Waitress. Taking orders, serving people. Yep, sounds simple. And that was what I thought before I started this job. I didn't know I had to usher, order, serve, clean and do whatever shit anyone else asks you to do. No I don't hate it I pretty much like it actually xD
Usually the cafe is pretty busy around peak hours, which are meal times and you just have to churn at 100 km/h. Absolutely no time to stop. You take an order here, there another customer is demanding why his croquettes aren't on the table yet. Meanwhile the sushi bar in front is ringing the bell indicating an order is ready. Suddenly customers stand up and you have to rush to clear away everything so that the table is ready for the next table in the shortest time frame possible. So multitasking is pretty important. And at this hour you really really hope someone gives you random shit to do, like refilling the sauce, peeling prawns, washing the cups, drying the cutlery etc.
And there are the times when the cafe is absolutely nice peaceful and, well it's not empty but, less people in there. At this time you'll want to look busy so no one asks you to do random shit and you can't enjoy that tranquility. So you pick up a pitcher of water and pretend to walk around asking anyone if they'd like a refill. Or else you hide behind the sink and wash the cups or dry the cutlery, just so you don't stand out enough and provide an easy target for anyone needing help to do anything else or just plain get blamed for slacking on the job.
And the drinks bar... You never want to get stuck there... Because once you go in and shit gets real, there is no way you're ever going to make it out of there... At peak hours there'll be endless cups to wash and endless drinks to make... No, you'll never make it out of there until the crowd dies down...
Well that's just what I feel... So doing random shit instead of serving qqgg customers are my preference... Because... They're just plain qqgg people out there... It really is an eye-opener.
Some people I have met throughout my time here.
1. The indecisive guy
Says he's ready to order, then lets you wait 1238109 minutes as he tries to make a decision, or else banter with his partner/s about what he/she/it/I/you/we/they should get. Well don't mind these people when it's quiet. But when it's busy and you have a thousand shits on your mind about which table you haven't served or cleared or anything else, all you feel like doing is pulling all your hair out, scream and run around in circles...
2. The inquisitive guy
Ponders over the menu, then looks at you and asks: "What do you recommend?" There was once customers asked me over the cooking method of beef I'd recommend... I don't even eat beef, and the closest meat to that I eat is mutton, which... I don't even use those cooking methods... And worst of all I'd never tried anything on the menu before... Besides the takoyaki. Yea. So I had to once again put on my best Oscar-winning-face-of-a-smarty-pants and summon all I have learnt from random cooking shows I watch on TV. "Oh if you stew beef wrongly it could possibly go quite tough, so I'd recommend you order the barbecued ones instead?"
Bullshit I don't even know if it's true or not... And they actually went for BBQ beef... I stayed well away from that table after order that night...
3. The interrogator
Occasionally there will be friendly, usually middle-aged or elderly people who will walk in and ask about you, where you're from, where you're studying, where you stay,
4. The couples
Oh yeah... Them... I look at them, and pretend not to see what they're doing... And what I see cannot be unseen... Especially when serving food it gets all awkward because when you want to put the food on the table they'd have their hands linked across the table looking so lovingly into each others' eyes. And here you come to tear them apart... (Sinister music plays, here comes the light-bulb...)
5. The small eater
Regretfully I fall into this category... xD Well I don't mind you asking about portions but ordering 3 slices of sashimi... Oh fine well I don't mind perhaps but it makes it quite hard for us to enter order... We have to do the math ourselves. Divide and times the price all over again so... Maybe I'll try not to do that anymore and just grab someone out to share. Sorry to all the waiters and waitresses who once felt like kicking me xD
6. The picky eaters
No onions, switching a sauce with another sauce, sushi set omit all the big rolls only small rolls wanted, handrolls and inari set omit inari make it all handrolls, orders ramen but only for the soup not the ramen... And the list goes on and on... Well this category is much better than the next category. At least you go only for what you want and you don't throw stuff away afterwards.
7. The first-world-citizen-who-does-not-know-the-value-of-food
This applies to pretty much most of the customers here. I understand that the portions here are massive, but you could at least be picky or ask for a takeaway box? What beats me is that every time I go to clear their dishes they say: "Thank you, it was really good. My compliments to the chef."
OK my rant is over :p
And just to be random, I'll just briefly talk about the media system in the place. It's a Japanese cafe, yet the songs on the system are 90% English. 2 Korean songs, no Japanese... Everyday I have been listening to the same music over and over again that I know which song is going to come after which. The 2 Korean songs on the track are BAP's Crash and of course, Gangnam Style, which I wonder why until now no one has started dancing randomly while serving... Because I certainly have seen customers start dancing randomly in their seats... Oh WTF we pride ourselves in having an immense amount of self-control
MmKBai :)
