Work

Today I return to the world of the employed after a blissful three day weekend. I'm only five days into it, and I'm still technically in training, but I thought I'd share a little bit about my new job.

Me in my work outfit.

First of all, I was hired at a Mexican restaurant. We have 50 indoor tables that seat from two to six guests, a small patio with a handful of four-tops (tables that seat four people), and a bar with about a dozen seats. It's somewhat upscale, not expensive on its own but more than I'm used to paying for Mexican food. The entrees hover at the $12-$16 mark for dinner, though you could do it cheaper off the a la carte menu or just by ordering an appetizer for a meal.

The restaurant is owned and staffed in part by one family. I was counting family members who are employees and I know of eight members of staff who are related, though they're primarly the managers and supervisors. A lot of the kitchen staff speaks limited English, and all the servers speak fluent or very good English, so there's always someone available to help me interact with the Spanish speakers if I need it. 

Our guests are of course all over the map, but everyone I've served has been on a scale from okay to great. No one too insufferable has made it to my sections yet, though I'm sure my day will come.

My job is to greet the guest, serve them their drinks, answer any questions they might have about the menu, get their food orders to the kitchen, keep their drinks full, make sure they have what they need to enjoy their meal, clear plates that are no longer needed, and process their payment for the meal. We have food runners who bring out the guests' meals, bartenders who pour the beer, wine, and mixed drinks, and bussers who clear tables and bring guests chips and salsa. I also keep an eye on the server's station from which I'm working and restock cups, ice, and tea if needed. At the end of my shift, I thoroughly wipe down my tables and chairs (and booths and benches), fill the salt, pepper, and sugars, sweep, and roll silverware.

When my sidework is done, I print out my server report and calculate 3% of my total food sales and 6% of my total alcohol sales and pay that amount out of my tips earned to the bussers and bartenders respectively. I have whatever server is closing the restaurant look over my section to make sure I've done everything I need to, have them sign my server report, then get the cash for whatever tips I made on credit cards. This is also the time to declare cash tips, something I understand is generally wildly under-reported by servers. Then I clock out and get my employee meal if I'm getting one that day.

Then I go home and roll around in stacks of one dollar bills.