My first job strugle

             I was a junior in high school at Warren Harding  and I needed to get a job to cover my own expenses such us phone and clothes,and I also wanted to buy a car. My father always told me " If you want something, work for it"

 Warren Harding High School Bridgeport,Connecticut

After two month of looking for a job and not finding it anything, one of my friends who had been working at a restaurant told me that they were hiring.The restaurant name's is Splash that is located at Westport,Connecticut. I went to the restaurant and I was interviewed by the manager.

 Splash Restaurant Westport,Connecticut

I was nervous at the interview but the manager was really nice; therefore, I felt comfortable. Even tough my English wasn't good i believe I did good on that interview. Language was an issue because I had only been here for 1 year. My English speaking skills were not that good. The manager told me that they had three position available food runner,bus boy and bar back. I chose the food runner position. The food runner is the person who gets the food from the kitchen to the customer as quickly as possible.They called me a week after and I started working.I was given training for 3 days.I thought the job wasn't gonna be hard but I was wrong.I had to memorize the tables numbers which was hard because it was a big restaurant with 50 tables.It was a big restaurant divided in 5 areas front deck, front room, side deck, main dining room and patio bar .The place was busy most of the time. The runner is responsible for getting and taking the food on time.I had  to be fast and carry 3 to 4 plates and heavy trays.Sometimes I had to be runner and expeditor at the same time. Food expeditors communicate orders and information between the front of house and back of house, making sure that the food is cooked in the right order, quickly, and presented to the customer as beautifully as possible. Expeditors make sure the orders are being cooked in a timely fashion, so that all orders for a table are ready at the same time and make sure that once the food is cooked, servers run food to the table while it's warm and ready. They explain special orders to the cooks.I had to make sure that the food comes the way the costumer asked for it.
It was not an easy job and I made some mistakes in order to learn it; for example,I broke some wine glasses and plates, and I gave the wrong orders to some customers. I remember once that I spilled a drink over a costumer. I was expecting her to be mad or yell at me, but she was nice about it. I apologized and she let it go. Some costumers are patient and nice , but there are also some others that  get upset if you make those kinds of mistakes .One time one of my friends ,who was a waiter, made the same mistake and the lady got upset and yelled at him .She  almost made him cry .She asked to see the manager and made a big deal about it .The manager had to give her a discount and free desserts. My friend was embarrassed and felt bad about it. After some mistakes you get the handle of it and you don't make those mistakes any more. In the restaurant business you deal with many people such as angry,drunk and picky costumers but there are also pleasant and nice customers. I also had the  privilege to see the happiness of people who got married because many people got married in front of the restaurant. I got to see many kind of weddings such as gay weddings, different religion weddings and theme weddings;  however, not everything I saw was happy moments. I also happened to see some shocking moments. I remember once on mothers day that one of the costumer, a lady in her fifties was having dinner with her family to celebrate her day. She was with her husband and two children. I saw the lady with her head down on the table and her daughter was telling her dad that it was her fault . I thought the lady was crying because she had quarreled  with her daughter however the lady fell on the floor, ask for help and started to convulsed .Everybody was in shock the restaurant was full and all of the costumers open up to give her  some space, so she could breath. Her family was crying .They call 911 they said that the ambulance it will be there in 15 minutes meanwhile her kids were asking  everybody to help her mother.They dint want her mom to die .Her daughter was blaming  herself.Luckily one of the costumers a head nurse. She told some people to calm down the kids while she went to the lady and hugged her and make her throw up.The lady gained consciousness and started feeling better .Her kids thanked  the nurse and everybody there clapped because she saved the lady life.The ambulance arrived and took the lady to the hospital and fortunately she was alright.After wards, I found out That the lady was allergic to seafood bu her daughter order a lobster and ask her mom to try a bit and that;s why she was blaming her self.



 Another issue was the location. I live in Bridgeport and the restaurant was located on Westport. I didn't drive so most of the time I had to get a ride from a friend or took the train. The paid was good and I saved a lot of money; however, the job was seasonal. The restaurant has a seaview that you can enjoy on summer time. On  winter, business slows down, so only employees who had worked there for a long time stay.
To conclude this job help me to get experience, to met new people and a make some good friends that I still keep in touch with,and I also improved my English because most of the people who worked there spoke English and I had to communicate with them .

 

Splash restaurant view, Long Island Sound