I started my new job last week, hostessing at a tourist-heavy seafood restaurant. I wear "business casual clothing" (which, depending on the day and my level of clean laundry, involves whatever I own that is not a tee shirt or jeans. I've definitely got the casual part down). I get to wear a clear ear-piece that hooks me directly into the ears and conversations of the managers, which is fun and very CIA and on the first day incredibly overwhelming. I get as much free chowder as I would like. (But really, how much free chowder could you eat after a week of free chowder?)
A lot of our customer base here- or as we are instructed to refer to them our "guests" (but if they were truly my guests I would have just worn my tee shirt and jeans)- travel in from all across the world. Yesterday we had India, Britain, Scotland, Texas, and Australia represented. I find their origins incredibly distracting. Sometimes I don't even realize when I am asking them about their home country or telling them about my travels across the country. This may sound very forward for the hostess to be doing, but my manager recently commended me on my authentic "interest in the guests." Authentic? Yeah right. I just reeeeeally would rather be traveling to these places than seating them- the guests are just a gateway drug to my future travel. It's research for trips in the upcoming years. And it's paid! Just like a real job...
The restaurant works off a computer system called "Open table", where there are "scouts" that walk around with remote controls and let you know the status of each table (ie- partially seated, seated, dessert, check, bus... etc.) This translates to a computer screen filled with the 60-odd tables in about 12 different colors, all changing every 10 mins. It's kind of beautiful. I like to think of it like a video game- you try to fit the new pieces of the puzzle- the guests- into the existing amalgamation of colors and seats. If it's a game, it has to be fun! Right? This thinking usually gets me through.
The people that work in the restaurant are easily the most motley crew hodgepodge I could have ever possibly imagined. Have you ever seen the Dane Cook movie, Waiting? It's kind of like that. But classier. There are a lot of students working part-time, but also full-time waitstaff, many Mexicans, some Middle-easterners, and molto languages spoken in the Kitchen. I, as a hostess, cannot go into the Kitchen. Even to hear all the languages. (But maybe one day).
Almost everyone has been incredibly kind for a restaurant of over 100 employers. At least 40 have come up to me and introduced themselves, asking how I like the restaurant, my job, where I'm from, what I want to do. (What, I can't want to be a hostess?) My new friend, Abdullah, made me coffee from the FREE espresso/cappucino machine for the employees. I had been eyeing the machine for a while, and I suspect he thought I might break it. But I will take the kindness implied by his actions.
In order to ward off the boredom from repetition and to keep things entertaining, the staff is forced to exchange quick quips or conversations between tasks throughout the night. Which means an entire conversation, if you are having it with a busy wait-staff or manager, can take up to an hour and a half, if it's even continued at all. (But it does give you something to look forward to throughout the evening). There's also the interesting conversations that comes about when meeting new people. For example, my new friend Jess informed me, after just a few minutes after meeting her for the first time, that she and her friends are called "The Hot Mess Express." And she didn't say it with any fanfare, it was just something to pass the time. Conversations like these, aside from making me miss college, do make the hours go by quickly. That is all I can ask for whilst seeking alternate employment.
If you're in the mood for affordably priced seafood near the Boston Harbour, I can be your hostess! I promise not to ask you too much about where you're from (but no guarantees). I'll be the one at the desk with the stealth ear piece and staring longingly out at the Aquarium.
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