Waitressing

9/2/07

As a waitress, you rely on the generosity and overall courtesy of other human beings as your mainstay. There is a lot of trust involved when you roll outta bed and make the decision to, once again, serve the human race. Sometimes you’re disappointed, hurt even at the sheer selfishness of people. There are some who seem to pray upon restaurants, looking to make a fuss to gain anything for free. It is the duty of the restaurant manager to make sure that every customer is satisfied, and by god, some of them know it and take advantage. “My food was cold, and the service was terrible.”

You get a pretty good idea of the human condition when you wait tables. My husband often says, “People should have to serve a minimum of 5 years in the military or wait tables for the same amount of time. That way we’d all appreciate service.” I think he is right, and the entitlement of people shocks me sometimes. It’s as if they think they’re the only ones in the world and they deserve YOUR undivided attention.

Yesterday I served two ladies, probably mother and daughter. Their bill totaled $12. Unfortunately they had to wait a half an hour for their “split plate” meal because the kitchen got slammed with 2 huge orders, plus the rest of the restaurant, before their order went in. I explained to them what was taking so long and continued to serve the other 6 tables in my section; continually checking their iced tea to make sure it was filled. I apologized again when their food finally arrived, and they accepted the apology and said, “No problem, thank you so much.” A split plate later, I had one arm stacked with dirty dished a black book full of orders to put in the computer, and hardly a spare minute. I dropped their bill and continued clearing tables. The older woman must of thought I didn’t have enough to do already, and couldn’t wait for me to make my next round, so she hastily got up and handed me her credit card. I wondered where she wanted me to put it. Needless to say, I got a definite 0 as a tip and later a meeting with the manager for my “neglectful” service.

I care about people. I studied early childhood education in college and before that I had planned on being a psychologist so that I could help people as a profession. So, I take it personally when people make insults at me. It haunts me in my dreams and in my conscious state. My husband does a great job of being my sounding board over and over again, bless his heart. He’ll always say to me, “You have to let it go.”

Sometimes I feel like there is no hope. I can’t figure out where to begin. If I can’t please someone with a meal, or make my family run smoothly, how can I begin to help the greater population? Michelle Obama, said in reference to Barak Obama’s ability to run as president, “If you can’t run your family and be a good father to your family, how can you expect to run your country.” I loved this quote because I believe that we have to start with our homes and our communities to begin to affect change in the world. But, I’m certainly not tooting my own horn. I am very guilty of losing my patients in my family. Spending half of my daughter’s naptime, trying to keep her asleep gets my blood boiling. Or reminding my husband to “Please put your laundry IN the basket, not NEXT to it!” It’s a daily struggle, and when the struggle is so daunting with the two people I love more than anything in this world, I surely don’t have answers about how to deal with the rest.