid themselves, though. There were miniscule skirts with no shorts underneath, bare midriffs and v-necks cut so deep that nip-slips were inevitable. I still felt good about what I was wearing because I wouldn't constantly be worrying about what was hanging out of where. I walked over to the table where we were doing jump start and GM F told us to give him a second. He came back with a pair of scissors and handed them to Tink.

"Go fix HGWB."

Seriously? My skirt was kind of short and the sweater was a v-neck. It wasn't nearly as extreme as the other girls but it's not like I looked like I was wearing a burka or anything. Me and Tink went to the back and laughed about how ridiculous our job is. We cut an inch or two from my skirt and cut the neck of my sweater to make it a deeper V.

GM F was pleased with the results. I was glad I wore spandex shorts under my skirt.

Things like this happen a lot at Hooters. Most weeks, there's a girl who isn't showing enough skin and just a few weeks ago we were told that on the days when our city's hockey team is playing we were no longer allowed to wear jerseys or t-shirts for the team since, according to GM F, "nobody wants to go to Hooters and see a girl in a plain t-shirt serving their food."

I just have to laugh about it.

My Essay...

I did a research paper a little while ago for my English class and it was about Hooters and the Hooters Girls. I got an A on it so I thought I would share it with you guys... Let me know what you think of it!

The word “hooters” paints a colourful picture for a lot of people. The picture can be very different, depending who you ask. If you look up the definition on Word, for example, you will see that it is simply an “offensive term”. For many men, when there is a mention of Hooters Restaurant, visions of greasy wings, pitchers of beer and girls running around in microscopic, orange shorts are often what come to mind. Feminists see their efforts at empowering women vanish. They see a venue where women are exploited and men can act like pigs. For the employees of Hooters, the only thought that occurs to them is that prettier girls mean more money. You may have noticed that there is a recurring pattern between these different perspectives. The Hooters Girl is a large, if not determining, factor of Hooters’ success.

The vast majority of Hooters guests are straight men and the reasons for this are fairly obvious. The biggest reason is the Hooters Girls. What man wouldn’t want to be served his favourite food and pitcher upon pitcher of beer by a scantily clad waitress? According to one of my closest friends, going to Hooters is “like going to dinner and a show, only the show flirts with you and doesn’t sing irritating songs” (Lacroix). One of the unique things about Hooters that is illustrated in his comment is that the Hooters Girls are encouraged to sit with their tables and make friends. The friendlier they are, the more money they are likely to make. If they spend time with their tables, add a personal touch to the service they give and even flirt, it will be noticed and appreciated. I was told that one girl had a man order crab legs and since the girl had nobody else sitting in her section, she sat with him and cracked each crab leg for him. This earned her a $200.00 tip (Kamen). Exceptional service like this is what Hooters Girls are told to strive for.

Upon hiring, Hooters Girls get a handbook in which they sign multiple documents stating that they are aware of the fact that “the Hooters concept is based upon female sex appeal and that the work environment is one in which joking and innuendo based on female sex appeal is commonplace” (34). Customers ask for phone numbers and offer a plethora of cheesy pick-up lines that they believe to be irresistibly charming. The Hooters Girls become impervious to all of these things and simply laugh it off as a joke while making a mental note to not pay too much attention to that customer in the future. Men seem to think that when one of the Hooters Girls is friendly to them, it must mean that they’re special. It couldn’t possibly be that, during their orientation, they are told it is their job to look like they’re enjoying themselves and to joke around, play games and entertain their tables (Neri). The management at Hooters makes it clear during interviews and orientation that you must be comfortable with your job and that you are more than welcome to leave at any time, should you have an issue with any of the job requirements.

Not everyone sees the way Hooters Girls are treated as being fair. Feminists do not agree with the Hooters concept and see the hiring of Hooters Girls to be exploitative and demeaning. Feminists argue that Hooters uses female sex appeal for the benefit of men. Girls are put into revealing uniforms and are made to ask questions with sexual undertones such as asking if a customer would like their wings breaded or “naked”, which is the Hooters term for non-breaded. Though this is true, Hooters management teams check in to make sure that the girls are not unhappy with their jobs and that they don’t feel uncomfortable performing their duties as a Hooters Girl. Another issue that feminists have with Hooters is their obvious rejection of anyone who is not conventionally attractive. The Hooters Girl Image Magazine states that the desired appearance of a Hooters Girl is one of an “All-American cheerleader, surfer girl and girl next door” (15). It is said in Battleground: Women, Gender, and Sexuality that feminists believe that “beauty is not a mechanism of nature so much as a political and economic tool to maintain a gender hierarchy of male superiority and female subjugation” (29). Based on that, the problem that feminists have with Hooters and the Hooters Girls is evident. The Hooters Girl, from the outside, seems to represent everything feminists are fighting to stop from happening. They are conventionally attractive, hired to serve mainly men and must wear an outfit that, in most work environments, would be deemed as being inappropriate. While I understand where the arguments of the feminist groups are coming from, I noticed that they are overlooking the fact that the Hooters Girls do their jobs because they want to. Nothing bad would happen to them if they were to decide to leave Hooters. In fact, most of the girls who work at Hooters stay there for a long time, mainly because of the money.

