x Banquet Ballyhoo at the Brunswick The annual members meeting and banquet at the Brunswick Club was only three days away, and dining room manager Alex King was a little worried. He had just hired five new servers, but he wasnt completely convinced they could handle the job. The selection process had been dismal: the applicants with experience didnt want to work for the hourly wage the club was offering, and the five applicants who would accept $7 an hour had less-than-stellar work histories. But he had been forced to hire all five of these latter applicants, despite his misgivings. One had been fired from a previous job, one had only quick-service restaurant experience and another seemed to move from job to job. Still, warm bodies were better than no bodies at all, he figured. Alex was swamped with the final preparations for the banquet and was counting on his experienced servers to give the new staff members enough of an orientation to get them through this first big affair. Then he could take the time to train them thoroughly. For now, he planned to quickly review the employee manual with the new servers, go over some basic club procedures, and have them shadow the veteran servers during the lunch and dinner shifts between now and the banquet. It was only days. Alex crossed his fingers and hoped for the best. On Saturday evening, the dining room gleamed with crystal and candlelight. Alex strode through the room, straightening a centerpiece here, pushing in a chair there. At the back of the dining room he found the clubs senior servers-Charlotte, Margie, and Alfred- giving the five new servers some final instructions. Wait, there were only four new servers. Wheres Tammy? asked Alex. He turned as the young woman rushed in hair billowing around her shoulders. As she brushed her hair out of her face, her bright red fingernails caught Alexs eye. When he explained that her hair would need to be pulled back and that bold nail polish was not part of the servers uniform, she said sullenly, No one told me. Well, youve been told now, he replied. Alex hoped this incident wouldnt set the tone for the evening. For a while, things seemed to progress without a hitch. Then Alex spotted Miranda, another new server, pop a canap into her mouth as she mingled among the club members with her tray. I hope nobody else saw that, he thought, scanning the faces of nearby members. Then he saw Phil, the bartender, apologizing as he handed over a drink to Mr. Finley, who was obviously perturbed. Alex hurried over to see if he could help. Phil explained that Mr. Finley was the fourth member who had complained about a botched drink order. Didnt anyone tell these new kids how to place drink orders? he asked. Mr. Finley only drinks Dewars scotch, but I didnt know it was his order and made the drink with our house scotch. If Id known we had so many new servers, I wouldve given them a crash course in member service and bar procedures. They sure need it. Kevin, another of the.