I have been working in the restaurant business going on six years, and have grown up with both parents working in it as well. It has given me my entire life, and I could not be more grateful. That being said, at this point in my restaurant career I have worked as almost every position in the front. I have served time as the host with a fake smile, and a busser with sore arms because I have below average upper body strength. I have also been a stressed out server with a mix of sauces on my shirt. A quick stint as a bartender’s helper, a counter girl and the teenager with my head in an ice cream cooler and frozen hands. A lot of thoughts run through your head, and sometimes when those thoughts aren’t the nicest, it’s good to know you’re not alone.
1. When people are already looking in the windows 10 minutes before the restaurant opens
.
Do people not own watches anymore? Are the times posted on the door invisible? The world may never know.
2. When they walk in with five kids all in various levels of crying distress.
If I didn't want kids before I met some families, I don't want to have them anymore.
3. When they insist on having a specific table that usually happens to be dirty.
Would you invite guests to sit at your dinner table at home when it had dirty dishes on it from the last meal? No.
4. When you hand the little angels the crayons and they immediately work on breaking them in half and you know you’re going to find them crushed into the carpet that night.
I'm not quite sure if kids have a sixth sense to immediately break everything they put their chubby little hands on, but I have probably pulled enough wax off the floor to start my own museum.
5. When you’re walking back to your stand and see a stream of people walking in, you’re not quite sure whether you hope that it’s all one party or five.
It could be described like Robert Frost's poem, you can perish in fire or ice. Both entirely different, but a disaster each in their own.
6. When the person is already looking at your seating chart saying “Hi, we have a party of 15.”
Well, there's your answer. Now the next challenge, finding a server that is willing to be consistently running around the restaurant for the next two hours
7. When the busser calls in late, and the manager tells you that you have to bus the tables too, and run some food while you’re at it.
No problem helping out the rest of the team, but there are only so many jobs you can do at once. Customers don't like to talk to you as much when you have a bin of dirty dishes on your hip.
8. When you finally think things quiet down from the lunch rush, and you still have three more hours until your shift ends.
Time never moves as slowly as it does when no one is coming in and it hasn't even past 2 p.m.
9. When the manager tells you to decide who gets cut early.
There are two times that servers really love the host, when they give them a pleasant table, and when they get to decide who goes home early.
10. Simultaneously, the p.m. shift host asks if you want to take their shift.
Not a lot of people will agree to do a double when they're already counting down the time to go home. There are those that do however, and they are called saints.
11. When your "10 minutes left" countdown starts.
Suddenly every crying child walking in is a weeping ball of sunshine because you know its the last crayons you'll have to touch for the rest of the day.
12. When the next host finally comes in for their shift and you haven’t even started your sidework.
The balloons need to be blown up, silverware needs to be rolled, and menus need to be cleaned. But at least you aren't trapped in a box any longer.
13. Fifteen minutes after your out time. and you finally get to walk out the door to freedom.
Sunshine and fresh air has never felt so good, even if the smell of the restaurant is still sticking to your clothes, and stinking up your car.
Sometimes it's tough, and sometimes it's a breeze. Your coworkers become your other family, and the backroom becomes your second home. Your boss becomes your parent and the newbies your children. It is all a learning experience, and you learn there is no better way to bond than gossiping in the back about table 52.