Hooters Girls know that they are using their sex appeal to attract a certain type of clientele. They know that the more they use their sex appeal, the more money they will make and they can use this to take advantage of their customers. A blogger, and Hooters Girl, who goes by the name of KH, believes this, saying:

At the end of the day,…, when I walk out the door with $150 tucked away in my wallet, I can laugh. Those men, with their sexist, classist worldviews have just paid my car payment for the month, and I only had to deal with them for a few hours. Who's being exploited here? (par. 16)

The women who work as Hooters Girls use their sex appeal to their advantage and benefit from the power that they have over men. As long as they feel comfortable with what they’re doing, who is to say it’s wrong?

The goal of any business is to make a profit and it is widely known that sex sells. Hooters doesn’t try to hide the fact that it is using sex to target a certain type of customer. The blogger, KH, that I had previously mentioned describes in the same post how Hooters Girls allow for the chain to charge prices that are unheard of at other restaurants since customers are receiving a unique experience. Where else can you go for wings, beer and pronounced cleavage (par. 16)? Men will pay an arm and a leg just to get some attention from one of the Hooters Girls and if an hour and a half of small talk brings an $80.00 tab and a $35.00 tip, what part of Hooters’ theory about Hooters Girls bringing in more money is wrong?

The employees have the same perspective as KH: if I’m going to make more money serving food in orange hot pants than I would in black dress pants, why shouldn’t I? Hooters Girls make more in tips than a server at another restaurant might make in the same amount of time, with the same number of tables. The average tip at Hooters is about 25% while in other restaurants 15% to 20% is more along the lines of what they see. Hooters Girls also have less side work to do. They don’t have to clean the bathrooms, sweep or mop, or prepare desserts, all of which are required of waitresses at most other restaurants. (KH, par. 1) Hooters Girls do less of the work for more money and, to me, that sounds like a good deal. Obviously, there are going to be people that judge Hooters Girls simply because of their job. Many of the assumptions that people make about Hooters Girls are that they are promiscuous, unintelligent and shallow. Though some Hooters Girls may be one, or two, or even all three of these things, for the most part Hooters Girls are university or college students who may or may not have a boyfriend and who have wider interests than just getting their hair and nails done. Much like any other restaurant staff, Hooters Girls can’t be put in one category. They are not all the same kind of person. Hooters Girls, like the Hooters franchise, are subject to the uneducated assumptions that people make about them.

Though it has faced much criticism and many attempted lawsuits because of the presence of Hooters Girls, Hooters remains a thriving restaurant chain. Hooters has a very competitive edge that has been working for them for over 20 years now and I can’t see them getting rid of this brilliant idea any time soon. Whether you love them or hate them, the Hooters Girls are here to stay.

Tilted Kilt Girl

I was checking out The Hooters Girl's latest post and it was about a new blogger who goes by "S". She is also a server and works in a place called Tilted Kilt. It's really the Scottish version of Hooters. They've got tartan and white knee highs instead of tacky orange and scrunch socks but the concept is basically the same.

S has started blogging about her job at Tilted Kilt. Although she only has 2 posts up at the moment, I'm sure her stories about what happens at "TK" will be great!

Take a look at Tilted Kilt Girl!

Dating Customers

It was a typical Friday night: people coming in to pre-drink and get some food in their systems before the real fun starts. I had a pretty big section and made a good chunk of money since the more people drink, the more generous they tend to be when tipping.

By around 11, most people had left but I still had a few tables. One of them was a couple of guys that come in at least once a week and order the same thing (20 wings, all drums, naked, hot and 2 bottles of Bud Light) every time. Most of the time, they aren't one of those tables that you can sit and have a conversation, or play games with so I pretty much just stick to the basics when it comes to serving them. They stay for an hour or 2, leave a good tip and leave... Most of the time.

2 Fridays ago, the same 2 guys came in and got their wings and beer. A half hour after they sat down, 2 more guys came in and sat with them. I went to see what they wanted to drink and they got a couple pitchers of beer. One of them was pretty cute, but I didn't really take that much notice. Soon, I only had their table left so I went to sit with them and talk. They were all from out of town and are here for work for another couple of months. The cute one (Q) was really funny and I was having a lot of fun talking to that table. Finally, it was time for us to close.

As they were getting up to leave, Q asked my if it would be okay for him to give me his number. I said yes for a few reasons: First, I felt rude saying no since it's not like if I didn't want to talk to him I had the option of not calling him. Second, unlike most of the guys who come in looking for a date, he didn't try any nauseating pick-up lines and he didn't pester me for my phone number until I was forced to cave and give him a fake phone number like I would normally do. And third, he was really cute and really funny!

I got his number and debated whether or not to call him for a few days before I finally did it. We've gone out a couple of times since then for dinner and to see movies and go to tourist-y places that he hasn't been to before. I really enjoy being around him and we have a lot of fun together. He's a really positive person which is something that I really like. There's only a couple problems with it, though. He's 7 years older than me and I met him at work.

What do you think about the age difference and for all the Hooters Girls or really any servers out there, would you ever go on a date with one of your customers?