Life of a Waitress free essay sample

This is my routine that sounds rather scripted. Waitressing is just one of the many roles in my life. Wait staff almost have a script for how to handle customers. Being a waitress is a positive role in my life. It is something I can enjoy while doing and work with people who appreciate working with me. This is one of my favorite roles that I have had in my life. Waitressing has made me a more open person. I have learned many different things in these two years of waitressing. There are certain expectations that all customers have upon entering a restaurant. Within waitressing, my role consists of serving customers, working with other wait staff, cooperating with the kitchen staff, and fulfilling my mangers expectations. Social roles cannot be escaped. Each role that is carried out has its own expectations and obligations. Some roles intertwine with other roles that a person partakes in, which can make similar responsibilities in the roles. A role is determined by a person’s society. Each situation that a person stumbles upon fits into one of their given roles. Most people attach themselves to their roles and attempt to fill the roles to the fullest. Waiters and waitresses have many expectations coming from many different angles. I am a waitress in a winery/bistro. My expectations from customers differ from the expectations from my co-workers and bosses. Customers expect that they will be my number one priority at all times and that I will be of service to them at the times they need me. Sometimes this is hard to achieve, especially on busy nights when trying to make every table as comfortable and satisfied as possible. Some customers get upset if their server is not as punctual as they would like. This causes them to be unpleasant with the server and this can impact a server’s mood. I know that my performance has changed because of the way I am treated by customers. If I have a table that I laugh with and enjoy serving, then the rest of my tables get that same attitude. This also gets customers to want to return to your workplace. However, this situation can also go in the complete opposite direction. If I started my day in a bad mood and brought that into serving, then my customers would never be happy. But also, if something goes wrong on the customer side then they will be impatient with the server and cause the server to be irritable as well. If a customer feels they are not being served they way they should be then they usually make it known. Customers can set the mood for everything that happens in a restaurant. Whether the customer is just crabby, impatient, leaves a poor tip, or makes a rude comment, it could change the attitude of the server. From experience, servers do not like when customers make them feel like they do not know how to do their job. Interaction with other servers is also a huge part of waiting tables. To begin, there are expectations that everyone knows who is working where. Each server must check in with the shift manager to see about any changes. Communication between servers is the key. If one server is busier than another, then we usually help each other out. Working as a team instead of against each other is also very crucial. When servers have fun together, the environment seems to be lightened. Usually we balance each other’s personalities out. Depending on the staff I am working with, normally we can take our frustrations on out each other so we can accommodate the customers properly. My boss loves to see all smiles at work, from the time we enter until the time we leave. This is sort of like our â€Å"fake it til you make it† thing. However, when I go to work, I am generally happy. I have always been the one to smile all the time for no reason at all. So doing something I enjoy is not going to take my smile away. The interaction between the kitchen and the servers can be affected by everyone else in the restaurant. My role as a waitress is to be patient with the kitchen staff. I have expectations for them and they have expectations for me. They expect me to be patient, clear with orders, not demanding, and aware of what is going on. I must know what food they just told me was done and where to take it, but first I need to pay attention to hear when my name is called. There is usually more tension between the kitchen and waiters than there is with any other workers. The roles are so different. The kitchen staff usually looks at servers as just wanting to get a good tip, and that we do not care the extremities the kitchen has to go to for us. It is important that servers respect the kitchen staff; they are in charge of the food we will be serving. â€Å"Servers, as mediators, need their food when their customers demand it: sometimes this is before the food is ready; at other times after. If servers demand food too early, cooks are stressed; but if they don’t pick up the food on time, the food is poor and the cook seems incompetent. † (Fine 105). This is the most true on Friday and Saturday nights. Everything seems to be more chaotic on these nights, since most people decide to go out. This is good because it brings in more business for the restaurant, but then there are always more unhappy customers on these nights as well. Overall, positive interaction with the kitchen staff can make amazing things happen. My performance as a waitress is judged by customer reviews. I try to have my best performance at all times. The â€Å"Looking Glass† plays a major part in my performance. I develop my performance based on the reflections I see from customers. At the winery we provide comment cards on the service the customer received. Some customers never give positive feedback, they dwell on the negative. Instead of giving useful comments, they say things like, â€Å"Server was rude† or â€Å"Food was bad. † This does not help anyone. What happens from these comments? Servers get upset and then it shows from the performance to their other customers. But before a comment card is even filled out, we feel that we already know the customers views of us. I have been had a bad performance due to how I thought the customers viewed me. However, I try to always have an â€Å"opening night† performance. My performance also dictates how my managers view me and how many hours I get to work. Managers only put on their best staff on the busiest days and give them the most hours. To work on Friday and Saturday night, I must always have my best performance and know what I am doing. If I came in slugging around and barely talking to my customers then I would be working a Wednesday night and have many four customers. When we get an appraisal it usually reflects what we were attempting to perform. The self†¦as a performed character, is†¦a dramatic effect arising diffusely from a scene that is presented, and the characteristic issue, the crucial concern, is whether it will be credited or discredited† (Damian Williams). Wait staff must fit the character part in order to fulfill the expectations of their role. Some people are more qualified for this role than others. People who are kitchen staff usually will not make a good server. I have noticed that it is hard for kitchen staff to control their feelings in front of others. It is important for servers to be able to keep their composure, especially with that unhappy customer. Since I was younger I always wondered what it would be like to be a waitress. I now know and even though it is not all the glory that I thought it would be, I still love my job very much. I get paid a measly $5 an hour, but my pay checks are not what are important to me. I love working with other people and feel that I need to excel in each role I have. Waitressing is not the only role that I carry out in life. My biggest roles are a Christian, daughter, sister, granddaughter, God Mother, aunt, student, and friend. I partake in these roles each and every day. These roles are something that I cannot get rid of. They are a part of me and make me who I am. Also, the people who help to make my roles possible are the most important people in my life. Being a student could have been over with last May, but it is one role that I felt I was not completely done with. Since I made that decision, I will be a student for many more years to come. Roles shape a person. They become another â€Å"looking glass† for us. When we look at our roles, we need to look at the people who have helped make these roles possible for us. We should also be thankful that we are able to perform the roles we are given. Not everyone has the same opportunities as us. Since my role consists of serving customers, working with other wait staff, cooperating with the kitchen staff, and fulfilling my mangers expectations, I can use the skill I have learned for future roles in my life. Although it may sound scripted when I introduce myself, I am being me and hoping the customer feels comfortable with me at their service.