Literacy Profile

            Over the course of a few years, I have become literate at serving. When I say serving, I mean serving tables at a restaurant. I am a waitress and my job has become second nature. I am very confident doing what I do on an everyday, and any day basis. My job is not always easy and does not always run smoothly, and is not for everyone. Over the few years I have been serving I have acquired many skills and techniques that I use to make my job easier.

            I started serving two years ago. I hadn’t been working in a restaurant long before landing the serving job I have now. Actually, I had a job at a brand new bar working as a bartender/server, but had never really waited on a table before applying at my current workplace. When speaking with the manager, I said that I was currently a server and would like to stay in that position, and to my surprise, I was hired on the spot. With having told a minor “fib” I knew I had to begin my new job pretending I was an experienced server when really, I did not have any experience. I went through my training pretending I knew what I was doing and discovered that it came quite easy to me. Something I always told myself was to think of how I wanted my waiter/waitress to treat me at a table. This has always helped me. From having to prove myself as a server I now find myself holding my head higher and being an overall, more confident person.

            I have worked to improve myself throughout my years of working. I know a lot about what I do. When I work, I can tell from looking at a person’s facial expression if their food is satisfactory even if they say it is “good”. If it seems as though not a lot of their drink or entrée has been consumed I recognize the issue and try to make sure they really enjoy what they are paying for. If the kitchen is backed up and my table has been waiting longer than twenty minutes I’ll ask my manager to take their food out to them because customers want these things to be noticed by higher authority. Getting management involved at the right time is crucial and always lead to a guest thanking me and thus leaving wanting to come back. Without thinking, I can remember what every guest at my table has to drink so refills come quick, without asking again or looking at the order sheet. Also, I have been able to tell right from greeting my table how I should serve them. Obviously, I give my best service to all tables, but not all guests are the same. Some like to talk and joke around while others want to get straight to the point and do not enjoy small talk. From my job, I have learned many communication skills that will help me in the future. 

            The biggest skill I have acquired from serving is to keep my composure no matter how I am really feeling. If I am tired, angry, upset, or just too busy, I have to remain calm and serve every one of my tables with a smile. I have to be overly polite to guests that are rude from the start of the dining experience and listen to complaints if their food is not what they expected. This will go a long way, not only in my future as a teacher, but also in the rest of my life. Putting on a front and remaining calm in tough situations is not easy. I can only imagine that dealing with tough students or teaching the last period of a long, hard day is extremely difficult, but I think how I handle my job today will help me prepare for that.

            I will use other skills that I have acquired through becoming a great server, such as holding a conversation with strangers, higher authority, kids, and other peers. I handle myself professionally, and that is very important for my future as a teacher, because teaching is a job where I will be expected to act professionally every day. I multi-task all the time at work, and as a teacher that will be important, because there will be many situations where I have to think on my feet and know what I have to get done in the short amount of time I am with my students each day. My managers have noticed that I am a good server and have had me train new servers. I enjoy showing new servers how to do the job, and how to do the job well. This will obviously be useful in my future as teacher because I am teaching new employees techniques I use everyday. I have these skills as a server from my training, observing other servers, making mistakes and learning from them, and observing servers at other restaurants. With that, I have added my own personality, to be the best that I can be.

            Like I said before, serving is not for everyone. I have witnessed so many servers quit because they could not handle it or it wasn’t for them. Becoming literate at serving has already made me a different person today. I am now more confident when speaking to others and this will go a long way in the future. I hope to use skills and techniques I have learned from my job into my future as a teacher and other aspects of my life.