All of you who have waitressed will understand where this post is coming from, and will grant me the rant without judgement. If you have not waitressed before, please know I am about to explain the 80/20 rule in action, and am only speaking to the pesky 20.
As I pour the lady at table 23 her third cup of 1/3 decaf, 1/3 regular, and the rest water, I look around the full dining room, pick up a dish and a bill, and mentally cross off number 35 & 28 of important things to do in the next five minutes.
As I am ignoring girl #14 who wants her 3rd packet of jelly, I stress to keep my composure. I peer out into the harbor, and contemplate how in the world I got to this place. How does one keep their sanity, waitressing morning to night, only to break to switch jobs?
I will tell you.. A very, very, extensive imagination... and ceaseless dry humor. As I flash my table a, 'Don't you see sir, I am not simply refilling your coffee, getting you your scramble, and all but wiping your kid's bottom, I am a determined young woman, with a life and a goal, ready to see the world' smile. I am surely worth at least 20% of your $26.oo bill.........Oh, you disagree? I am worth but 14%? Well, you just have yourself a horrible day (or at least a healthy dose of karma in the next couple of hours).
Day after day, I will have interactions similar to those I just skimmed. So I grew thick skin, and have went right to the goal, skipping the intermediary.
x:"So, what brings you up here as a waitress in September, are you...... a local? ...... this can't be your 'forever job?'"
Me: (At first, I would always laugh with disgust at their rudeness and audacity. As if this profession is something that can be so crudely remarked about.) Well, I am neither, sir. I am saving to spend over six months in Europe, and then will be returning home to study disease prevention education tactics. Specifically in obesity and diabetes.
... Now, would you like your jumbo cinnamon roll with the meal, or before?
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