Refresh Your Love for Your Job

There will be times when you question your choices in your life, your goals, or your job. Whether these questions get you down or cause changes, it’s good to remind yourself why you love something or to reflect on the positives that have come from your decisions. On that note, I have had a couple of reminders this past week on why I love serving. My first reminder took place while serving a beautiful family with the most adorable little girls.

As I walked up to the table I noticed the little girls, about 6 and 7-years-old, sitting like proper ladies with their fluffy dresses on and hair pulled back with strategically placed sparkly clips and perfect braids, woven by their mother. The little ladies were very quick to take over the conversation and barely take a breath. Their parents warned me to not encourage the girls, as I would be stuck there all night. At this point I didn’t care because these little ladies were hilarious. The two lines that made my night came from the youngest girl, whom is surely to be a handful in the future.

“I’ve decided to not marry Justin Bieber.”

Then it was time for the bill to be paid. Her father pulled out his wallet and put it on the table.

“Be careful with daddy’s wallet.”

After taking the payment and saying goodbye, I had a smile on my face for the rest of the evening. I remembered being so excited to wear a pretty dress when I was younger and being a little handful for my parents as well.

Friday night, I left school and walked straight to work. It was just after 3 p.m. and I was asked to start right away. I took over the lounge walk-ins while trying to get my section ready in the dining room. The running around did not end until midnight. Before my dinner rush came in, I was serving a couple of tables, but one with two men stood out the most. One thing that many customers do not realize is that servers are busy and are serving tables other than just theirs. However, this is not a bad thing, just something that’s a bit difficult to juggle when they’re conversing with you and you are being buzzed to run an order out.

So, these two men came in and the one man reminded me of an old-timer mafia man: nice suit, straight whiskey on the side with his beer, expressive hand gestures, and laid back with a wad of cash in his wallet, and, well, older.

He chatted and chatted and made me laugh, and we made fun of each other back and forth. He then ended with a funny, yet uncalculated line.

“If I were 25 years younger…”

Well as cute as it was, 25 years younger would probably still pin him at 40-years-old, so, um, no go.

Then I had a table of three men who were putting their drinks down nearly faster than I could retrieve them. Well into them, I walked up to their table and noticed they all had their cellphones out and were showing each other pictures. I couldn’t help but notice one of the pictures of a woman in a tight dress, posing for the camera. Quick to not hide what they were doing, one of the men blurted out their guilty deed.

“We’re comparing our wives.”

I couldn’t help but blurt out my own opinion.

“Have you ever seen the commercial with the two men holding their babies and the one guy says that his baby is definitely cuter?”

They all snickered and said, “yes.”

I then responded with my reminder of the message from that commercial.

“Well, ya, some things shouldn’t be compared.”

I have never seen men do that in my life, but either way, it actually did make me laugh from the shock of it.

Summing up my busy shift, I got to meet new people, laugh with customers, giggle with the other servers, break a sweat, and finish the evening with a drink and banter with my fellow servers. At the end of the day, reflecting on serving, I wouldn’t trade in my job for anything else, well, at least until I graduate. 

(Photo Credit: http://static9.depositphotos.com)

A Smile Goes a Mile

My magazine group for school had a booth at a trade fair to show off our work and raise awareness for the first issue of STIR magazine. There were approximately 15 other booths, so we really needed to make sure we drew in a crowd. The main thing I noticed is how interested people were in the booths, but how shy they were to approach them. On that note, this was a great lesson on how to make yourself appear approachable and to make the people feel comfortable.

First of all, smile. Smiling goes a long way. You might think that making eye contact is the best approach, but making contact with a smile opens up a conversation. All you have to do is say hi and begin talking. As soon as you make them feel comfortable, you can really start to engage with them. What really helped was we had a great contest going on, which really excited them. Because we are a weekend, morning magazine, we did a photo contest that asked for them to upload their favourite morning picture onto our STIR Facebook page. Not only did this provide them with a fun activity, but the incentives we offered created excitement: restaurant gift certificates, makeup, and boutique gift certificates.

