Theme Fifteen: Journal

Journal Entry 1:
Saturday December 5, 2004
Today is my day off and I have spent most of it in bed. Sleeping is my favorite hobbies, aside from art.. Tomorrow I have to work a double. Working at a Chinese restaurant really isn’t that bad and we get a good amount of business. Besides, I should be grateful that I have a job, there are very few places open in the winter good ol’ Baah Hahbah. I should also be grateful that I wait tables. Making cash for a living and receiving instant gratification is a positive reinforcement. It is tough with everything still being new to me, and it is different severing locals, than serving tourists.
Well my brain doesn’t really feel like working anymore this evening, so good night. 10:45 pm.

J.E. 2:
Sunday December 6, 2004
I have returned from work and begun cooking dinner for two. I am really getting tired of these doubles, in spite of their short durations. This past summer when I worked doubles they were 15 hour days and maybe an hour break, if I was lucky. At this restaurant, the hours vary, but average 6-8 hours. I know, I know, that isn’t bad. But I work the beginning of the week 10:30 to around 2. Fridays and Sundays, I work the morning and return in the evenings. We have the buffet Friday night and Sunday morning, so two of my shifts consist of bussing tables and running drinks. I have Saturdays off, and Mondays off. Yeah, now that it is all laid out in front of me, it looks like a easy schedule. Well I would rather lump the doubles together and lump the days off together.
Additionally, I am going through the adjustment period. I keep comparing everything to Acadia, because that is the routine that I spent the entire summer and fall doing. So now working in another restaurant down the street, I am indecisive about how things are. Should I stay, or should I go?
It is nice that there are only two servers, a Russian girl named Yulia and myself. But the only time we work together in on Friday night buffet. This way it gives us the opportunity to make the most money, (depending on business.) Yulia has been there for two years, so she knows everything, and works very quickly.
Me on the other hand, everything is different, the plates are awkward, I don’t know the 23 categorized, seven paged menu. My manager and three members of her family work at the restaurant, they are from China, so they obviously are familiar with the menu. Although neither of the cooks speak much English. So that makes me the only American. When I am there during the day, I listen to Chinese music, and my co-worker converse, but I don’t understand, obviously. So I don’t really pay attention, sometimes I will hear tones, sounds that catch my attention. And with May, (manager) I can read her reactions, and gestures. But her husband has very little expression, and a lot of the time her doesn’t even look at me when I call in an order. I bend down on the counter and look through the bottom half of the window to make eye contact. But he just stands there staring up at the security monitor, like it is a football game. So it is an awkward place to be, let alone all the other unfamiliarity’s. Well that is all that I have to say about work. I have just spent a majority of the day working, and I am not going spend the entire evening talking about it. Good Night. 11:16.

J.E. 3:
Tuesday December 7, 2004
Being a night owl, ten a.m. comes early for me, especially when my bed time is between 2 and 4 a.m. I think that one of my most dreaded activities is getting out of bed when the house is cold. But I fight it, and do it every morning. I dress myself in black pants, sneakers and apron, a white V-neck top, with a colored shirt underneath; to bring some originality to the uniform.
I walk down the steps, shivering and cursing at the cold air, and gray skies. I drive a half a block and park opposite of the restaurant. I wait to cross the street as a school bus filled with kids passes by. I step into the road just in time catch the after wind of the bus, I pull my jacket closer to me. I walk into the restaurant, directly to the kitchen and clock in. I continue through the kitchen and around to the steps and fight to take off my coat, even the kitchen is cold. I walk into the dinning room and it is freezing, I feel a draft. I peak into the buffet room; someone opened the fucking window all the way! I closed it. With hands like icicles, I grab the blue bucket, fill it with ice, distribute it to the bar, soda machine, and water pictures. Oh have I mentioned that there is nothing more that I hate, than being cold! If my hands or feet are cold, I am done for. Fortunately, at this restaurant, we wash the tables before and after each shift, (Chinese food can be greasy, and sticky.) I grab two pink bowls, put one in each side of the sink in the server station and crank the hot water. I add some soap and watch the suds form, then submerge both hands into the steaming water. I go through the restaurant placing duck sauce containers on the tables, and wash them down and setting table three. (That is where the family eats dinner at night.)
We open at 11, not wanting to be there, and not wanting to be so cold, I go and my jacket. I have one of those L.L. Bean two in one jackets. I unzip the fleece liner and put it on, and go stand by the heater and flip my hands trying to warm them. I watch out the window for customers to arrive, it is snowing. I didn’t see as many of my regular customers today. But I saw some familiar faces, this one particular couple, my last couple of the day. I chatted with them about how they eat rice with chop sticks. The chop sticks are merely an extension of your fingers, and used kind of like a shovel. The gentlemen demonstrated for me, and to my surprise, I have been using them correctly. Then he picked up individual pieces of rice with the chop sticks. “Show off.” I said to him. We talked a bit about a whether, and how I hate being cold. The man agreed with me.
I stepped away and finished up my side work. Just as they were leaving, the man said that he left his fortune for me, and that it spoke to the both of us. They left, and I walked up to the table. I looked down at the check with the money on it, and under a nickel read fortune: “The whether is wonderful.” I chuckled and looked out the large window, the man and his wife were standing there, which made me laugh loudly and I smiled through the window.
4:31 pm.

