A recent feature on the MSN.com website spoke of four jobs that can teach invaluable truths to every person willing to do them. The writer implied that no one should be too good to do them. Food service was one of them.
I agree wholeheartedly. I spent two summers waitressing between high school and college. I have always thought I wouldnt mind doing it again sometime if I could stand being on my feet all day. When I go to certain restaurants and am waited on by a 60, 70 or even 80-year-young woman who looks like she probably has spent most of her life doing that, I often wonder how she could spend a lifetime cleaning up messes and making nice for tips.
But it wasnt a bad job for a girl just out of high school and home from college for the summer. I liked it because Ive always enjoyed going out to eat and this was like going out to eat every day. I enjoyed learning what it is like behind the counter and back in the kitchen. Most waitstaff, especially in a small establishment, also learn what it is like to clean the toilets every night before they go home for the day. In that aspect especially, it is a very humbling job. But someones gotta do it, right? Why not me?
My first restaurant, Carpenters Steak House in Blountstown, Fla., was an iconic small, locally-owned restaurant just on the edge of town that served fresh cut steaks from beef hanging in the cooler, the best southern iced tea you could ask for, with a lemon wedge on the side of the amber Texasware plastic tumblers. Mr. Carpenter was also famous for his freshly ground burgers served all the way: onion, lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup, mustard and pickle. His fries and chicken werent bad either, although we always told customers Now chicken will take ya about a half hour if you wanna wait that long Yes, Im getting hungry for this slice of the rural south.
Vivian, an experienced waitress, took me under her wing and taught me how to chop up salad, cut up the lemon wedges, and how to make sure I remembered who wanted their steak well done or rare. Mrs. Carpenter often sat at the back booth of the restaurant during the busy supper hour, raising an eyebrow to point out someone who looked like they wanted a refill on tea or coffee.
First jobs are a rite of passage, and we often idealize the memory. Perhaps Im doing a bit of that, but what that job taught me besides a bit of humility was what it feels like to wait on a table of six or eight people and try to keep all drink and side orders straight, who wants what type of dressing, and who wants cream and sugar. It taught me that no matter how hard you try, some people will find something wrong, some are out for a free meal, and no matter how hard it is or how tired you are, to not get angry. The customers needs always come first. An apology doesnt always work and some days are just plain bad. On the other hand, I had to learn that my customers perhaps were celebrating Dads birthday and they dont go out very often or have much money and want everything to be just right. Such families used to clean off every roll, every pack of sugar, every pat of butter or honey, every lemon rind from the table before they finished. The table was literally not left with any edible scrap of food to throw away.
Other jobs the MSN article indicated as worth having for what they teach you about human interactions included: retail clerk, customer service, and manual labor.
I especially agree with that last one because it is one that Ive done, too. One summer I worked in a shirt-making factory. The noise and heat were relentless, broken only by the buzzer for breaks, lunch and quitting time. I survived by listening to the banter of the women around me who spoke of their divorces, raising children alone, who was sneaking around with whom, who was brown-nosing the foreman.
And that is the key to surviving factory or other kinds of physically challenging work: the relationships and camaraderie built over time with persons sharing the same work as you.
If you or your kids are looking for work, especially young graduates just starting out, dont be afraid to take on the menial jobs: a smart person will learn something from any job.
What was your first job? What did you learn? Send your stories to melodied@thirdwaymedia.org.
Another Way is a column from Third Way Media with Melodie Davis as the regular author. She is the author of nine books, most recently Whatever Happened to Dinner and has written Another Way since 1987. She is also the producer and co-host of the Shaping Families radio program, airing nationally.
