On Serving: Part 2

As I've said before, I haven't been in this business for a long time but since last September, I've learned a lot. So here's a short(ish) list of some things working in restaurants has taught me-

1. You're an actor all the time. The saying "fake it till you make it" applies to every aspect of being a server.
2. Guests will yell at you whether you they're the only ones in the restaurant or if you have a full section.
3. If a guest yells at you there was probably something that had happened or has been happening in their life where they needed to take it out on someone so they took it out on you.  
4. Explaining to a guest that you will do everything you can to try and fix a situation doesn't always make them any less angry. Crying in the back or behind the bar is kind of inevitable because being yelled at while at work feels like it's a personal attack. 
5. Going to the soda station and telling one of your fellow servers about how unruly and needy a table is being is a great time for a laugh or to let off some steam. 
6. Some dry humor and a Starbucks Double Shot make a 14 hour day a hell of a lot easier. 
7. Spilling wine on a guest, dropping glassware on marble floors, and dropping plates full of food are things that happen. Everyone has at least one horror story. 
8. Your personal checkbook is your lifeline. You make sure none of your checks or cash spill out of that baby during a shift. Also never let it out of your site, try finding it when there are at least 20 other black American Express checkbooks sitting around the server stations. 
9. Always tip out your busser, bartender, and hostess a little extra at the end of every shift. These people work their asses off for you so giving them a few extra bucks will keep them working hard for you. 
10. Managers will always have your back unless you screw something up big time. There is never a time when it is ok for a guest to mistreat a manager's staff. 
11. The kitchen staff are some of the most hard working, humble, sarcastic people you will ever meet. They work their buts off for people who don't have faces to them. 
12. However, working 15 hour days doesn't mean they won't make you some food at the end of the night. 
13. Your coworkers will take orders for you, drop checks, or go talk to a table for you if those pesky guests created this temporary hysteria where you cannot stop crying. 
14. These same coworkers will also drop food or drinks or clear a table if you ask them nicely because you just got triple sat. 
15. Spending more time with these people than you do your roommates and friends creates relationships real fast. There's a certain family atmosphere that comes along with working in this industry because of how stressful things can get at times. 

I often complain about how I don't like being a server in this industry but I'm grateful for the opportunities I've had through it, the lessons I've learned, and most importantly the people I've met. 

On Serving

When I started my first restaurant job in a fine dining restaurant as a busser, one of the servers told me I wasn't cut out for working in a restaurant. She said I was too gentle and naive and quite. She was right. A year later and I'm still that way. She wasn't trying to insult me or steer me away, but she was honest with me as she had worked in the industry for well over ten years. She grew to know me better than anyone in the restaurant and ended up being like a big sister to me. This business is rough, but on the contrary, some of the most rewarding relationships I've had in my life have come from sharing this commonality. 

I would be considered more of a newbie in the restaurant business. Having worked in fine dining and, recently a more casual setting, I have found that being in introvert is my biggest setback. It's hard to make an introvert talk to complete strangers. It's not something that's easy for someone who needs quite, alone time to regain energy to just go up to a table and be like "Hey! My name's Lexi and I'm your server and I love talking so we can talk as much as you want!'. No. I mean, I've learned a lot from this job and although I never wanted to pursue a career in Hollywood, I'm still an actress. I have to be happy when I'm not, smile when I feel like crying, and bust my ass off when I'm tired because I just worked five doubles in a row. 

On the contrary there are some pretty rewarding things like how quickly you develop family-like relationships. Working in a restaurant, you instantly have something to talk about with the other staff. It usually goes something like,

"The lady in the yellow shirt just told me she has a gluten allergy but insisted on having regular bread. And then she asked me for a water and when I went back to the table the husband wanted a glass of wine and we were out of the wine and then the food is taking forever to come out so now I'm not going to make any money off the table and now my life is over."

And sometime that's as far as the conversation goes because venting is all you need for a temporary release before you get out there again and the same thing happens to your next table. But sometimes one of your coworkers makes a joke about something and it's an on going thing for the rest of the night or even the week. Because of this sometimes you'll go out to a table still laughing about what just happened by the computer. It's all worth it though because it gets you through a slow shift, or a double, or a busy Saturday night. 

Working in this industry has taught me a lot about the real world and myself. I've seen that sometimes the work you put in doesn't yield the results you're looking for but the same can be said for the opposite. There are generous people in this world and people the genuinely care about your well-being. Waiting tables certainly isn't my dream job but I'm grateful for what it's taught me, the friends I've made, and how it's shown me that things are temporary and that you have control of where your life goes.