This journey began with me sitting on my couch. It was some random Sunday. I was 16. Wrapped up in all kinds of 16 year old girl crap, whatever that might have been at the time. I get a phone call from my Mom. She was working at the new restaurant in the town we had just moved to. She was a hostess and also doing some paperwork and payroll kind of stuff in the office upstairs. My brother worked there too. My Dad was an investor, ..it was kind of a family thing in a big way, but lots of other people were involved too.
So anyway, back to that Sunday that I'm sitting there watching whatever was on TV and my Mom calls to tell me they are short a hostess and told me if I want the job to get ready and come down. "Right now?!" "Yes, right now." It was almost like a do or die kind of thing. In retrospect, it was a great thing that my Mom did for me. She hooked me up with a great job. I made a lot of money at that gig, and actually had some really fun times. I was a hostess for weekends forever and when I finally turned 17, with some coaxing from my Mom, I let the manager know that I was ready to wait tables.
fun fact: Maine is the only state in the USA that allows people to serve alcohol in a restaurant starting at age 17. Most states it is 18 or 19 and some paces such as Alaska, Utah and Nevada, you must be 21. minimum age to serve booze by state
I served tables in a town that borders with Canada in rural northern Maine. I have a million crazy, awesome, funny stories, as most people in the service industry do. This blog is going to be a compilation of nostalgic tales of my serving days, which aren't very far behind me (I work in an office now) and I don't doubt that I will one day end up back in the industry.
This is a job where it is very easy to get taken advantage of. You have to make sure you work for the right people. There are so many different types of restaurants (corporate, mom & pop shops, gastro pubs, diners, not to mention the countless different ethnic variations of restaurants in the United States today.) I have had the pleasure of working side by side with owners of places that I have worked. It's the owners that are willing to get dirty, talk to customers, and work with their staff that are the ones you will break your back for. But there will always be people in the industry that might be trying to take advantage of you. This is something I learned over time, especially from working in all sorts of serving environments.
Most people start these jobs when they are young. We are making piles of cash and sometimes we don't know what to do with it all. There are rules like tipping out support staff, and reporting your tips to get taxed on by the government. It can be really tricky, especially if you don't know about your state's laws about serving. I will be posting helpful advice and links to share.
Know your rights as a service industry worker. Read your pay stub. Ask questions. Smile, stay calm, and make money!
 |
| server / restaurant biz life FB |
No comments:
Post a Comment