When a customer stops into a restaurant after a long night at the bar, they probably never stop to think what it is like to be on the other side of the counter.
According to a few third shift workers in town, it is a whole other atmosphere when dealing with customers at night during the weekend.
“A majority of the time they are a drunk crowd,” said Dustin Brozene, a server at Frisch’s Big Boy.
It takes a certain type of personality for a worker to be able to deal with large crowds of college students who are intoxicated late at night.
“I have a really high tolerance for people who aren’t in the right state of mind,” Brozene said.
For some servers, the relaxed atmosphere during the late night shift makes being at work more enjoyable.
“I think the customers’ attitude and energy is better,” Stachowski said.
But, even though the customers may be in a better mood, they also make more of a mess.
“Usually the dining room and bathroom are the worse to clean on the weekend,” Bearringer said.
At other places the messes can sometimes be much worse then a dirty dining room or bathroom.
“I would say we have more deliberate messes,” Brozene said.
At Frisch’s Big Boy customers have wiped puke on the windows in the dining room and are known to steel condiments from the tables during third shift.
Fights among the customers are more common during these late night shifts on the weekend as well. To make sure nothing happens between customers at Taco Bell, police officers are always keeping a watchful eye during the third shift on the weekends.
“The people are generally drunk and more rowdy,” Bearringer said. Sometimes it is amusing for the workers to watch the customers at night.
The simplest tasks like pushing a door open or ducking under a guard rail become difficult for some of the more intoxicated customers according to Bearringer.
Not only are many of the customers intoxicated, they are also hungry after a long night.
According to Penny Bearringer, she was surprised when two customers ordered $40 worth of tacos while she was working at a popular fast food chain in town.
At Myles, nine students have ordered three large pizzas, a large order of boscos cheese-sticks, garlic bread with cheese and three subs during third shift according to Kenny Stachowski who is a server there.
The most popular order among customers during third shift at Myles is boscos cheese-sticks. This is probably because they are a cheap appetizer that is prepared quickly.
Frisch’s Big Boy draws specific crowds on certain nights of the week, especially from Uptown’s Drag Night and Goth Night, and the Cla-Zel’s Rocky Horror Picture Show.
It takes a certain type of personality for a worker to be able to deal with large crowds of college students who are intoxicated late at night.
There are also some advantages for the servers who are able to deal with the customers during third shift.
Overall, though some of the customers make it difficult on the third shift workers to do their jobs, it doesn’t seem to be as bad as many people would imagine on the other side of that counter.
