Two and a half years ago, in anticipation of starting Winkbox and knowing that I would no longer be getting a steady paycheck, I got a job waiting tables. Looking back at it now, it seems simply crazy that I was able to pull this off. I never worked in the food industry before, not in a coffee shop, pizza joint or an ice cream stand.
My friend Aimee, who at the time was the manager of one of the top restaurants in Hickory, took a chance and trained me to be a server. I am not sure what possessed her to give me this life changing opportunity but I will be forever grateful, even if the first weeks were simply terrifying.
Partly inspired by Jessica Hagy’s index cards and partly being unable to fall asleep after my shifts, I began journaling about my new secret career. As the months rolled by I kept the journal, and in the end I continued working at the restaurant partly because I wanted to keep writing about it.
In the next few months I will be publishing the journal in our blog. I can’t publish all my entries, some of them reveal too much personal details about me and my co-workers, but it should still give you a good picture of my two years as a waitress. A word of warning, creative spelling and vulgar language are a big part of this creative exercise.
Read Dinner Theater #2
Read Dinner Theater #3
