Good Morning Everyone,
When you start something, no matter how trivial it may seem, you never know what the outcome might be.
Todays story:
...
Not on the Menu
I travel a lot in my work, and one of the things I dislike
about this part of my job is eating alone. It always makes me
feel lonely to see others laughing and talking, and sometimes I
have the uncomfortable feeling that I look like I am waiting to
be "picked up" by someone. So, I usually order room service for
several nights to avoid that discomfort. However, sooner or
later, I feel a need to get out of my room. My strategy is to go
down to the hotel restaurant the moment it opens, as it is not
very crowded then and I don't feel as uncomfortable.
After having room service three nights in a row at a Wyndham
Hotel in Houston, I needed to get out.. Although the restaurant
opened at 6:30, I arrived at 6:25. The maitre d' met me at the
front and made a comment about my "really being there early." I
explained my dislike of eating alone in restaurants. He then took
me back and seated me at a lovely table. "You know," he said, "I
am all caught up with my work, and people don't usually start
coming to our restaurant until after seven o'clock. I wondered if
you'd mind if I sat down with you for a while."
I was delighted! He sat and talked with me about his career
goals, his hobbies, the challenges of balancing a restaurant
career with a family, and the difficulty of being at work on
nights, weekends and holidays. He showed me pictures of his
children and his wife - even his dog! After about 15 minutes, he
spotted some customers at the front desk and excused himself. I
noticed out of the corner of my eye that before he went to the
front, he stopped in the kitchen for a moment.
As my new friend proceeded to seat the arriving party, one
of the waiters came out of the kitchen and over to my table. "My
station is way in the back tonight, and I'm sure no one will be
seated there for a while," he said. "I'm not really busy. Do you
mind if I sit down with you for a while?" We had a wonderful
chat, until someone was seated in his station and he needed to
excuse himself.
Soon after, out came one of the young busboys. He, too,
asked if he could sit down with me for a few minutes. He hardly
spoke any English, but I had taught English as a second language,
so we had great fun talking about his experiences in coming to
America. He shared with me all the expressions they had taught
him in the kitchen when he first arrived in this country (you can
imagine!). As the restaurant got busier, he finally excused
himself to attend to his work. But before I left that night, even
the chef had come out of the kitchen and sat with me!
When I asked for my check (about one and a half hours
later), there was an almost audible pause in the restaurant. All
the people who had sat down with me came over in a big group to
my table. They presented me with a long-stemmed red rose and
said, "This was the nicest night we've ever had in our
restaurant." And I cried! What had begun as a lonely night ended
as a beautiful experience - for both employees and customer.
By Barbara Glanz
Have a great day everyone!!
wb |
