Blog 7.1 (Rough Draft Repost)

Please wait to be seated

The dinner rush is kicking in. Platters of cooked food are starting to stack up on the counter. Six bottled beers are being sent back because they are not cold enough. The entire dinning room is thick with hot and greasy air that leaves a distinct scent on the skin. The place is almost packed and still more people are being seated. The little brat on table three spills and breaks another glass of orange juice. Here comes the prick on table seven asking for a reheat of her half uneaten burger for the third time. Where is that damn busboy? The customers on the counter have been bugging me for their dessert order. Those fucking tourists did not leave a tip! Everybody seems talking loudly at the same time I can barely hear the nice old lady’s order. Someone asks for their tab as I carry out four heavy plates of food at the other table. I have not studied for my exams yet and I have another paper to write before the week ends. “Thank you folks, please come again!”

Being a restaurant server, According to the US Department of Labor, requires agility, being able to work under pressure, and most of the time working for long hours during busy dining periods. In a restaurant environment employees, particularly the servers, provide fast and efficient service to diners. Being able to move and think quickly, taking orders from the customers, and just getting along with people are common qualities of a good restaurant server says Shawn MacDonald, a restaurant server herself and a staff writer for the Associated Content. Restaurant servers work in shifts usually in days or nights. A part time restaurant server may also work three to four days a week, more or less, sometimes including weekends and holidays. Work hours depend on the restaurant establishment. Our day shift starts at 10:00am and ends at 6:00pm, the night shift from 6:00pm to 1:00am. Oftentimes, a server works a double shift usually covering for another co-worker or when the manager assigns to do so.

I wake up early this Sunday morning to catch the train for work. Inside the train, people are quiet. There are men reading the Sunday papers, mothers and their kids on the strollers, and there are some with their heads hunched down trying to catch a few minutes of sleep before they get off the train. Me, I feel fine even though I got out of work at 1:00am and didn’t go to bed until 3:30 last night doing some homework.

I walk inside and the whole place is just starting to come alive. I hear the usual cracking sound of a knife, the grill as it sizzles, and the smell of cooked bacon permeating the entire kitchen. Francisco, one or our cooks, is putting the chopped vegetables in a tall soup pan as he stirs in the broth to make the soup of the day.

“The soup looks delicious, what are you making? Eh, ¿que es esto? ” I asked.

“Sí, sopa de pollo de la gran manzana. ¿Cómo estás, chico?” He said enthusiastically and shook my hand.

“Muy bien, muy bien!” I replied back.

That is one of the perks of working in a restaurant—learning to speak another language.

I put my stuff away, get my tab book at the register upfront, and put the apron on. I see Johanna eating her breakfast. She and I will be manning the tables today and she just informed me that she will do the night shift as well.

“Bummer. Who got sick this time?” I asked and took a piece of bacon on her plate.

“No, nobody got sick. Michelle is moving some stuff to her new place plus I need the extra shift anyway.” She replied.

“I see. Okay, let’s make some money then. Let’s start earning those tips, stat!”

“Don’t say stat.” She took a sip of her coffee and rolled her eyes at me.

A restaurant server obtains earnings from the combination of hourly wages and gratuities from the customers. The US Department of Labor states that the median hourly wage-and-salary (including gratuities) of restaurant servers is $7.14 as of May 2006. That is a few cents below the Federal regulated minimum wage which as of July 2009 is equivalent to $7.25. According to New York State Department of Labor waiters and waitresses in New York City can earn up to an average of $30,640 annually. For experienced waiters and waitresses, earnings can average from $36,570. The majority of a restaurant server’s earnings, however, are gratuities from the customers rather than the restaurant establishment’s hourly wages. It is essential that customers know how to tip as for some restaurant servers, this is their primary source of income. According to Kim Dickerson, a small business entrepreneur and a staff writer for the Associated Content, a proper tip for an average service is 15% of the total bill. An exquisite service deserves a 20% or higher and a poor service, which happens rarely, is 10%. The question of why customers tip or should tip is simple—for convenience. “Diners do not have to cook dinner, set the table, clear the table, or do the dishes. All of that is all done for them while they sit with their friends or family and relax” she also states.

A few minutes later, a few customers are starting to pour inside. Johanna finish filling in the little containers of maple syrup for the pancakes and I finish brewing a pot of fresh coffee. An hour or so later, the lunch time rush is well under way. We did not get many customers during breakfast so we are hoping we get pounded during the lunch hours.

A party of nine walks in and is properly seated on the middle of the dinning room. I hand in a few complimentary pickle slices on the table and just as I suspected when they walk in, they are tourists—European tourists. I know the likes of these people. They do not leave gratuities or are very stingy with them and still expects to be served to their every beck and call. But I am a professional. I will still give them the best service I know.

