They called! And they said, come at 6:30 on Friday and wear black. Those could have been the instructions for a number of things - backstage tech crew, secret service, or attendants at a funeral. But it wasn't any of those things. It was, in fact, the time and date of my running with the gauntlet, trial by bulls or running through the fire… rather, well, you understand. There I was, a shaking in my borrowed black flats, since the only black shoes I packed were heels. Nevermind the shaking, I walked in, said my hellos to D and M and then we were touring. Kitchen. Table log. Napkins, menus, cutlery. They handed me a pad of paper and a pen, and that was the end of my training.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, they sent me off to table whatevernumberitwas and said, can you take their drink orders? No wasn't exactly a good option, so I went with yes and tried to remember everything I'd ever heard a waitress say in all my years of eating out. Yep, I used everything from "Hi, welcome to…" to "How's everything going over here, folks" to "Can I get that out of your way". To put credit where it's due, D and M and later, C were fabulous. They were kind, patient, and made sure I knew what I was doing and where to be when. I'm looking forward to working for them.
I was taking orders, putting them in the computer, making lattes, and taking hot plates out to tables. Tables in the 20s are the counter (the "bench"), 30s are outside, and everything else is inside. All the lattes we make are skinny, whether you order them that way or not. And the security guard's Yugoslavian, and he's been to America. It was a good night.
Funny things about Mexican restaurants in Australia - they don't give you to-go boxes if you have leftovers, you only get one pequenito bowl of chips and people point to things on the menu when they order because they have no idea how to pronounce "quesadilla". Yep, I'm far from home.
Towards the end, I asked M how I was doing and when I'd find out if I got the job. She said I was doing fine and D would probably hire me tonight. And he did. And my first shift is Sunday at 5:30. And I've got to scrounge up some more black. My closet has a lot more tangerine, teal, salmon, and cornflower blue than black...
Sometimes you just have to pray, God, please just work it out, and help me to do my best with whatever that is. Tonight, He answered with, Here's a job. Go show people how people who follow Me clean tables, do customer service and apologize when you bring them the wrong thing.
Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father,
LMS
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