Our community had a major ice storm in 2014. As for my husband and myself, we awoke to a rarity…no power. That was unusual for us since we discovered that our subdivision is on the same line as the hospital. And we were completely ignorant to the fact that if we had no power, it was doubtful that anyone else did either.
So, we put on our warm clothes and decided to head to our favorite eating establishment so that we could eat a terrific breakfast.
Now, I must stop here to say that the owner was a dear friend, and we ate there at least twice a week. I have to admit that when my children finally left home, I told my husband that the chef had retired, and the kitchen was closed. He didn’t find that too funny but went along with my rebellion…for a little while.
Well, on this particular morning, we arrived at the restaurant and found it dark. At that moment, the owner drove up looking harassed and frazzled. He jumped out of the car and rushed to open the door. He said that every single employee had called in to say they had no power and couldn’t come in.
He looked at us worriedly. “What about the people travelling or in hotels? How are they going to eat? We are right off I-95?” He was almost frantic at this point. He went to the light switch and discovered the restaurant had power.
“I am going to turn on the grill and just fix scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes for people who come in…if anyone comes in today,” he said as he turned away and headed to the kitchen.
I looked at my husband. “Well, I guess we will just sit down and wait,” I said. But no sooner had those words come out of my mouth than the door opened and a line of people entered the restaurant.
I stared at them in dismay. If our friend thought no one would be coming in, he was in for a shock.
I took it upon myself to start seating people. I explained the situation as soon as they came in and seated them as fast as possible. I told them that I wasn’t a real waitress; I just played one on TV.
My husband came up and asked about drinks. “I guess we need to find them something,” I answered and went behind the counter searching for glasses. The two of us waited on all the tables with drinks and coffee and handling refills as fast as possible.
We laughed and joked with the customers and kept things light, explaining the wait and asking them to be patient with us. And you know what? Everyone was. They were laughing, talking with strangers at other tables, having a great time, and exchanging ice storm stories.
About that time, the owner walked back into the room towards the buffet with pans of hot food. He stood staring with wide eyes, and seeing every single seat in the building taken, he dropped off the pans and hoofed it back into the kitchen to make more.
I had no idea how to run the cash register, so I just charged everyone a flat rate and tried to make change in a bowl from the kitchen. Right about then, one of the employees showed up to handle the cash register and I went back to refilling coffee and seating new people.
Another employee showed up and took over my husband’s job of bussing tables. He then helped me refill glasses and coffee cups. Three hours later, everyone had been satisfied, the crowd had thinned, no new people had come in, and my husband and I breathed a sigh of relief.
One of the servers who had come in late called us over to the kitchen. Smiling, she handed us a plastic container. Inside was money. “What’s this?” I asked.
Laughing she said, “It’s your tip money.” I started laughing, too. “No thanks…you all keep it. You need it! Today I had a small sample of what you do every day, and I can honestly say that it is a lot of work!”
It suddenly dawned on me that we had been there all this time, waited on all these people and had forgotten to eat…and we had been the first ones there. The owner came up to us and thanked us profusely for all of our help. The three of us had run a major restaurant by ourselves and to prove it, we were exhausted.
We ate something and as we were leaving, the owner looked at me and told me I had a job there any time I wanted. “I don’t think so,” I said laughing. “You all work too hard.”
A week later, we were at the same restaurant and saw a very large family keep a server very busy. Whey they left, they not only left a mess, but they also left a tip….one dollar. My sweet husband saw the whole thing, and I watched him get up and drop a ten-dollar bill on their table for the server. He just looked at me and shook his head sadly.
So the next time you eat out, tip well. I have been there. It’s a tough job! You wouldn’t want to do it…or you would be doing it now.