The second thing to realize is that you have seconds, minutes at most, to get your concept across to people. With this, you must have key words to hit when talking to your audience. Preparation, knowledge, and confidence are your best friends when it comes to this. Make sure to have a speech that you feel you could recite in your sleep. Although I’m saying you should be able to recite it no problem, make sure it remains natural and that it doesn’t actually sound like it’s scripted. As a server, I never want to sound like I’m scripted, and I do my best to make the dinner specials and my answers to customers’ questions more like a conversation than a speech.

The final most important thing to key in on is how shy people really are. I know myself that I have seen things that intrigue me, but I don’t know how to approach it. On that note, recognize these qualities in people and make them feel that you want to talk to them. We had a professional bodybuilder at our booth and there were so many people who stared at her and were clearly interested. The best example I have are three guys in their 20’s standing about ten feet away from our bodybuilder. They had their phones out, and were nervously looking around. So, I walked straight up to them and encouraged them to take pictures with her. They were so delighted that I approached them.

At the end of the day, no matter where you are or what you’re doing, do your best to make people feel comfortable. The best ways to do this are to smile, say hello, and begin the conversation with something engaging, like a question.  

Magazine Trade Fair & Prizes

This Thursday, March 28th, from 12-4 p.m. there will be a magazine trade fair in the atrium of Red River College on Princess Street.  Yours truly, along with my magazine group members, will have a booth at the trade fair with our STIR magazine. Yay!  We are currently running a photo contest on our Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/STIR-magazine/121652711348587.  The contest ends by next Thursday, April 4th.  So, Like our Facebook page now and enter our contest. The trade fair is free and fun so come on down!

The contest is fun and easy.  Prizes consist of over $150 dollars in restaurant coupons, makeup from Sephora, and much more!

Sephora has generously given us makeup, lotion, lip butter-balm, facial masks, and more!!!

Cha Cha Palace has also sponsored us with a $25 gift certificate to their boutique. Thanks!

Sponsored by: Hermanos Restaurant & Wine Bar
-Corrientes Argentine Pizzeria
-Carnaval Brazilian BBQ
 All 3 of these fabulous sponsors have each given us  a $50 gift certificate for the winner of our photo contest.  Start snapping those pics Winnipeg!!!

STIR magazine - Spring issue

Sweet Home Oakbank

For a journalism assignment, we had to go out in small groups to towns outside of the perimeter. For a city slicker, this may sound like an adventure, but for myself, it was an excuse to visit my hometown: Oakbank, Manitoba. I grew up in the countryside, just outside of this town. The experiences I had in Oakbank are some of the best I’ve ever had. 

The main idea for the assignment was for Winnipeggers to realize that not everything revolves around the city. While the assignment was meant for me to find a story in town that would guide people from the city to check it out, I stumbled across the realization that the relationships I have in my hometown is the story.  Myself and my travel partners were sitting in the local bar when one of them said, “Geez Steph, I feel like this is Sweet Home Alabama.” She was right, but this was Sweet Home Oakbank. 

After writing my article, I felt like my past experiences in this town fulfilled a significant chapter in my life. A comment on my article, from my professor, said it sounded like I was 70 or 80 years old. Well, I suppose I really feel that way in terms of the memories I have from this town and the communication skills it has taught me. 

Oakbank is one of the many reasons for why people have told me I have an old soul.  By the time you’re 18 years old in Oakbank, you’re drinking with all of the bar’s regulars; of course these regulars range in age from 18 to 65, if not older. When you’re drinking with your childhood friend’s parents and your teachers from your junior high school, you are definitely going to develop communication skills different to those who go clubbing in the city with young adults. While I loved the friendships I built in this town, I felt the need to head to a big city, which landed me in Manchester, England. 

Although I left Oakbank, the town’s range of relationships led me to befriending many older adults in Manchester. When it was time to leave Manchester, I set myself up in Winnipeg.  Now in a creative communications program, I feel that Oakbank’s values guided me and my communication skills to where they are today. 

