Moonlighting
For the 10th or so time last week I was asked while waiting tables what my real job was....hum.
I was also asked if I was single by this same table because they have a friend who is in marketing and just loves gals who moonlight as waitresses. Seriously.
Well I must confess, having a 6 top of twenty something professionals assume I am young enough to be hanging with their hip single marketing friend was flattering...they even said he was a bit older...you know, like 28, but he was still cool...
ugh.
I handled it well I think. I said I was married and then to drive the point home I mentioned all the kids and then that one of them was a senior.
cue all the "oh my gawds" and youth flattery....then the question came. Well what do you really do?
I wanted to say "nothing, my life is meaningless" and then walk away.
But because this IS my job and I would like a nice tip I respond with "I stay home. I married an engineer. I raise kids. I thought I was going to be a musician."
As a running joke in our house we often say restaurants are where musicians go to die. Seriously, we cook, wash dishes, work the fry, or wait the tables...but we all actually still think we can make it.
In the end, however, the restaurant is our job. We work hard and do it well. We do it hungover and never call in. We are polite to you and all your kids...and your parents (and their dietary restrictions). We do it for 2 bucks an hour plus whatever you deem to tip our services (that we share with our bussers, bar tenders etc).
My point here is that most everyone I work with is a restaurant employee. It is our only job. We pay our bills with it.
And strangely enough, most of us love it. Sure we all hate to fill your fucking diet soda 15 times in a half hour, and sometimes your need of "special" treatment is exhausting (no the bread is not gluten free)...and we all know you want a free dessert when you mention it's so-and-so's birthday. In the end, there are lots of jobs out there that need done, but it takes a special kind of person to drop what they are doing and listen to your story about your mom, actually mean it when we say "Happy Anniversary", and tell you jokes when we can tell you have had a bad day all while delivering pounds of homemade pasta.
Servers are just that. They serve, and I would like to think that most of us do it graciously.
No, I am not moonlighting as a server. That's okay with me. I think I am good at it. I am proud that I can contribute to our family income. I think I look pretty good in a bow tie.
And until the money rolls in with the music (hehehehehe) I can keep this gig up with a smile on.
As a running joke in our house we often say restaurants are where musicians go to die. Seriously, we cook, wash dishes, work the fry, or wait the tables...but we all actually still think we can make it.
In the end, however, the restaurant is our job. We work hard and do it well. We do it hungover and never call in. We are polite to you and all your kids...and your parents (and their dietary restrictions). We do it for 2 bucks an hour plus whatever you deem to tip our services (that we share with our bussers, bar tenders etc).
My point here is that most everyone I work with is a restaurant employee. It is our only job. We pay our bills with it.
And strangely enough, most of us love it. Sure we all hate to fill your fucking diet soda 15 times in a half hour, and sometimes your need of "special" treatment is exhausting (no the bread is not gluten free)...and we all know you want a free dessert when you mention it's so-and-so's birthday. In the end, there are lots of jobs out there that need done, but it takes a special kind of person to drop what they are doing and listen to your story about your mom, actually mean it when we say "Happy Anniversary", and tell you jokes when we can tell you have had a bad day all while delivering pounds of homemade pasta.
Servers are just that. They serve, and I would like to think that most of us do it graciously.
No, I am not moonlighting as a server. That's okay with me. I think I am good at it. I am proud that I can contribute to our family income. I think I look pretty good in a bow tie.
And until the money rolls in with the music (hehehehehe) I can keep this gig up with a smile on.
