AUDIO CLIPS
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Sammi, age 58, is quick, witty, intelligent and an excellent waitress. She has 3 discs disintegrating in her spine, but you would never know it. She's not a complainer.
...first waitressing job...
I was born and raised outside of Trenton, New Jersey. I started right out of high school when I was just about 18 years old, working in a diner right around the corner to help pay for school. It was the Peter Pan Diner, across the street from the Trenton State Fairgrounds and my first boss was Margie. I'll never forget her until the day I die. Teased blonde hair, very, very, very, very blonde, my color probably, but teased. She wore this "oh, my goodness," hair. She could move and she had to be in her 50's. She owned the place and she would fly around everyone.
...on work ethics...
Don't say "It's not my job." It's like hearing fingernails
on a blackboard. Oh my God. I go crazy. I tell them,
"You work here. It's all your job! Don't walk by a table
with a dirty dish. Pick it up. It's not going to hurt
you."
...on money...
Waitressing is rough. When I started about 40 years
ago, I was making 45 cents an hour. But it's a shame
that we have not had a raise in New Jersey in 13 years.
We made $2.13 an hour almost 13 years ago and we have
not had a raise, since. The state of New Jersey just
raised the minimum wage and we got nothing. What's it
going to take for a waitress to get $2.25?
...on diner work...
It's fast money. I like diner work better than fine dining. I can do the fine dining, I can make the pink scrolls and I can serve you a $1500 dollar bottle of wine and never make a faux pas. I know proper service, I just don't like it. People who are paying $200 or $300 a meal seem to think that you owe them your life. I tell people I don't care if your bill was $2 or $2000, everybody should be treated the same way with the same respect, the same courtesy, the same finesse. Everyone. |
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