Monday, June 18, 2007

Confidence Pays

This past Thursday, my mom and I went to eat at the new Perkin's Restaurant here in town. Perkin's has always been one of my favorite restaurants to go to, but usually the only time we've been to one is when we were on our way to Wisconsin, because there had never been one here. I know I used to love their pies and a few times, I even begged my parents to buy one of their pies to take home on our way back. And finally, we have one here.

I am sure everyone has felt uncomfortable in a new setting at one time or another. Whether it's being a student at a new school and not knowing anyone, or being a new hire at an established employer and not knowing anyone there. I know I've experienced those same feelings many different times and it takes getting adjusted to your surroundings and feeling comfortable where you're at. I could tell the waiter we had at Perkin's was pretty nervous at what he was doing. He was pretty young, and it wouldn't surprise me if he was still in high school and was just working there for the summer. He probably has only been at being a waiter for a week if not less than that. My mom and I could detect that he felt uneasy at what he was doing; how he talked to us, how he walked around the restaurant looking lost and trying to find something to do, how he didn't really communicate much with the other waiters and waitresses on the floor. Maybe he wasn't like this at all and it could be just how we perceived it, but to us, that is how it looked.

He even screwed up my order. I had asked for a chicken BBQ supreme sandwhich and I ended up getting a hamburger patty instead of a chicken patty. Everything else about the order was right except for getting the hamburger. I guess the clue that I was getting a hamburger was when after I gave my order he asked, "the burger?" And not thinking twice about it, I replied, "yes." Well geez, I DID say the chicken BBQ supreme sandwhich. Unless you could substitute the chicken for hamburger - I don't really know. But, my mom and I didn't want to make him feel any more embarassed than he already looked, so we just let it slide. I thought it was a pretty good sandwhich regardless of the mix-up.

He even asked my mom if she wanted another iced tea, which she did. Wouldn't you know, a waitress just happened to come along with a pitcher of iced tea and asked my mom if she wanted a refill. My mom said sure, but after the waitress was gone, she said, "I hope he doesn't come with the refill." Well sure enough, he did. So he had to bring it back and my mom and I were left to feeling pretty badly for this kid. We wanted him to be confident in his job and he just did not seem like that confident of a person. We had hoped that leaving him a generous tip would lift up his spirits and make him become more confident in his abilities. We sure hope it worked.

As I said, he couldn't have been on the job for very long and I am sure he will improve and gain some confidence the more he works. But starting out, it can be frustrating for anyone. I remember when I first learned how to operate a cash register at a grocery store, whenever fruits or vegetables came through, you had to look through a book if you didn't happen to know the code that you could punch in. Plus, there were countless ways in which a customer could pay for their groceries and it was so easy hitting a wrong button on the machine. During the first week, one evening I worked, I was $30.00 off on my drawer. I can't remember the exact details anymore, but I know I did something that I shouldn't have done. I think I charged up an extra $30.00 that I shouldn't have and it came up unaccounted for. Nothing was ever stolen from me, but it was just an error on my part. And you know what? I was never that much off on my drawer ever again. See, just like me, it took some confidence in my abilities and soon after, I excelled as a cashiere at that grocery store. It can happen to anyone, as well.

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