So I took a part-time job as a waiter (also a Barista in training) in a new cafe located just right on the Georgetown heritage area buffer zone.
My unexpected decision on jumping into this (despite my professional IT experience and background) is simple, I wanted to learn to appreciate and be humble to others.
This started when I bumped into an article online (it is slightly controversial so I would not be posting the link here), but the paragraph that strike me was
“I only found humanity and big hearts in the people who had nothing.”
and upon deep thoughts and reflection, I realized on how people who can truly appreciate and understood are the one that is experiencing it or had experienced it before once in their life.
With that on my mind and when an opportunity came by (Friend of a Friend opening a Cafe), I made a jump and decided to go into it; not for the money, but for the life experience that comes with the job.
A short summary (hopefully to be expanded in the future) on the things that I had learned so far is :
- Missing out an order is one of the worst thing that you can ever do as a waiter, it is both demotivating and frustrating to all the staff in the cafe when this happens.
- Long hours of work is normal as a programmer, but standing, serving and constantly cleaning up for 12 hours plus is on a different level of a long hard day at work.
- Remembering the customer face, name or preference is a hard task, but one that is very rewarding both to the customer and the staff.
- Everyday is a long hard battle.
p.s. A simple ‘thank you’ and a smile from both the staff and the customer goes a long way.