Having worked as an event planner (and loving it) I know exactly what you mean. You have to be crazy and it's not all fun and games. We would hire volunteers to help us out at these big celebrity events and I felt like I spent more time passing out directions than having them actually help. The sad thing is, people, like the woman in your story, who say they want to help and aren't helpful give those of us who are helpful a bad name. I would love to have had an opportunity like that. It was very nice of you to let them "help out." Thanks for entertaining us with yet another great story.

i worked doing catering when i was in high school. for the most part, it was buffet style and we cooked offsite. these were the simplest of catered events. my job was to bring the food, set up the tables, and make sure everything was stocked and kept tidy. it was unbelievable what some people thought we should do for them. one of my favorites was playing bartender at 17. i'd never opened a bottle of wine before, let alone made dirty martinis for a crowd of business men. another good one was a wedding cake that came unassembled - the tiers in separate boxes and some flowers in a heap. luckily, the newlyweds didn't notice that their cake had been assembled by a teenager who hadn't a clue.

Good for you for educating these ladies on what working as a caterer really entails. You probably saved some poor client from being their guinea pig.

I am constantly astonished by people who think that because somebody makes something LOOK easy, that it IS easy. Gah.

well said
well said

the easiest way to get rid of someone is to hire them.

I'll give her points for calling you back and being honest enough to say, "I had no idea." Sometimes people just don't know.

I went to cooking school before I had any experience in the cooking world. Cooking on your own, or as a hobby, is COMPLETELY different from doing it for the public. You just don't take into account the fact that most people aren't like you. They're happy with potatoes in a bag one minute and then they think they can give you advice on your job.
Well congrats to the ladies for giving it a try before making a business out of it!

Bitchin' post. Touche.

LOL!

That is a good one, FW. Beautiful.

And you are right--you have to be whole crazy, and every chef or caterer or bartender, server or front of the house manager I have ever known was nuttier than squirrel shit.

Myslef included.

If you don't start out that way, you end up that way.

Hee hee! Thanks for this post. I sometimes get a bit romantic about my love for food and I need someone like you to remind me that you do a fantastic job and its all very hard and I like my 9-5 evil genius job

Great story.
And yes, one has to be friggin' insane to do this slinging hash bit. I know I am, and get worse as time goes by.

i have tried cooking for party of 15 and that was severely stretching my patience and limit (despite my love for cooking) so it's definitely no walk in the park during tricking...

good thing, she was humble enough to know that the water is too deep for her...

I bow to those who can cater s decent meal.

Not only can they cook, but they can deal with the nutjobs.

Good job, FW!!!

Did you get the recipe for the shrimp puffs? LOL
Wanda from Tulsa
a new devoted fan of your hilarious blog

These are the same type of ladies who think just because they're good at shrimp puffs and cakes, they should be given a bank loan to open a restaurant. No financial or business experience what-so-ever.(A banker friend told me this happens all the time).

Kudos to you for making them realize, in a professional manner, how hard the work is. Hopefully they'll remember this if they ever hire caterers, and treat them with the respect they deserve ;)

Hi,
I am a caterer myself, in a very different situation (Italy), but I completely agree with your point of view and description... It happens all the time to find people asking you to come and see or "how do you do it"... Even my husband and my parents don't really get what I do everyday...
But we love it, and even loading a truck with vessel and glass is part of the job, not just cooking few nice stuff (almost everybody can do that) and serve them...
People ARE crazy, even down here!!!

I had a friend with a high-paying job (and a nice, big-'old Mercedes), and he told me his dream was to start catering since he loved to cook.
I said, "Well, caterers are always looking for good help. Why don't you go work for one on weekends to see if you like it?"

"Oh, I can't do that," he replied, "I don't want to work weekends..."

I guess he thought he would only cater those week-night weddings.

I love to cook and to do it people and parties and what not, but people are telling me "you should...!" And I say..."No, I'm not crazy enough."

Nice story.