A tip of a different color

I really do love waitressing. I'm not sure why; part of me feels embarrassed that I have my Masters degree and wait tables. And yet, the bottom line is, I love waitressing.

Even on days like today.

For the first two hours of my shift (7am-9am) I had one customer. Our credit card machine was working today, but apparently no one thought that it might be a good idea to give our customers the option of adding a tip for the waitress when they pay with a card. So when my first customer paid with a credit card, she didn't have the option of adding anything for me-- and so she didn't. When I explained this to Danny that this was a problem, he said, "Ok, ok, we fix it." Yeah, but I just lost a tip; and "we fix it" hasn't meant anything yet....

A bit later he handed Camille and me the waitress pads we'd asked for yesterday. Except that they didn't have carbon copies, so it wasn't actually any different from the scraps of paper we'd been writing on. Though I suppose the slightly larger size and the fact that this paper was lined made it somewhat easier for the cooks to read our scrawl. Baby steps towards "fixing it"; don't get frustrated.

Around the lunch rush, Danny suddenly started reprimanding us for using the computers to print the bills while still telling the kitchen what we needed them to make, like we'd been doing since opening yesterday. Turns out, the computer started sending orders to the kitchen so the cooks were making everything we put in plus everything we told them. No one had told us that the computers were working again, and it still didn't mean that our food would definitely get made; but that was a moot point.

I could go on about the other mishaps of the day, but I wouldn't get any sleep between now and tomorrow's shift. But I was reminded of a good life lesson today: When you are about to leave work and someone asks you to do something quickly, it WILL mean that you are going to be there for an extra couple hours.

I had said early on that I'd like to leave today at 2pm-- Gretchen had today off and we'd been planning to hang out, but then I got this job. At 1:55 a party of eight people walked in. Camille and I were both at the end of our rope with the computer situation, and Camille had been trying to take a quick break for the past two hours. "I really don't want this table; will you take it?"

No!!!! I just want to go home and hang out and have fun!
Sure. I'll take one more.

So Camille got her break, and I got a table of eight. They were friendly, though, and very appreciative of my looking after them. I kept overhearing parts of their conversations and could tell that they worked with kids. I wanted so badly to ask them about what they did-- if they worked in a school or an after-school program or what-- but I'm not quite comfortable with "New Yorker" ways, and I wasn't sure if it would be taken as poking my nose where it didn't belong. So I kept my questions to myself and kept their drinks filled instead. Just after they paid, one of the guys asked me to take the group's picture. Here's my chance.

Where are you guys from?

"Harlem Children Zone."

You've gotta be kidding me-- I've had my eye on this organization for months.
Seriously?!

Surprised laughter. "You've heard of it? Did you see our commercial?"

No, actually I applied to work with your program.

More laughter. "You don't have experience coordinating programs, do you?"

I do actually. I used to run a kids' outreach in Philly, and I decided I want to work with inner city kids. It's a huge reason I moved to New York-- because there are so many programs here that I'm hoping to get involved with and learn from; but I haven't been able to "break in" to any of them yet.

"You're kidding."
"Please take our information."
"Please send me your resume; I'll pass it to the right people."
"Come work with us!!"

Um, OKAY.

I have to say, for making me stay two extra hours, they didn't leave a very generous tip on the table. But honestly, this tip was even more appreciated-- partly because it's cool to have a contact with the organization I've been hoping to work with, and partly because it's a good reminder that God loves to use even the frustrating experiences to bring about good things. Even if it proves to be nothing, it was still an encouraging interaction.

I love that I work in a restaurant that's no more than 1000 square feet, and I meet people from around the world. And people from the organization that won't respond to my emails. And funny cooks from Mexico and counter help from Barbados and Puerto Rico and waitresses from a few blocks away. I love that no matter how mean a table is (yes, I did have a guy call me over three different times just to continue yelling at me for how his food hadn't been cooked correctly), they're gone in an hour MAX and you start all over again with a different customer. Really, I just love waitressing.

Give it a few more weeks; we'll see if the feeling lasts. :)