:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Sunday, June 11, 2006 ::

:: Server Tales IV: Looking back, looking ahead. ::

Anyone who's ever worked at a bar or restaurant will tell you that although you get your share of customers who border on insane, it's nothing compared to having to deal with the freaks who sometimes manage the restaurant. Every restaurant I or my friends have worked at have either a crazy owner, a power-tripping (micro-)manager, a temperamental group of cooks, or some insidious combination of the above. I'm fortunate enough that the managers at my restaurant are actually almost normal people.

Except for a waiter/bartender who likes to think he's the manager and enjoys barking orders, micro-managing, and nitpicking over stupid stuff that real managers would hardly glance at. For whatever reason, he seems to have it in for me. He's been in the service industry most of his adult life and will likely be a career waiter. So on some level, I can understand his anal-retentiveness but mostly, he just gets on my nerves. We've had a few intense conversations where he invoked the "they'll fire you" line of crap.

And honestly, there are worse things that could happen to me. If I get fired, all it would do is kick my ass into going out and finding my real job. And I could have pointed this out to him by saying something immature and snooty like "you'll be a waiter forever and three months from now I'll be making $50,000 at a cushy ad job." Which may or may not be true (I'll probably only start off at $40,000).

But I stopped myself because if I were to say that, I wouldn't be putting just him down, but I'd also be disparaging the server profession as a whole and I won't - can't - do that.

If it weren't for my jobs as a server, my student loans would be even greater. Being a server helped pay for rent, beer, school supplies, beer, plane tickets, my internship in Prague, and beer. In three months, I may finally be settling into my "grown up" job and my server days might be permanently behind me. But I've enjoyed the last six months of my life far more than the last couple of years before I moved to Miami. (The Girlfriend probably has something to do with that, and she'll kick my ass if I don't acknowledge it). I've always had a certain respect for waiters and the shit they sometimes of have to put up with but being one gave me an even deeper respect.

While it is hard work, it can be fun enough at times that I wish I started doing this waitering thing a lot sooner. But right now, looking back, I'm glad I did it. And right now, I'm glad I'm experiencing the things I am because ten years down the line, just in case I do become a rich ad geek, I can look back at this and smile.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 3:26 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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