Serving in Florida by Barbara Ehrenreich

While reading this section Serving in Florida out of Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich I found that a lot of the the stories she had to tell of her experiences working as a waitress was very similar to my experiences. When she talks about how on a slow day even if there seems like there is nothing to do you better make it seem like your working and not just standing there. Many times working for The Greenery in Rockport, MA I was constantly talked to about looking busy by others who worked with me. Telling me in warning that if the manager or owner saw you just standing there they would give you another task that was crazy or not part of the job description like dusting the light fixtures. Also the managers and owners don't really care what the waitstaff thinks would make the restaurant better all they care about is if you do exactly what they tell you. Also one of the biggest rules was the employees does not get any discounts on food and they are only able to have drinks from the soda fountain. But the ringer to that was how town employees such as police and ambulance EMTS get a 15% discount. Really shows how much they are about their own employees. One of the biggest parts of the job in any restaurant or catering company is the gossip. Gossip fly's around the work place faster than anything else. Over all working for a restaurant was one of the worst work experiences i have ever had.