“Demons seem so small
There the same one’s that I’ve fought in all my nightmares
And conquered in my dreams, we have won
As I watched them fall
I begin to realize my only enemy is me”
Author Archive
Jon Bellion – Kingdom Come
Jones Street Station – The Understanding
“Turn to a stranger, take their hand, maybe then you’ll understand”
Josh Groban – Vincent
For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night
You took your life, as lovers often do
Starting a new job
So I started working in a new company, for the time being lets called it CC. Theoretically it is actually not a new company for me since it actually belongs to a bigger company that I used to work in.
But yes I have to admit it is slightly weird to be surrounded by people who I know in the old company and yet I am actually in a different company with a completely different reporting structure.
That being said, it does feel like I abandoned them for the past 5 month and now struggling to be accepted by them once again. I suppose it is the same feeling in Band of Brothers when David Webster return from the hospital and noticed that everyone had changed in Easy company and they are in a way closed him off, feeling bitter that he did not came back earlier.
Second chance are only given to those who deserve them, and at this point of time I am not sure if I deserve their trust or acceptance just yet.
What I had learned
That there are people who are still illiterate here in Penang (not being able to read), yet are one of the most respectful people that I bumped into.
They are working at the warehouse beside the cafe as manual labor, and yet there was never a morning without a smile and a nod from them even though it is clear that some of them are physically drained from work.
Then there’s the opposite side of the spectrum, the majority of well dressed men and woman who are within the “Entitled” mentality group that believe that they are entitled to treat you as a slave just because they are the “customer” and thinking that you are being paid to serve and be their slave.
Being rude to the waiter for them is apparently a perfectly fine thing to do in-front of their date, children or in-laws.
With much bitterness, I came up with a conclusion that most of the people who respect waiters are either once a waiter or knew how it feels like to be look down upon.
Without a doubt I did become slightly bitter at humanity, but at the same time I had also learned a valuable lesson on respect and humility.
That being said, I had resigned from being a part time waiter (who was upgraded to a barista woohoo!) and looking forward to the next chapter in this bewildering but interesting journey of mine ( Hopefully back to a programmer as I deeply crave to code once again ).
On being a waiter
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.