Smoky Driver Positions

Smoky Mountain has four drivers: Brian, Kathryn, Nolan, and Derek.

Of the four, I know Kathryn best because she's also a server sometimes, and I've gotten to know her on those nights. She's great. She decided to stop swearing over Thanksgiving break, and I have only heard her do it once since then. That one time was tonight. And since I know she's stopping it, I rebuked her gently and she apologized and thanked me for not letting it slip. I'm proud of her. I'm her little fan, haha.

Derek I know least of all because he usually works the afternoon shifts, and unless Molly or Dani call me in to cover for them, I never work afternoons. He's short, has the greatest smile when he actually does smile (which, let me tell you, is very rare), and is always willing to work the can opener for me (because its impossible for me to do. I greatly dislike using that can opener. Its a monster).

Then there is Brian. He's our main driver, and was there from the beginning. He's LDS, so Ben tells me, and for the longest time he called me Hope because he couldn't remember Faith, and didn't want to call me Addie since it isn't my real name (although, neither is Hope, so he might as well have just called me Addie). He's an actor and I went and saw his play Tartuffe in November, I think. His play is being rerun for the next few weeks and he hasn't had as much time at Smoky while performances are going. So I haven't seen him around much.

This is where Nolan comes in. Because Brian is so busy at nights, and Kathryn and Derek only work the afternoon driver shifts, Ben hired Nolan to take Brian's weekend shifts. Nolan used to work at Dominos, likes talking to himself, and is very good at making up stories. He's like my brother in law Aaron in this way, because he'll just start talking about something that definitely isn't true, and make up these crazy things about it. These stories, therefore, are hilarious. Most people, with the exception of me, Michael, Kristin, Kathryn, and Caleb, think he's weird. He is weird, but a good kind of weird. And his favorite word is "ridonkulous". He's the only other person I've ever met who uses that word aside from my sister Liz. And he uses it a lot. Tonight, for example, Steven turned off the pizza oven while Nolan's pizza was halfway through it. He didn't do it on purpose, but its the kind of thing that would happen to Nolan. Weird things like that happen around him a lot. Anyhow, he decided that this is exactly the kind of thing that would be classified as ridonkulous.

These people are all responsible for answering the phones when they ring, although we're all supposed to answer if it rings and a driver isn't there. We're not supposed to let it ring more than twice, so whenever the phone rings, everyone nearby looks to see if anyone is over there. If there is, we all go back to our work, but if there isn't, there's usually a mad dash to answer it. Matt (my ex-nemesis) loves to answer the phone. He doesn't know how to take orders, though, so he answers, puts them on hold, and then runs off to find someone to take their order. Thats what all of us cooks do since we never learned the system; answer, then find someone to take their order. But technically the drivers are supposed to be back at that counter ready to pick up.

Oh! But I had to answer the phone for the first time last week, and I totally messed it up!!! It was horrible!! And awesome!

Here's what happened: So I'm back in the office getting a cloth (they're kept just inside the door to the office, which happens to be right next to the delivery counter, by the way), and the driver is out on his run already, when the phone rings! I look up at Taz, hoping he'll get it, but his hands are all wet since he was dishing. So I run over to the phone and grab it, trying to remember what Crego told us to say when we answer phones. I must have been really out of it, though, because I picked it up and said, "Thank you for calling Applebees, I mean SMOKY MOUNTAIN!!!" I heard Cody, Taz, and Caleb crack up so hard behind me. I felt sooo stupid, I wanted to laugh so badly. I put the person on hold while struggling to sound somewhat composed, and then pretty much died.
Taz: "Really, Addie?? Really?!"
Me: "Hahahahaha, yeah!! Hahahaha!"
Caleb: "I've never even heard of that happening before! Wow!"
Me: "Just take their order, Caleb, ahahaha!"
When I told Nolan about it, he said it would definitely be classified as ridonkulous. I would agree. I would even go so far as to say that it was epidemic on just about every level; Clayton, Grace Anne, Ethan, Cristina, and Zack would back me up on this. I was, and still am, proud of myself for it. Just the same, I don't think I'll be making that mistake again.