I work part time as a waitress in a nationally known restaurant. This restaurant is known for Southern style food, and we serve breakfast all day. If you know the place, you know the atmosphere there is reminiscent of your Grandma's house. We have a saying there when something is just wrong. We say "That is sooo not 'country fresh'". That means that it isn't up to the standards of the place. We use the saying for just about everything, from language to food. If it's not "country fresh", then we shouldn't be doing/having/saying it at work.
I've been thinking about those standards and the restaurant's slogan, and how they seem to parallel Christian life. No, this place does not profess to be a Christian business, since that would be so un-PC in today's world. Really though, to me, their standards scream "Christian work ethic". For me, it's refreshing. But that's not what this post is really about.
I'm a waitress. Really, we're called "servers" now, so as not to be gender-biased I suppose. For seven hours a day, four days a week, I'm a 'server'. That means that my job is to serve people. That's what I do. I'm supposed to do that with a 'country fresh' attitude, right down to a smile. I should have a willingness to serve the guests that enter that place and sit at tables in my section. It shouldn't be tough, that's what they pay me to do. No, I don't make much, only $2.18 an hour. Yes, I get tips, when people remember to leave them. Honestly, I'd like to know who taught some people to tip, since really, a $3 tip is not all that great for a $40 bill, especially if your food was delivered fast and right, and your drink was never empty. But that's another story.
A server, by definition, serves. I'm a pretty good server, I think. My managers love it when I work, and constantly ask me to work extra shifts (I've recently learned the art of a tactful "no"). I have recently been asked to train new people, even though I've only been with the company a few months. I have 'regulars', who will actually wait until one of my tables is open instead of sitting at another table. In almost 5 months, I've only had one instance where a manager had to intervene at one of my tables, and that was a kitchen error. I bend over backwards and go out of my way to please my guests. I really work my butt off, and at the end of the night I leave and feel like I've done a decent job. Yes, there is always room for improvement, and I LOVE to get better. However, all in all, I'm not too bad.
What has really been bothering me lately is that I think of myself as a part-time server. I go to work, be a server, go home, and leave that behind me. Yes, there are plenty of ways that I still practice that country fresh attitude outside of work, but it's more because of the server mentality. I don't want to be a server though. I have a different purpose, or at least I should.
I'm supposed to be a SERVANT.
I think this is part of the reason that I'm disliking nightshift so much. On days, I had a group of women that shared my faith, and we would get into daily discussions about the Word, Christian life, Jesus, everything, really. If I was having a hard time, I could ask for prayer, and there would be women that would stop what they were doing and say a prayer for me right when I asked. I had the chance to fellowship, and was constantly uplifted just being around them. I felt stronger in my daily walk, because we were accountable to each other. I don't have that on nights. There are very few professed Christians, and most of them are so worldly that it's difficult to tell what they are. I don't see Christ in them. I want people to see Christ in me, and I feel like that is slipping away from me now.
I want to be a servant all the time, and a server some of the time. I want to be able to talk about my God, my salvation, my redemption. I want people to see me at work and recognize me for what I am - a servant of the King.
I have been very blessed recently to know that the Lord is hearing my pleas. He always sends people into my path when I am feeling low, to brighten things up or lift me up. Tonight, it was a family that prayed together before their meal, and another family that talked to me about Christ. It felt so good to tell them that I knew I was going to Heaven, and they knew I was saved because I said I knew it, instead of I hoped it. That was cool. It was also pretty rare. Most nights, I drag in from work tired, worn out, discouraged, and not in the mood to be a server, much less a servant.
What I've realized is that being a server can actually help me be a better servant. I don't mean that I need to bring you hot biscuits or re-fill your coffee to make you happy. I do mean that by keeping the 'country fresh' attitude all the time, and striving to serve others all the time, I can actually work towards having a servant's heart... all the time. Not just part time, not just at work, not just while I'm wearing my apron and smiling.
That's what I want. I want to be a servant. To do that, I need to keep trying to be a better server. Honestly though, if I fail the restaurant I'll be sad. But to fail my Saviour? That would break my heart.
Besides, to fail Him just wouldn't be "country fresh", now would it?
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4 comments:
Lovely post. I just wanted to add my Amen!
Dee - I did the 'server' thing a million years ago. I give a ton of credit. I didn't have much of a 'country fresh' attidue. I did okay, but got easily annoyed. Chalk it up to being young and stupid. But I can so relate to having that 'winning' attitude with all that you do. I truely believe the happier I am, the better everything else will be. I can only be happy when I walk the walk.
Wow, Dee--maybe you should be preachin' instead of serving!! That was wonderful and so insightful. I think that God put you into the situation you are in to BE a light to those on the shift who don't understand what He is all about? It's easy to be a Christian when you are around other Christians--not so easy when you are the only one. I have found this out in my own life, and it is HARD to be a servant all the time! As a bus driver, I am also a "servant" and am expected to have that "country fresh" attitude as well. It is hard when people treat me like I am a loser or stupid or look down on me because I must OBVIOUSLY be too stupid to have a different kind of job. Those kind of attitudes makes it hard for me to want to be a servant but it also teaches me humility, and for that I am grateful.
However, I can't BELIEVE you only get paid $2.18 an HOUR!! Isn't there a law in your state about minimum wage? How is it worth your time to even BE there?!! I realize that not everyone has as high a cost of living as we do in California, but really! Two bucks an hour? That's just not right...
Sheri,
They can pay waitresses and bartenders that low, in most every state I believe, because they are counting on the fact that you make tips. We have to claim at least 10% of our total sales as tips. That sucks sometimes, because frankly, many people don't tip 10%, regardless of how good the service is. Usually though, it works out ok. On an average night, tips included, I make between $8-13 per hour. Today, I worked from 2-11:30pm. I got paid my hourly wage, plus I made $126. So I did about $16/hour. Not too bad, but a VERY long day.
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