Workin' It

On any given night, I may be working with college students, an assistant district attorney, a high school English teacher, old timers, or some just out of high school. And these are just some of the servers. Every single one of us has a goal. Make people happy. Happy people = tips.

In the dining room, servers are smiling, nodding emphatically, "How are you doing tonight?","Any questions, you just ask me", "I'll be happy to", "Of course we can do that", "I'll have it right out", "No problem", "I'll ask my manager" The customers are always right, of course. We do what we have to do to keep 'em coming back.

But, in the kitchen. . . "I can't believe what that jerk just said", "There's really no reason for her to snap her fingers at me", "Did you hear that kid keep slurping? Like I didn't know his stupid drink was empty." "I sure do wish they would teach their kids some manners", "Did you see that mess they made?", "Aargh, why am I here?", "Five freakin' dollars on a 100 dollar ticket" "Can't I even get 10%?", "What's taking so long with the food tonight?", "I NEED A MANAGER!!"

And when we leave the kitchen, it's with a smile on our face. And we pretend everything is great in our world and they are the single most important table in the entire place. We tickle cute and ugly babies' feet, we laugh at lame jokes, take pictures for the family, even sing "Happy Birthday" when we don't know their names.

After all, people, we really ARE in it for the money.