J.E.4
December 8, 2004
I stayed up too late last night and went to work groggy. Fortunately, the weather wasn’t as cold and shitty this morning, so leaving my house wasn’t as shocking.
We weren’t that busy, but I saw a few of those familiar faces again. I never introduced myself to any of these people when I started, so now it seems a little awkward. I actually said to one couple today, “Hello familiar faces.”
I am catching on and working a little more quickly.
Yulia works across the street at the pet supply store and came over to ask me if I would work for her tonight. I said that I didn’t want to, but I would. She was no feeling well and was going to go home to get into bed. Business wasn’t bad today. I was able to take mostly every table. It is a 14 table section, (but not packed.) May takes tables when I am bombarded. Waiting tables isn’t that difficult, but when you work lunch and most people in town have lunch at the same time, they all come in together.
At 1:30, I clocked out and went home for a few hours, then returned for the evening shift. It was slow at first, I had two tables. At six May informed me that we were having a private party in the banquet room….35 people from the bank, they would be here at six thirty. Luckily, when large parties request the banquet room, they are offered a private buffet. The bank gladly took the offer. May’s brother, Kam came in to help me. We split the room into halves; we each had a long table and a round table. All we had to do was run drinks (in addition to water), clear plates and get the extra things that particular customers request; oh and bill ‘em. We each made out with a $ 46.00 tip. When I counted it, all I could think of was, Thank You Yulia! Out of all the shifts… The whole evening was ironic. When I first arrived, I began my side duties, filling the bar and soda station with ice. A young man sat at the bar and recognized me, happened to be an acquaintance of my boyfriend’s. I only had one new table the entire time the bankers were consuming (So I wasn’t bombarded with tasks). To boot, my second to last table of the night left me a $1.61 off of a $ 28.36 bill; and my last table of the night, left me a $15.00 dollar tip off of a $26.00 bill. Figure that one out.
It was really a strange night, and a longer day then I am used to, lately. Well I have to get up and work in the morning. My head misses the pillow.
11:56pm

J.E.5
December 9, 2004
Today sucked. I woke up tired, late and rushed. I wore the same wrinkled white shirt to work for the third day in a row. The soda machine takes turns spontaneously between spraying out soda and foam. Well I wore spots of orange soda spatter across my chest for the day. I had two customers for the hour of eleven, when one table left, I cleaned it up. My remaining customers asked me where everybody was. Well people show up around noon, and when they do they show up all together.
Not even 10 minuets later, there they all came. I didn’t see my regular customers. The people that came in knew just as much about Chinese food as I do. When you don’t know the men, all other problems stem from that! I was miserable. May had a lot of take out orders, so she couldn’t answer questions, or help me. I ran around to my six top, and they all wanted separate checks. Well we have carbon orders slips, and we keep them in books. So I had to ripe out six slips and mark each as to who it belongs to. Example: closest person to my left is labeled L1, so on and so forth. It is just too many people to handle. The same fucking thing happened at Acadia, but I could at least identify my plates, and describe food to them. I have to split the orders from fry to wok side, which mean identify each order and rewrite to order split…which defeats the carbon slip. Why do I always pick the properties that have the most difficult systems?
I have been waiting tables for six months consecutively. Between two different restaurants, I also hosted at another restaurant, on top of school and house work. This job is just putting me over the edge. It is so stressful, and my service reflects my tips, which is To Insure Proper Service, and my income; not my $ 3.13 an hour.
I think sometimes people leave me good tips in a rush, not because I provided them with speed and accuracy, but they felt bad that I was so spread out. Those customers of the eleventh hour left me a seven dollar tip, after they waited for who know how long for me to give them their bill.
I want to be good at this. I am cute and friendly, and polite. I am conscientious, sanitary, and want to make their restaurants experience enjoyable. There is nothing worse than angry, hungry customers.
I don’t know if I should stay and learn each item and master the Chinese menu, or if I should just find another restaurant that severs food I am accustom to. That right there is what has made these past five weeks, less productive. Do you know what moo shu gia pan is, what it looks like, or what it is served with? Me either. Well, my tummy is growling, I must go. 4:41pm