“Do you want to take them? They are Spaniards, our favorite people in the world.” I asked Johanna sarcastically as I hand her their lunch order.

“Not a chance. That’s for taking my bacon earlier.” She grinned as she walked away carrying the beers for table three.

A few hours later, the lunch time rush slows down and the flow of customers coming in starts to dissipate. Johanna and I take turns eating our lunch. It is about four hours past lunch time now. The employees’ lunch consists of yellow rice and beans, grilled chicken cutlet, and some sliced avocadoes. This stuff is awesome. They are way better than the cheese pizza we usually get on the pizza place next door.

In about an hour or so, the night shift will begin and the dinner rush will also kick in. We gather a fairly decent amount of gratuities during lunch hours—of course I got nothing from those European tourists. The Sunday crowd is mostly regular diners who come in during the weekdays as well. One customer in particular hangs in here everyday. Most of the employee here seems to know him even some of the regular diners as well. He will walk in, greets everybody, sits on his chair by the counter—he even has his own chair here—orders his usual food and drink, and just hangs out and read his book for a few hours. The good thing is we never had a problem with him. He gets along with almost everyone who strikes up a conversation with him. He also asks us about our lives once in a while but never goes overboard. As a result, he is the only diner here that gets free refills on drinks for life.

A restaurant server’s duties can be oversimplified into two main categories. Number one is providing a great service to customers. Providing a welcoming environment sets the tone of the service from the moment the customer walks into the restaurant establishment. The simple act of always having a smile and just being pleasant in front of customers are the key to providing a warm and hospitable environment suggests Rodney Southern of the Associated Content and author of a short essay “How to Be a Fantastic Server at Your Restaurant.” Taking the customer’s order is just as simple as jotting down exactly what they said. It just becomes a little tricky when the customer have no clue on what to order and asks for the server’s recommendation. Rodney Southern advises “to have at least two entrée and appetizer suggestions as well as a drink order.” Serving the actual food and beverage orders to the customers are also pretty straightforward. Just make sure it is what the customer ordered. Number two is doing “sideworks.” Sideworks refers to the rest of the work customers do not usually see such as refilling the salt and pepper shakers, mopping the restaurant floor, and cleaning the coffee pot. General cleaning and sanitizing is basically the whole definition of doing sideworks in the restaurant establishment and is also eighty-five percent of a restaurant server’s daily routine states Steven, also known as “Ribeye,” a professional restaurant server in Nashville, Tennessee and the webmaster of his internet blog site ragingserver.com.

The past few hours after we ate our lunch is one of those non busy hours around here. The dinning room is quiet right now. I take this afternoon lull as an opportunity to do some of my usual sideworks so by the time my shift ends, which is at 1:00am, I have a little less chore to do. Johanna is doing the same. She cleans off the laminated menus with a cleanser and arranges them neatly on the rack above where the napkins are. Before that, she dusts off the frames on the wall with pictures of old country western movies and the six feet by four feet decorative mirror at the back side of the dinning room. I also sometimes take this quiet period to catch up on my homework in school. So I grab my book bag by the register upfront and take my math homework out.

“Hey, Johanna.” As I signaled her to sit beside me on the counter. “Do you still remember your college math?” I asked.

“Of course. Which math is it?” She sat beside me.

“It’s calculus, and I’m having trouble solving this problem right here.” I pointed out the question on the textbook.

“Ok. Here’s how you do it.” And she started scribbling numbers and equations on the scratch pad.

According to the US Department of Labor, there are no specific educational requirements for food and beverage service jobs where restaurant servers fall into. It seems that almost everybody can work or be a restaurant server. However, due to the nature of the work which pays very little, job advancement is very slim. According to the data from the US Department of Labor, “Job advancement is limited to finding a job in a busier or more expensive restaurant where prospect for tip earnings are better.” Even landing to a busier and more expensive restaurant does not guarantee better earnings. Being a restaurant server is a transitory job and is really not meant to be a steady source of income.

I seem to have finished my math homework, thanks to Johanna. She is a smart pants. I put my homework away and the employees for the night shift are starting to get ready—which includes Johanna and me. I go to the washroom and splashed my face with lukewarm water to freshen up. I go back and people are starting to pour in again.

“Are you ready for round two?” I asked Johanna as I raised my right hand for a high five.

“Let’s do this baby!” She replied enthusiastically.

“You kept me hanging over here.”

“I don’t do high fives.” She said and gave me a bear hug instead.

The steady flow of customers coming in and the familiar sound of utensils hitting the plates indicate the start of the dinner rush.

--restaurant life

--tipping, salary

--doing sideworks

--being a good/better/professional server

--dealing with unruly/problem guests

--beyond being a server/lessons, life lessons learned