If you google "waitress," your first two hits describe the 2007 film, "Waitress," starring Keri Russel.
IMDB posted a brief plot summary of the film:
"Jenna is a pregnant, unhappily married waitress in the deep south. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness."
Damn. I thought my life was lousy. While I'm (fortunately) not pregnant or unhappily married, I am a waitress, so I suppose I can relate. Will I meet a newcomer in my town and fall into an unlikely relationship? Unlikely. Is this my last attempt at (job-related) happiness? Yes. I suppose it is.
The next hit on googling "waitress" came up with Wikipedia's page on "Waiting staff." Jackpot. This is the kind of research I went to college for- true investigative journalism.
Bold indicates what is on Wikipedia. Italic indicates my thoughts about it.
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Waiting staff
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Waiting staff, wait staff, or waitstaff are those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers — supplying them with food and drink as requested. Got it. Traditionally, a male waiting tables is called a "waiter" and a female a "waitress" with the gender-neutral version being a "server." Sounds good. Other gender-neutral versions include using "waiter" indiscriminately for males and females, "waitperson", or the little-used Americanism "waitron", which was coined in the 1980s. Waitron? Wtf.
Waiting on tables is (along with nursing and teaching) part of the service sector, and among the most common occupations in the United States. At least nursing and teaching require a degree... The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that, as of May 2008, there were over 2.2 million persons employed as servers in the U.S.
(actual photo on Wikipedia's "Waiting staff" page)
Many servers are required by their employers to wear a uniform. I hope mine doesn't look like that.
On second thought, I kinda hope it does...
The duties of waiting staff include preparing tables for a meal, taking customers' orders, serving drinks and food, and cleaning up before, after and during servings in a restaurant. Silver service staff are specially trained to serve at banquets or high-end restaurants. I work at a bar and grill... They follow specific rules of service and it is a skilled job. Apparently mine is the unskilled kind. They generally wear black and white with a long, white apron.
See also
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Bikini barista? I followed Wikipedia's second "See also" link for further research. Results, while interesting, proved unhelpful. However, it did introduce me to a whole new industry I was unaware of. It's good to keep my options open- just in case this waitressing gig doesn't work out.
Because both the movie plot summary and Wikipedia article were such insightful and reliable sources, I decided I had satisfied my journalistic thirst for the truth.
My professors would be proud.
And so will my new shift manager.
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