My job in very unique to say the least. I work at a restaurant in a retirement center. This means that my only customers are 60 and up men and women who I see on a daily basis. We do have the occasional guests of their children and grandchildren. As much as I dread the nights coming into work, I love working with my friends. So many memories have been created through the workplace and I wouldn't ever want to leave if it wasn't for my coworkers.
Let's get things straight first, working 4 hours a night at my work is very tiring. You are constantly sprinting around taking orders, getting drinks, clearing plates, and making sure your table is satisfied. Oh, and let's not forget trying to juggle 4 walkers at once because "ain't nobody got time" for two trips. By mid-shift I'm already dripping in sweat. Then I love taking my nightly bath while trying to get the dripping wet dishware to set my tables... but I love my work!
To start things off, let's go from start to finish. Coming into work is the best (I say very sarcastically)! While driving in you will be stopped by security whom will ask you where you are going. For most of us, we just say the restaurant name we are clear to go, but sometime we have the people who get lost and need directions. From this small action, it can leave us in traffic for up to 15 minutes. But you would think that by the time we get into work it'd be all good? Wrong, it's a race to get a good parking spot. We have a parking lot designed for employees, but there are never enough spots for every employee. You either get a great spot or you will be walking in for an extra 5 minutes.
Once we get into work, only do things go downhill. We have a list of all the sections the employees will be assigned for the night. You either are on tables, silverware, bussing, hosting, coffee, in the kitchen, or on the rare occasion you will be an extra (aka you do nothing for the entire night). For the most part, I'm always on tables, sometimes on silverware if I'm lucky. But, your tables will make or break your night. You can have anything from three tables of four or three tables of eight. Not only do your sections matter, but the residents who sit at your tables matter even more.
Residents range anything from pleasant and friendly to hungry and irritable. Some residents understand that to cook food, it takes time. Others believe that there is a magic wizard in the kitchen who can cook any five star meal in less that 30 seconds. Since the residents are older, they forget what they order sometimes, so meals being sent back isn't anything new. Also, some people forget that as servers, you have multiple tables to take care of as a time, so we can't spend all our time waiting only on one sole table. However, if you are lucky and get the nice residents, you will have a great night. These residents will know your name by heart and will always want updates on your life, these are the good ones.
As many negative things I say about my work, there are many positives. For one, I work with some of my best friends. I will never go a night without having a good laugh, from people pulling pranks to goofing off, I work with some great people. Also, work is easier when you have friends for if you are extremely busy and need help, there's always someone there to help out. My managers are also very understanding and they care about what happens to you. It's a very positive place to work at, minus the daily stress, but it's not that bad.
My work is like jumping into a pool only to realize there is no water at the bottom. While jumping, everything is all good, you're having a blast, the tables aren't hard, and you are very stress-free. But, once you look down you see the dark bottom of the pool and it's gonna hurt. This is the tables that send back every meal, complain about their dinners or coffee being too cold, and this is where the stress kicks in. There are negatives to my work, but there are many positive, I just look forward to the first jump and the rest is just a blur.
