Every weekend the owner would buy about three boxes of pens. And by Sunday every single one of them would be gone.
All week bartenders and waitresses would have to scrounge up pens from whereever they were hidden, and some of us would have to share. I'd watch the customers intently as they signed their receipts and snag the pen before it disappeared. People probably thought I was nuts. And then the weekend would come and we'd get more pens. But come sunday they would disappear again.
I swear the owner spends half his profit on pens for us. It's ridiculous. I don't know if the customers are swallowing them or if they are getting up and running out of the bar.. but I've found a solution.
The other day when I was signing some paperwork I noticed the pen I was holding onto had a plastic spoon taped around it. I asked her if this was their way of making sure people didn't steal their pens and she said it was.
I thought this was a clever little way of keeping your pen supply intact because who wants a pen with a spoon stuck to it?
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7 years ago
6 comments:
I've never heard of any owner who supplied pens! I spent half my tips on pens I think. Ah ha
Really?? Wow, well our owner did something nice for us after all! Good thing I have about fifteen pens in my purse from accidentally keeping them in my pocket after shifts.. for the next serving job I have :)
I work with a bunch of cheaper pens not worth pilfering.
My boss tries to supply pens. But the same thing happens to us. They just disappear. I've never caught anyone actually stealing them but they do just DISAPPEAR.
It's gotten to the point where it's just easier to bring your own and keep it with you AT ALL TIMES.
No matter how many pens are put out they always disappear.
Same goes with cutlery too...
LOL it's true.. I don't think anyone "steals" them.. as our pens are very cheap. But they just seem to disappear. I think it's half that most of the bartenders end up with four (one in each pocket) and forget and take them home.. and half that the customer just sticks it in their purse or pocket without thinking about it. OR not, maybe it's magic :)
I used to work in a high-end, boy's club steak house in Atlanta, and the GM required all Captains to have 3 Cross pens at all times. No checks could be dropped with anything less than these pens, which cost about $15 dollars each. Well, at lunch it's all businessmen and lawyers and guess what each and every one of them has in their suit jacket pocket? They would sign the check, and pocket my pen out of habit. I chased down more than a couple of them at the Valet stand to retrieve them. It was interesting, though that people would not steal them intentionally. I think the heft of that stainless steel pen in their hand told them someone must surely be watching. And we most definitely were. That was about 6 years ago and I am proud to say I just lost the last of those pens about a week ago. Where do the pens go? The same place your sun glasses, Bic lighters, and mismatched socks go. I like this blog. I'm reading a bunch of your posts as I was a bartender in my "former life".
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