sooo this is the start of my bloggggg. I sort of feel weird starting a blog because i don't think anyone will read it, but people keep telling me i'm a good writer, and maybe this will help me improve some more. so i'm gunna get right into and talk about whats going on in my life and such. so this is a loooong post just to fill everyone in, im sorry its so damn long!
in case you haven't met me or something, i am passionate about almost everything that i do. its sort of my thing. ive been obsessed with photography since i was about five or six and iv'e been obsessed with cooking since i was three. i just recently got into sculpture(clays my fave) and studio arts(mostly charcoal and acrylics). i started living a vegetarian lifestyle about four years ago, and then i made the switch to veganism in march of 2008. i still love cooking, i just like making things animal free.
which leads me into my job. i just started working as a waitress at SuTao. it's a vegan chinese buffet. and you would think itd be a calm place most of the time (which whenever i used to go to eat there, it was), but when you work there, its like 200 things to do at once and its like rush hour. im sure ill love it once i get the hang of it, but yesterday was horrible.
on my first day, lee(who barely speaks english, hopefully ill pick up chinese) put all of the job responsibilities on me at once, so this had me running around like a chicken with its head cut off. this is what im supposed to do in its entirety once im done "training"(aka tomorrow lee is leaving early so ill be there waitressing there all by myself):
once somebody enters i am supposed to say
"hello how are you?"
(wait for answer)
"thats excellent/ sucks, how many?"
(wait for answer)
then im supposed to seat them, and ask them if they want a menu, if yes i get one, if no, i fill their water(which is harder than it looks because there are a couple pitchers that you have to pour sideways and it honestly ruins my day because sometimes theres too much ice and ill spill it everywhere. awkward) then if theyre eating a buffet i am supposed to take their plates (when they finish one plate they're supposed to get another. btw, if you're one of those assholes who puts their plate on the side of the table closest to the wall, please imagine me burning a hole in your scull with my lasers) back to the kitchen so that one lady whose name i don't know yet can clean them. but before that i'm supposed to smack the food thats been left on the plate into the trash can. (those who aren't members of the clean plate club need to man up, its good food. recognize that and eat it all) and theres a specific order for where the dirty dishes go. utensils go in the tub on the floor, cups in the tub next to it, plates in the bin on the counter, glasses in a funny carton thing. then i have to be sure everyone has atleast half of their water. and i will have to take orders from people not doing the buffet, but i havent done that yet. after theyre done, ill have to print out the bill and give it to them. i have yet to figure out the cash register.
i learned this only after my shift yesterday, but im not supposed to clean while the people are still there. a lady yelled at me. it was scary. ill talk more about this devil woman in a minute.
back to what i was saying...
when i have to clean up, i have to carry four glasses at once in each hand, and if you dont drink most of your water that i have to pour you, i have to stick my hands in your icky water. its cold because lee puts alot of ice in the pitchers. this is something i will change once lee gets off my back and lets me do my job the way its supposed to be done. after taking the rest of the dishes back, i have to get the placemat things and throw them out then wipe the table. lee got mad at me for having the wrong technique with wiping the damn table. up and down, not left to right. wax on wax off. for christ's sake! then i have to reset the table for the next people coming in.
along with this, once the dishes are clean, i have to put them back on the buffet counter. with my poor weak arms and clumsy body, im nervous as hell about it.
so those are all of the responsibilities basically.
now on to the people of sutao.
my coworkers, and the customers.
susan. she is one of the owners of sutao and she speaks the most english of the place. mah boss
lee. hes the main waitor there and he trained me yesterday. barely speaks english. he said the word "bowl" literally 200 times before i got it.
the dish washer/ one of the preps. shes about a foot shorter than me and shes about 20 years older, but i think shes cute.
thats the only people i know so far. lee was getting on my nerves at the end of the night, but thats ok.
the customers:
-my firstees. two girls, i thought they were jerks initially, but then one left me a note saying good luck, which i thought was sweet, so now i look back and think theyre adorable.
-then there were two people who i thought looked familiar, and i could tell they were first timers at sutao cause i got the "is this legit everything vegan?" and i said "yeah but i think theres honey in the granola on the dessert table" so they said that made their day. and they asked for vanilla soy icecream, so i was like yeeeah. they got super cute icecream glasses that i need to buy for my future apartment. they were my number one favourite customers of that night. i wish more people were awesome like them.
- the lone soldier. he came in all by himself and i thought he was with the party in the back. i felt mean, like "you all by youself at sutao. loser" when i had no problem with him. he was friendly.
-the super cute tattooed girls. nuff said. two girls came in, they were super cute. and covered in beautiful ink.
-the party people. a whole family of vegetarians, and it was the brother in law of the guy i talked to's birthday. 12 people, bunch of kids. they spilled lomein alll over the floor
-old enough to be married but not couple. they drank wine (found out we serve it) and talked about god knows, sat next to eachother instead of across. weird?
-couple with a kid # 1. really cute kid didnt start to cry, they asked for a knife.
-couple with a kid #2. the guy had a beard, the kid started crying, and when i suggested the peach pie he said in a jack black voice "im not really a fan of the peach pie"... what a douche. bashin on the best pie in the world...
- large teen couple. the large boy was wearing a kilt that went down to his ankles. i didnt notice the girl except for her hair because i was distracted by the kilt. i mean A KILT! it was awesome but awkward.
- super nice man but really mean lady couple. i wade the mistake of trying to fill the womans glass of water too often, she got mad. i made the mistake of cleaning the table before the left, she got mad. i fear this woman.
-two old ladies. i liked them but i didnt say much. they were in conversation
-chinese business men eating their dinner and such. i liked them but i didnt like that the tea thing was so weird. lee like tied it on to the mug. or they did...
- second lone soldier. looked like someone i know, conversed a little. i liked him.
- 3 women speaking chinese. susan talked to them for a while and placed their orders. i liked them. and the girl spoke english. she was sweet.
so this was the end of my first blog basically! wasnt that exciting!? i promise it wont be this lame next time!