come party it up on my yacht!

looks like everyone in town has come out of hibernation and now wants to grab a drink or a bite to eat at my restaurant. the money has been good. and I mean real good…like i was walking to my parked ford focus with nearly three hundred dollars in my pocket last friday. yet i still came into work last night with low expectations since it was, afterall, a monday night in the restaurant biz (arguably the worst night of the week). little did i know that i would barely have enough time to write down our dinner specials before having to greet my first group. i still have no idea what our soup of the day was (and neither did any of my customers).

so there i was, thrust into my very first shift manning the cocktail section. i had always viewed the cocktail section with 49% envy and 51% fear. envy because you can make bank in this section. fear because the kind of atmosphere that slowly develops in a cocktail section is the same kind that waitstaff hate: disorderly conduct. parties arrive and leave in fragments. hands shoot up for another lager, another citronade, a few more menus, a round of shots. your trusty roadmap for navigating the various clumps of customers eventually becomes useless because the lanes get cluttered with people and they start acting like kings engaged in fierce imperialistic tactics...pulling chairs and tables together to expand their empires. they are all just trying to claim the best real estate, and all i'm trying to do is work through the mess. you have to try and memorize each face and where they originated from because when you return with their rum and coke there is an excellent chance they won’t be there. serving cocktail is just so incredibly different from serving inside where everything is orderly, geometric, and scripted…where people are properly seated and don’t leave that seat unless to use the restroom. but there is always the flipside, isn’t there? and in this case it’s rather interesting because the general chaotic atmosphere that thrives in cocktail actually creates a down-to-earth, casual vibe that can be very beneficial when dealing with people. a little of that stiffness and formality that comes with wearing a button-up collared shirt and a tie is shed. customers are really there to relax with friends under the carolina sun…so they don’t get so pissy when you forget a thing or two. or three.

thank god for the supportive staff though because honestly i wouldn’t be even a half-decent waitress without them. from the kitchen guys to the bartenders, these people have been so incredible to me. i wish i could just surprise them all by saying, “hey, this whole waitressing thing? it was a test! a test of your integrity and teamwork as a business. i’m actually a millionaire! come party it up with me on my yacht!” why do i play out these scenarios in my head? damn, that would be amazing though…i wish i could afford some grand gesture like that. maybe someday. but for now, i'm just trying to decide between baking a confetti cake or hiding candy-filled plastic eggs around the restaurant for everyone to find on easter sunday.