Have you ever imagined working in a restaurant? If you have, which position would you like to be? A chef? A cashier? For me, I’d like to be a waitress when I was young. The reason was that it seemed very easy to put the dishes onto the dining tables. And that’s the only thing a waitress does all the time, do you agree? Last summer, I joined a three-week ‘Summer Work Experience’ scheme. I finally got a taste of being a waitress and found that I had a strong illusion towards the job.
On the first day of my job, my supervisor had already told me that ‘being a waitress was a highly skilled job. It’s not only about placing plates, but also taking orders and tidying up the restaurant. Also, you have to serve your customers carefully and politely. Sometimes when the cashier is busy, you have to help her too…’ She kept talking for around an hour. I felt dizzy with the list of duties of a waitress. I had never thought that there were so many things for a waitress to do. At that time, I believed that I had chosen a wrong job.
After a few days of practices, I met some of the colleagues. But I found that they were so cool and they were not so willing to chat with each other. At the beginning,I thought they would only look solemn at work. Yet my supervisor told me that they were like this even when they finished working. After that, I tried to talk to them more often. Like the young ladies, I’d discuss fashion with them. And to the 50-year-old manager, I asked him for guidance. Gradually after I had more contacts with them, our relationships improved.
When serving the customers, I admitted that I had made many mistakes such as taking wrong orders for four times, spilling water while filling up for customers, dropping utensils, smashing them into pieces… In the last week, I thought my colleagues had already got used to it. When I did something carelessly again, the 50-year-old manager just murmured and no longer showed an astonished face. And the other colleagues would tease me softly and laughed at me again and again afterwards. Also, the customers who always came had known me and even found interesting to watch those ‘accidents’. Later, they called me ‘the muddling waitress’ too.
In the 3 weeks, I got a really impressive experience. I couldn’t forget those memories with my colleagues in the restaurant. And I learnt so many things. My supervisor taught me that there is always a ”better” than ”the best” . She encouraged me to improve in both studying and serving others. My colleagues told me that I was the sun in the restaurant, giving them warmth and power. To be honest, I was really glad to be the muddling waitress.
After all, I learnt that being a waitress is not a piece of cake. Therefore, I’d like to take a bow to all people working in the serving sector in society to thank them for their contribution.