Santa Sighting on Dalkey Castle

On Tuesday Dale took the bike into town to see the Avenged Sevenfold concert. He got back after I had already gone to bed, but said it was great and that someone dancing managed to accidentally knock another guy out cold with his elbow. I got to take some old pint glasses home from work, which are pretty cool. On Wednesday after work we went for an O’Neill’s night, which we haven’t done in a long time. It was a good thing we went too, because it was the band’s last night and we got to enjoy some good banter about the Canadian usuals. The bar was also decked out in garlands and “fairy lights,” which looked fantastic.

O'Neill's

After work on Thursday Katie and I took the bus to Rathmines, where we had MacDonald's before meeting up with Dale and Heather to finally see The Hunger Games! We were all pretty impressed with the movie, which was intense as expected.

I thought Saturday was the worst day of work yet, but then Sunday followed it. I was determined to quit today. I got a call on Friday to stay late Saturday, which brought my hours to nine and half hours. I said yes. But then I was thrown into a Christmas party where I was taking drink orders and people were asking me about wines, which apparently I was supposed to open in front of them in a specific way, and I had no idea what I was doing. I was stressed out and completely embarrassed. I was asked to stay an hour even later after that, but luckily it was to be spent polishing glasses and silverware in the safety of the back room (a place where we regularly get hit by a flying door). After ten and a half hours I was exhausted, but knew I was walking away with about 86 euros.

Making the day a little better, Dale surprised me with a tiny Christmas tree and a string of about ten lights. We turned on some Christmas music, set up the tree, then went out to bring back hot chocolate. I think the tiny tree looks great in the tiny apartment.

Our Christmas tree

Sunday was worse, despite being only six and a half hours, because the hotel was expecting more guests than it could hold in the restaurant and I was paired with a partner I do not care for. I was expected to stay on the floor and take orders while he collected them from the kitchen, but instead he went on smoke breaks and left me to deal with the guests asking me multiple times for their food. I ended up having to write all the orders on a notepad to keep track of all the chaos, and when he turned up he had the gall to say in front of customers, “You need to work on your memory.” I walked away before he was finished speaking because I’d had enough of his comments all morning. I became so frustrated with the customers complaining to me, the hostess coming to me to ask for tables to be cleared (which I was keeping up with as best I could), the supervisor coming to me to tell me to clear specific tables (which I was working on), and generally being blamed for his lack of support that I took a time out to breath in the linen closet and try to stop myself from punching him in the face or swearing at him. When breakfast was finally over he tried making jokes and saying you need to stay calm and everything will be all right. Even this made me angry. It would have been alright if I was paired with someone who was willing to work as hard as I was.

One of the supervisors pulled Heather and I aside at the end of the shift to ask us how we thought the day went and I was honest. I had to take a deep breath as I told him what my partner had said. He promised to have a word with him and agreed that writing the orders down was the right thing to do. But it definitely wasn’t easy to “tattle.” It also did not help that the schedule starting Monday didn’t come out until Sunday, especially since I had worked six days in a row right after Spain. I hadn’t realized I had requested Monday off, but was so glad to see that I actually had been given it, and not a seventh day of work.

Rosaleen had invited Dale and I over to Dalkey after work for Christmas festivities, so Niall and Leonie picked us up and heard all about my terrible time at work. I mentioned that I might wait it out until after the holiday I’m planning in January because I would get vacation pay still rather than being unemployed and going away. My youngest sister, Sydnee, will be in London before her study abroad in Wales, and my other sister, Dominique, has an eight hour layover on the way to her internship in India, so it’s too perfect an opportunity to miss.

The crowds and lights

Santa on Dalkey Castle

The Christmas festival in Dalkey was very cute. We had dinner with Rosaleen, Vincent, Fionnuala, Niall, and Leonie first, then headed into the centre with Rosaleen and Fionnuala. We were handed mulled wine as we walked and watched the sizeable crowd chant for Santa to appear on the top of Dalkey Castle. Across from Dalkey Castle was another tower in which a live nativity scene was set. We were the first to arrive after seeing Santa wave down at the kids. We found Mary and Joseph locked out after a pee break and making jokes about there being no room at the inn. When we got inside the rough stone building, which was quite tiny, there was even a donkey and goat standing around the couple with baby Jesus. Then we walked through the light-bedecked tram yard to where an ice rink had been set up for the kids. It turned out to be some kind of slippery flooring and not ice at all! We enjoyed another mulled wine at the house later while watching Niall and Leonie set up the huge Christmas tree. The high ceilings here in Ireland are perfect for Christmas time.

"Skating"

Setting up the Christmas tree

When we returned to Dublin Dale and I were supposed to go to Heather’s party at Dicey’s, but both knew we needed a nap first. I woke up two hours later as the neighbour made a loud bank next to my head and immediately knew I’d been asleep a lot longer than twenty minutes. Unfortunately I felt sick to my stomach and after trying to get over it for a while, I realized there was no way I’d be able to drink, which meant the rest of the night was a write-off. I spent Monday trying to decide what the heck to do about my job. I sent a message to the HR lady to discuss the late rosters, the fact that I’m scheduled for twelve hours on Friday, and another six days in a row, how uncomfortable I was working Christmas lunches, and the fact that I only want to work the morning of Christmas day, if at all. I got a message back saying she was away from the office.

By the time Dale and I arrived at Fitzgeralds I had decided to hand in my resignation the next day. I either wanted to be done Thursday, or in the expected two weeks if it could be arranged that I didn’t have to work the lunches. It was Joyanne’s last Fitzgeralds night, and Heather’s actual birthday. We signed Joyanne’s goodbye book and enjoyed the winter stew and some pints. I had asked the bartender a few weeks back about the Guinness posters that Heather loved, and when I reminded him he came back with armfuls of Guinness paraphernalia that I could give her for her birthday, including a huge black Guinness flag. I’m keeping one of the posters!

After Fitzgeralds Dale and I went out to Temple Bar with a slightly different group than usual. Brant had heard that Will Ferrell and Steve Carell were going to be there after the Anchorman premiere. We got to know some of the newer members better, but by midnight had to head home because we both worked the next day. The cast didn’t show up as far as we know, so luckily we didn’t miss anything. The bar did look very cheery with even more lights and garlands than O’Neill’s.

Temple Bar

At work today one of the girls offered to take my shift this coming Sunday. She also suggested I speak to one of the supervisors about not working on the floor at Christmas lunches. She encouraged me that they would be receptive. So instead of quitting I spoke to the same supervisor as I did on the weekend, first agreeing to work an hour later that day, and then bringing up my issue. He actually was fairly supportive when I told him I was uncomfortable serving drinks and said he’d keep in mind my suggestion to work in the back instead. Not all the issues are solved, but at least that’s a start that might get me through to January and another job. The manager seemed annoyed at our schedules too, saying I might as well have had another day off since I was only scheduled for four hours today, so I’m hoping he will start making changes. Although I wish he hadn't said that to me. Otherwise, the day was much better than I had expected.

At some point Heather and I also stopped in at USIT and the Shake place for a visit with other Heather and Joyanne over milkshakes. I had Reese Peanut Butter Cups blended in mine, which was delightful! Then she and I did some Christmas shopping at Penneys.