Working as a Waitress

Walking into the Restaurant
So, I left my job at the branded retail store, and had nothing to do for the rest of the Summer. A good friend, *Jessamyn happened to be looking for a vacation job. So we sorted out our options and shortlisted a couple of restaurants we were keen to work for.

We walked into a rather posh restaurant - the same one which we had saved up for months to dine in sometime ago - and asked if they were looking for hire. To our luck, they were. We filled out application forms, spoke to the manager, and our names were put down for their next training session.

So, in a nutshell, we were employed!

Start of a Waitressing Job
I had always secretly thought the waiters and waitresses at classy restaurants to be rather elegant - in their polite mannerisms, professional efficiency and bright smiles. I thought I could easily be that, no matter how busy the restaurant was, or how demanding the patrons could be.

Training was fun. *Jessarmyn and I were trained by a handsome young manager named *Devon. There were serving etiquettes that we were taught - such as serving the ladies first, serving from the right-hand side, greeting the customers, shortforms for order taking, menu items (including wine lists and doneness of steaks etc) and different utensils for different courses etc.

I never knew there was so much to be learned.

After a couple of days of indoor training, they finally put us on the floor. We were put in charge of "stations" (the manner in which they divided the restaurant up into sections) and tagged under other full-time waiters / waitresses.

First Day on the Job
We donned the uniforms handed to us, and dutifully followed our assigned mentors around.

The morning shift meant that we would have to help out with opening duties before the restaurant opened for business - ensuring there was ice in the drinks coolers, carrying tubs of ice-creams to the front station, arranging utensils baskets, wiping the tables, ensuring there were bottles of sauces / condiments on the tables, unchaining the alfresco dining tables and chairs and arraning them. It was tiring, but the morning passed by very fast.

Lunchtime came, and it was peak hour. So we could no longer stand around to talk or re-memorize the menus.

The first customer in my Station beckoned, and I went over. As she read out the orders, I quickly jotted them down in long-forms as I could not recall the shortforms that we used to communicate to the kitchen and cashier staff in. Then I would repeat the orders, and went to a corner to convert my orders into shortforms, placed the order chits in the right places for processing, and served the iced water and utensils baskets.

If they ordered drinks, I had to bring it to them too.

I also had to constantly run into the kitchen to check on the food to make sure that my patrons' dishes were out, and then served it to them with a professional smile saying "Enjoy your meal" and hoping they would like me enough to leave good tips or write in commendation forms.

Once the patrons started digging in, I would have to make rounds, assisting to clear away their soup bowls or salad plates once they were finished.

Then I had to serve them desserts or coffee and tea. At the end of their meals, I would wait at the cashier's, get the bill, and bring it to my satisfied diners.

Some of them left generous tips; others didn't. But that was to be expected. It felt a little discouraging if you thought you did a great job serving them but got no rewards whatsoever.

The last duty would be to clear the table of remaining plates, glasses, utensils and wipe it clean. I hated touching the dirty dishware so I always used serviettes. I hated entering the wet, dirty dishwashing area to load the dishes, but I had no choice.

Afterwards, it would blissfully be lazy afternoons in which we could gather to snack on ice-creams or chitchat a little, occasionally complaining about certain customers.


The Job Went On
Days became weeks and weeks became months.

If we did night shift, we needed to stay back to help do closing duties before going off. These included wiping the menus, spraying sanitizers onto tabletops, chaining the alfresco tables and chairs together, carrying tubs of ice creams back into the freezer room, washing the kitchen area, mopping the restaurant and washing the red cloths in the utensil baskets.

*Jessamyn and I had also thought that working in restaurants meant that our meals would be items from the menu, such as pasta, pizzas, steaks, fish fillets etc. We had been filled with anticipation, but later we learned that our meals were staff meals which the cooks specially prepared. If we wanted to eat from the menu, we could order, and were entitled to a huge percentage discount.

Despite our complaints about the hecticness of the job and some unreasonable customers, we continued to work there.

There were many other part-time or temporary wait staff at our age working there as well, and we became friends very quickly. So we could crack jokes during work, help each other out, and ordered menu food to eat together at mealtimes.

We even began to go out as a group on off-days, and sometimes for drinks after work. I loved my job there, and was contemplating to continue working there on a part-time basis even after my college started.