That Friday in July when we sold 214 covers and I thought the wheels would come off
Our grill guy called out sick so me and the new prep kid split the line and somehow nobody sent back a single plate. Reminded me of the old days before tickets printed on screens, just calling everything back and forth. What's your worst short-staffed shift story?
Splitting the line with a prep kid and not one plate came back is a win no matter how you slice it. But I gotta say the old days of calling tickets back and forth weren't some magic trick, they just felt smoother because there were more hands on deck. When you're short staffed, yelling orders across the kitchen is how stuff gets dropped or fired twice, not how it gets done right. A screen at least keeps the whole rail on the same page when half your crew is gone. You survived because you and the kid clicked, not because paper tickets are better.