At the end of the day, the travel assignment was meant to show others why they should head to a town for a certain attraction. However, the assignment showed me that Oakbank is why I am who I am today, and I couldn’t be more thankful.

                                                               (The sign my boss at our hometown bar put up before I moved to    

                                                                                    Manchester, England)

Mind Your Mouth, Others Are Listening

Communications.  What does communications mean to people?  When and where do people pay attention to the ways they communicate?  I have posted many different blogs about how to communicate with coworkers and strangers.  However, I have not covered how to communicate while others are overhearing you.  I am currently in a waiting room waiting to have my name called so I can finally get my taxes done.  As the full room sits in silence, the workers do not.  And when I say that they do not, I literally mean that they are shouting back and forth to each other as if they are alone.

Now, we all complain about rude people, and we all need to vent from time to time.  However, there is a time and a place for this.  As professionals, we are taught to handle situations politely and with patience.  While we may be good at this in the situation itself, we tend to forget that others are listening when complaining about it later.  This brings me to say never ever complain in a public place, especially work, about cliental.  These women were shouting back and forth about some lady who had called them many times asking detailed questions.  Apparently she came into the branch today, and they could not stop complaining about it.  So, a room full of cliental literally sat and listened to these women shout back forth about this customer, and imitating her voice and questions. That’s about as distasteful as it gets. 

You never ever know who is listening, and you should always keep this in mind wherever you are.  Many people think that they’re in the clear if they don’t complain while at work, only on their free time – wrong.  Even if you are sitting in a food court and chatting to a close friend or family member, the person next to you could be getting an ear full of your complaints.  In turn, this will reflect not only you, it will also reflect on who you work for.  Trust me, cities are small and that person who overhears you could very well tell the person who will be firing you the next day. 

Photo credit: bakersfieldcriminallawblog.com

Not Good Company? When You Just Want the Night to End

So, just sitting here after a very long shift and I was contemplating on what I should do for my blog.  My fantastic friend, Emmett The Great, was helping me deal with "pleasant" customers.  You know, there are just some times where you just want the night to end.  Because I cannot tell customers to leave, I suppose I would be fired, we decided to talk about ways in which we wish we could end the night.  This is the subtle hint I'd like to drop...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEStsLJZhzo

Student by Day, Server by Night

So, this quick little blog is dedicated to my exhaustion from school and work, and work and school.  Running on little sleep, being at school from 7am till 4ish, and then heading straight to work has led to a couple embarrassing/amusing mistakes at work. 

1.)  We have beautiful candle holders at work that we have to refill with new tealights between turn-overs of tables.  Like many restaurants, we put mints in the billfold when giving the table the check.  I was billing a two-top table and instead of putting mints in the billfold, I put two tealights. 

2.)  When clearing our tables, we give the glasses to the bartender, and bring the plates and cutlery to the kitchen.  I had a tray full of glasses in my right hand as I walked straight past the bar, ditsy smile on, and straight for the kitchen when I heard, “Um, Steph?”  Exhaustion had been noted by the bartender, and he was keeping a close eye on me. 

3.)  I will have about five coffees going at a time because I keep forgetting where I put my cup. 

4.)  A fellow server who gets little sleep as well, due to school and work, is my side-kick on shift.  We tend to share a section together, and you could only imagine the combined intelligence level we have come the end of our shift.  Put it this way, for all those customers who think they are clever with their “witty” comments, we will laugh.  We’re not even sure why we’re laughing, but you will have the best audience with two girls who are running off of little sleep. 

5.)  Last night, I had a customer ask me for an Iced Tea.  I walked away from the section, punched in the order, and printed the chit.  This is the moment where I was supposed to walk to the bartender and put the chit down for him to make the drink.  I, however, walked straight back to the customer and handed her the chit.  My brain took note as soon as I was reaching out to her to give the chit, and then I just started laughing.  Her awkward confusion was apparent, and I considered this moment as an “inside joke” with myself. 

School is not done, so don’t worry friends, I have plenty of time to amplify the blonde jokes.  

Photo Credit: http://livingwithpower.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/tired1.jpg