Hi, my name is Carrie and I’ll be your server tonight…

Don’t worry, I haven’t quit my old job. I am still teaching in China Spring. But what’s a teacher to do in June, July and 2 weeks of August? I’ve heard a lot of people say that teaching is so great because you get summers off. Not so if your husband spends 14 hours a day working on Law School stuff and you don’t have a cat to keep you company! So, the job search began. Rejected…rejected…rejected…you get the picture. Monday, my first official day of summer vacation, I decide that I’m going to call every business in the phone book and take whatever I could get. Well, that’s not entirely true. I did promise myself that I would not apply to Taco Bell despite the huge “Now Hiring!” sign in front of the shop. I will not do fast food. Ever. There’s a mexican restaurant, La Fiesta, about 5 miles down the street from our apartment. They have 3 locations in Waco. Ben and I have been to the one in town a few times, but always thought the one close to our place looked too creepy, so we never wanted to chance it. I took a chance on Monday and walked in, asked if they were hiring and if I could get an application. The manager asked if I’d waited tables before…nope! She asked when I could start…ASAP! Can you come in tonight…sure! I was hired on the spot and was to return for training a few hours later. I was pretty excited. I’ve always wanted to see if I could wait tables. I’m a fairly competent person and lets just get it out there…not all waiters are competent people. So, I should be able to do this. If I can teach 5th grade…I can wait tables. Right? 5pm. I will be trained by Josh who graduated high school the same year I graduated college…and he’s one of the oldest wait staff there. I feel a bit out of place. He assures me “It’s a Monday. We’ll be pretty slow.” He was right about one thing…it was Monday. It was not slow. It was fun…even invigorating. I like being busy, but I hated not knowing what to do to help. He tried to fill me in as much as possible in the first hour when things really were slow. This is where dishes go, silverware, cups, chips are here, salsa is there, sweet tea on the left, unsweet on the right, don’t touch plates under the warmer with bare hands (no joke!) learn the menu, 3 tortillas for fajita fundito, 6 tortillas for fajitas for 2, and get your own charro beans and rice. I also learned the computer system which is how the kitchen gets your orders. Nice system, but you better be on top of things or the system and the kitchen cannnot save you. I have to learn what every item on the menu looks like, how to fix orders when they’re wrong, what orders get sour cream, cheese, when to ask for fajita meat, etc. I’ve worked two shifts so far in training. Tomorrow will be my first REAL day. Which also means my first day to get tips! Woohoo! I am a waitress…at least for now.