I recently finished Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica and I must say he is an engaging writer. I am typically ahead of the curve in terms of being hip and cutting edge, but admittedly I purchased this book after the hype and let it sit on my bed side table for over a year before getting a chance to read it. Sorry Steve… I got sidetracked.
Let me preface this with the fact that I absolutely gobble up anything written by restaurant industry people and I don’t discriminate. If you are a chef, server, food writer… anyone talented… I love your stuff! unless of course you are the dreaded food network type personality that I can’t stand, I just can’t get into them.
Steve tells his stories with so much personality and description that I feel like I am watching him go through these situations in real-time. The chapter on Filth made me laugh til I cried. Steve tells the story about how a Grey american squirrel finds its way into the restuarant and the chaos that ensues. There comes a point where sometimes an event happens while working that causes you to lose all professionalism and say a string of stunned obsenities that you would never otherwise say in front of a guest. The story brought so many personal memories that it brought child-like laughter to my soul. For a week afterword the Grey american squirrel became a buzzword in my house and anytime those words were spoken, I would laugh just as uncontrollably as when I read the chapter for the first time.
The stories about how rude and crude the industry is are true for some establishments. I will gladly say that I have worked in restaurants all over the country that offer well maintained employee restrooms and there has never been an instance of guest food tampering that I know of. I would never work in a place that volatile. I can say that proudly because I have a left a couple of jobs because I did not care for the management and in restaurants there are always greener pastures… if you are patient and keep your eyes open.
The underlying theme of being a late 30’s waiter and striving for a career of passion, for Steve becoming a writer, is something that I can identify with and also that I cringe at. His candid emotion about not feeling confident or knowing if his writing was good enough to land a book deal are emotions that I yin and yang on all the time with my baking career. It’s totally acceptable in my eyes to be a server inching towards 40 as long as you are happy and making those around you happy. It’s okay to be in that place if you are still trying to “make it” or even if you are a dedicated career server. In my case I really hope I make it by then, but if not, there will still be a smile on my face.
I find it totally discouraging to be surrounded by people who are jaded by too many years of service with not enough breaks. Servers have the opportunity to make people happy. We impact their lives, become part of the family. It happens… if you are good enough and have the right attitude. Time and time again I am proven right that the people come to depend on their favorite waiters being at their favorite restaurants when they dine. Servers become part of the guests comfort zone. You know what they like to drink, what dishes are there favorite, food allergies, birthdays, jokes, personal tidbits, quirks and the list continues.
We see Steve play the hero in several stories, one minute he shows his charisma and humanity by helping a drunk woman gracefully exit the building and other times we see his childish aggression. I think that is typical of a server, however I do believe that people in every field face the same feelings of frustration and its important not to let them eat your insides or to allow yourself to do things that make others uncomfortable.
Steve had that difficult position of being the manager and the server, a place I don’t think I could handle. He faced situations like I faced at a recent job where you are at the top of the food chain and everyone below you is out for blood. People in this industry suffer from jealousy and lewd behavior and in the end I think it got to Steve. Trying to manage a shift that is about to implode while having servers purposely tell you.. “that’s not my job,” is a scene all too familiar. It’s the classic archetype of letting other people you don’t like in the restaurant drowned. They always want to take the easy way and never want to do anything extra. I see it every day. Servers do not want to take ownership. It made me crack once, just like Steve. I feel him when he talks about the putrid feeling and I feel him when he cries on his way out the door at the bistro. Its hard… really hard… especially when you wrap yourself around this thing called a restaurant and you put all your time and energy into it (even if it’s just to make rent so you can pursue your passion) and at the end of the day you know it ran better when you were there… but you were still the low man on the totem pole, the humble server everybody needs and nobody fully respects. It will run without you. You often wonder if you are bi-polar because of the mixed emotions that reminiscing can bring… yet I can’t stop wanting to live my life in a restaurant.
Thank you Steve for this wonderfully candid read. It was a pleasure and I hope that others get as much laughter and joy as I did.
jennyforum 