First day at work
First days are usually supposed to be the most memorable ones, often the most disastrous as well! And despite the fact that I've never ever ever been involved in one such business before, I'd say I did a pretty good job :)
So waitressing...new, challenging, demanding, and more often than not, full of unexpected turn of events. I always look upon each of life's experiences as a road that leads you on to somewhere you're meant to be. Now I already mentioned in my last post that I've taken up this part time job at a restaurant and well, yesterday was my first day.
So the usual, you get up early, wanting to make a good first impression by reaching before time, and thats what I did too and considering I'm paid on hourly basis there was a bit of maths involved as well. So I reach at 7.50 am, 10 minutes before my reporting time. Now, you know how its always like when you're early the manager's late and when you're late the manager's early. Well, something similar happened. The manager arrived only at 10, so I had nothing to do till then. Waiting is hard, and sometimes it really makes you re-consider the decisions that led to this wait. So there I was sitting and wondering if this was the right thing to do, if I'll be able to handle the stress along with all of my academics and eca work. But then I thought of those countless other college going students who're independent, supporting their own education, and then suddenly I longed for that satisfaction of spending your hard earned money! Thats it, I thought, I'll wait.
And that I did, until the manager arrived, handed me my uniform, and cap and explained to me my first job as a waitress, delivering and serving food to the hungry customers at their tables, a no-brainer, I thought, but the sight of a million of them, all giving me those long lingering hopeful stares as I moved around looking for the right table to serve the dishes. The morning time, I realized is the peak hour for business, because thats when all these hard working people go for their jobs and they need energy to keep them going, they need food, oh lots of it and fast! The most challenging thing about this job is the fact that you are the one who's dealing with the customer. If the food's late or its not upto the mark, you're the one who's caught, not the cook or the management, which happened a couple of times and each time it really felt like one of those Lizzie Mcguire moments.
Anyway, as noon approached the crowd became thinner and finally I had time to look around and observe my colleagues. There were mostly men, over 40, two at the cooking area, one at the drinks side, one at the cashier's area and a few putting together the orders. There were however 2 other waitresses like me, Devi and Amy, both young, college going students and very very friendly, I'm glad we hit it off well. Also there was one aunty doing the dishes, one aunty at a managerial post and one aunty working alongside the men in preparing the orders, now she was I believe the eldest of us all, and had this perpetual frown on her face. It was later that Devi told me how that aunty made her cry on her second day itself. Note to self: Stay away from that bundle of nerves.
Anyway, afternoon came and the crowd started thickening again, the lunch hours had begun! I was then, asked to leave the waitressing to Devi and Amy and come behind the counter to help put together the orders, my Job 2, I learnt up a few dishes and starting working on all the orders that included them, it was kinda mechanical but as long as I could help...*shrugs* It was then I suddenly realized that I was actually working right next to that horrible horrible aunty, omg was I tensed, and it mustve been quite obvious because the next thing I know she looked at me and without letting go of that frown said that I was doing a good job, I smiled and eased up a little. That coming from her was like a promotion!
I also made friends with all those men, they all treated me like a kid, helped me when I couldnt figure certain things out, taught me new things and hell, even gave me free drinks! lolz, it was fun, next thing I know the drinks uncle was asking me for my preferences in their menu, and I thought it was a casual conversation until he actually put together all of that and told me that it was my lunch, so I took a break and sat with Devi, had lunch and for a while, life just seemed perfect then, how often had I wanted to do this part time stunt but nothing ever really came about, and although my parents don't really know about this (for once I'm glad they're never interested in reading my blog), I'm sure this can only lead to something good.
So back to Job 1, serving, I felt like a pro now, getting the hang of all the stares and even figuring out ways to carry more dishes at the same time. However, it wasn't long before the manager called me behind the counter again and asked me to stand and observe the cashier, because that was my Job 3, and honestly I was dreading this one, because (a.) I still wasn't used to the menu and the customers' accent and (b.) This one dealt with money and I didn't wanna screw up!
But yeah, I'd like to say this, I totally impressed myself by catching up with everything so fast, how to take an order, how to lure them into buying more, how to give them the pager no. so they can wait in queue, how to pass a message to the staff working inside in case the customer has a special preference, how to insert the money into the machine and within minutes I felt like a pro again...even the manager came and congratulated me on picking up so fast. It was really fun being the cashier, and for some reason they just asked me to go on doing that so it was Job3 for most of the day. The young customers were the most entertaining however, they were confused, changed their order a hundred times and they flirted! yes they did! hahah...and a few families who hadn't seen me earlier asked me if I was new and I told them proudly that it was my first day to which they gasped and said I was doing really well ! :)
Soon it struck 4 pm, and my shift was over.
I soo totally love this job, and although I'm glad its only once a week because soon after I reached back to my hostel, I totally felt the repercussions of standing for the whole day, a terrible ache in my heels and arms, but I still look forward to the next Sunday and another day at work!
