The service industry is known to be a difficult place to work in. Often times it means long hours, usually on the employee's feet, with rude or undesirable people as customers. We all love to go out and have a good time, however, we sometimes forget there is a person working for us to relax. To be honest, I never gave this much thought until I joined that industry. I can tell you that it has been some of the hardest most frustrating times of my life. I can also tell you that it has caused me to change as a person.
The idea to start serving hit me when I started my freshman year of college. Over the summer I worked about 40 hour weeks at a fast food joint, making minimum wage which was, $7.25 per hour. Once I started school full time I only had 20 to 25 hours to work per week. Quite frankly, the minimum wage was not going to cut it. I needed something that allowed fewer hours but paid well. Waiting tables had the potential for greatness, $2.13 guaranteed per hour plus a wealth of tips. I had no clue what I was getting myself into.
The worst thing about serving is the pressure to make someone else happy, with the knowledge my pay directly depends on it. Sometimes people expect the impossible of me or treat me horribly. It is frustrating to have people yell at me when I am out of a dish or their food is taking too long, I have absolutely no control over that type of stuff. I have finally come to the realization that I will never be able to please everyone. I used to tell myself I was inadequate if I didn't have the ability to appease my guests. Now I just laugh at how ridiculous people can be, because if I didn't I would either cry or yell. Furthermore, I have kept my mouth shut so many times at a table while fuming. I have had guests announce to the whole table that they disliked me while I was standing right behind them. I can't tell you how many times I am cut off mid sentence while talking on a daily basis. Worse, I am often treated as some sort of sub-human that is below the guests I am serving. I have a news flash for all of these people, they don't eat in my section without me getting food for them; I take their order, I choose when to put it in, I choose how many drinks they can have and when to bring it. Which brings me to the point of self-reflection.
Although people like to try my patience, I refuse to ruin someone's meal out of spite, to make things take longer for no reason or to prevent my table from having what they want. While I have become much more sassy to my coworkers and do have an admittedly shorter temper than when I started. I now have the ability to let things go faster and to continue on in the face of the adversity. The Bible says that a kind word turns away wrath. I can personally tell you that by continuing to show my tables a respectful, sweet and kind attitude I have seen people completely change their demeanor. I have had guests apologize or just simply tell me they appreciate my attitude and tell me how thankful they are for my "good service". While I can never choose how others treat me. I am able to decide how I respond to others and to give my best effort. This holds true for both the restaurant and life.
I do have to admit, there have been countless times where I have lost my cool, when I snapped at a coworker or gave really slow service because I couldn't get to everyone in time. I am human which means that I will never be perfect. I have cried, screamed, and copped attitudes at work. What do I do in these situations? Well, first off pray, I do a lot of praying at work, other than that I just keep going. It's not going to get better and it might get worse but I can tell you that I won't give up. One of the most important things I have learned is that there is no way I can do it alone. When I feel like I am slowly drowning and no matter what I do I just get more and more behind, I have had so many people stand by me and help me. Without their assistance or simple encouragement of a smile or a "Hey you can do this!" I don't know that I would have ever gotten through my busiest shifts. Slowly over time, I found some of the answers. I have built the ability to remain calm, cool and collected when someone yells or chastises me. I don't beat myself up for things that are out of my control any longer I just do whatever possible to help the situation and let it go. I take these skills with me to other situations in life. I have had points in my classes where I thought if I can run my section successfully than I can definitely get an excellent grade in this class. In bad situations, I remind myself that all I need to do is push through and there is an end in sight.
My question to you is this: Where do we fall in this crazy busy world? Are we all too busy to stop and think about what might be going on in someone else's life? How often are we supposed to respond in kindness and grace when we don't feel like it? Is it ok to go out of your way for a stranger, and would it make a difference in your life if someone else was willing to do that for you?
