4A (15-16) Chong Natalie
A Day as a Coffee Shop Assistant
Never have I experienced working as a full-time employee. It is actually not legal for a 14-year-old teenager to work for a day, receiving salary in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, the LWW Porgramme organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department provided me with a valuable opportunity to work in a café as a coffee shop assistant for a day. Guess what? I could even get paid.
The event took place last Sunday in a small vintage coffee shop located in Tsim Sha Tsui. I could not be anymore excited for I expected it to be an interesting and leisurely day. Things do not always go how I want them to. I was welcomed with tons of workload after I had just introduced myself to the owner of the café. For the next several hours, I was serving, cleaning and sometimes grumbling. I just could not handle such an amount of work. Still, I did my best to fulfill the customers’ and my boss’ wants.
There were three teenagers working in the café. They seemed to have been spoiled by their parents; they could not even wash a plate well! I was sure countless of cups and plates had been broken by them at the end of the day. No exaggeration! They were bad-tempered as well. A few customers had complained about their impoliteness. Compared with them, I thought I was the one who did the best. At least, I was not that prickly or disrespectful.
Although it might seem to be a tedious, boring day, I have learnt something from my one-day job. Work is no fun! That’s something I can ensure you. However, all of us are going to work one day. I am glad that I have joined the programme. It lets me know that working as an adult is utterly hard, so while we are still young, we have to train ourselves to be tough and independent, unlike those three teens working with me. Two more years and I will be competing with others to get into the college. Probably four more years later I will be graduating from college and looking for a job. Time flies. Therefore, we really need to get prepared. It is your own choice which determines whether your path is smooth or full of barriers.