My first day at work was a Sunday and I was even more nervous than I had been at the interview. Honestly, I was like a kid in a new town starting their first day at school. I should have been there at 9am, but I was so worried about getting held up behind a tractor or breaking down. Our old car was not reliable to say the least, so much so that we had to drive around with jump leads and a spare battery on the front seat in case it would not start. It was not a battery problem as we had changed it twice thinking that was what it was, no it was something else, but we daren't put it into a garage in case we couldn't afford the bill...I had a sneaky feeling it was something expensive! Anyway, I was worried about being late on my first day, but I left so early that I had to walk around the block several times, and with what I had in store that day it wasn't such a good idea, on the feet front, I mean.
When I got in I was shown around, briefly, and introduced to all the staff. Everyone was in such a hurry and the reason being there were 2 coach loads of customers coming to eat at lunchtime. I was quickly put on table laying duty, and humping chairs in from the store, as there weren't enough. The coach parties were eating in a banquet room out the back, and the 100 cover restaurant was fully booked as well. My new boss took me to one side and told me that she wanted to test my waitressing skills today as it was important for the job. I suspected, however, that there were at least 150 people to serve at lunch and not enough staff. I was later to find out that this was true and it was a more than regular occurrence.
They came in by the dozen and the restaurant and banquet room were soon buzzing. The coach parties had only one hour to eat, so we had to walk very fast, not only to get the food out quickly, but also to keep it warm as the kitchen was a long way from the room. The restaurant soon filled up too but the customers there weren't in such a hurry being Sunday. Good job really. I had never walked so much in a long time and my feet ached terribly, I knew I shouldn't have worn new shoes!! I was supposed to have finished work at 3pm, but by 4.30pm I was still there clearing up the mess out the back, and there were still customers lingering in the restaurant...Did they not have homes to go to?? The boss called me in at about 5pm and said I had done a good job and that I would be in tomorrow at the same time. I was one of the lucky ones, a girl I was working with was still working but had to be back for the evening service at 6.30pm, and she lived 20 minutes away!
When I got home the kids went wild. They had been so used to me being there all the time, they found it strange that I was gone all day, especially on a Sunday. This was something they were going to have to get used to. I took off my shoes and laughed, I had holes all over the feet of my tights. I put my feet up and hubby brought me a glass of wine. Hard work, but somehow I felt all a buzz, probably because I'd proved that I could still hack it after all the years, even if my feet did feel like they were disconnected from the rest of me!!
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