The first person you see when you walk into a restaurant is me. The girl with the pretty smile who is willing to seat you. She is simple, yet stylish. Soft spoken, but inviting. What a warm welcome, right?
WRONG.
This woman is not different from any other person in the restaurant. It all comes with the job. As inviting as her short dress and high heels may be to your burning need to eat at a seemingly classy restaurant, your business is her meal ticket. Literally. If there are enough people like you to walk through that door that she can get to a table, she gets to stay the entire night making her $10/hr wage plus the free meal her employer owes her for not taking a lunch break or going home early. Believe it? Of course not. I can guarantee you that it's true. All of it.
With that said, Welcome. Even though it may seem like I'm putting all of the restuarant business's dirty laundry on the table, I think that it's pretty fuckin' generous of me to do this for you. You folks pay a pretty penny just to show others that you can wine and dine as often as you please. As much as I hate this industry, I love it. Faking people out and making them feel like I genuinely care is my specialty. Same goes for everyone else I work with. The more we smile and kiss your ass, the more likely you're going to leave me that 15%+ tip on the table. Thanks, I appreciate it. If I'm lucky, one night of serving will allow me to go pay my phone bill. Too bad I'm only scheduled to work a few nights of the week.
My name is Jenny. Well, not my real name. It's my alias and I feel like it's an appropriate name because every restaurant has to have at least one...Jen, Jenny, or Jennifer. Swear to you. Next time you go to a swanky restaurant, ask your server if there's a 'Jen' that works there. It's likely that they'll say something along the lines of, "Oh, yeah. She used to work here" or "She's off tonight. I can tell her you were in".
One of the restaurants I worked at had two Jenny's. One of which was a model/actress who had pretty much won every beauty pageant the Bay Area had to offer. Then, she left for LA to pursue her acting career. What a surprise, right? The restaurant industry in LA is saturated with actors and actresses. I just wonder if any of them actually make it as 1) an actor or actress, or 2) out of the restaurant industry.
Back to me, damn it. I've been in the restaurant industry for about three years now. Over the past three years I managed to snag myself four jobs at reputable restaurants about the Bay Area: San Francisco, San Jose, Mountain View and Santa Clara. All of which I enjoy/enjoyed, but there are some real horrors that come along with this business. It's lucrative and people will do what they can to make a customer feel worth it. Even though my experience is still minimal, I think I have a great perspective on what the general restaurant looks like.
So, I'm going to write about the things that I can recollect over the years as well as my current experiences with my employer. This industry is a great one, but it's also like signing your life away to the devil. Everyone wants and needs to eat. Except, when you're the one catering to their needs, you feel like you're being eaten alive.
Sit back, relax and have a drink or two...or three. When you're done, I'd appreciate if you left a generous tip. Like, really. I have to make rent this month.
Bon Appetite!
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