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Service RenderedDoorman -- a genius who can open the door of your car with one hand, help you in with the other, and still have one left for the tip. |
   
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Wednesday, September 24, 1997
I was recalling on Sunday the restaurant job I got in the early eighties. This place, Clyde's of Tyson's Corners, was a big singles bar and restaurant that had just opened up. They were aiming at a classy atmosphere, and they were very busy. Thus the need for the position I was assigned.
I wasn't a waitress, or a bartender, or a hostess. I was the restroom attendant.
When I was offered the job, I was a bit startled. I suppose I had seen such people in the movies (old movies!) but not in real life. But I said I'd give it a try. The restrooms were all marble and mirrors and brass fixtures. There were cloth towels. It was very nice! So I kept the place tidy, chatted with the customers, handed them towels, and provided perfume and stuff. I really made some good tip money!
When business was slow, I could read. I was really independent, with no manager keeping tabs on me. I liked having my own territory, where I was in charge.
One thing that did cause me a few qualms at first was going into the men's room. On a busy Friday, there was never a time when it was empty! So I had to go in while customers were in there, to bring in fresh towels and maintain basic cleanliness. The guys were startled, to say the least. Stunned, even! But they got used to it. On regular nights when we weren't mobbed, I'd wait till the men's room was empty, and prop the door open while I was in there. If they wanted to come in while I was there, I figured that was up to them.
I got to know the regular women customers, and they treated me very well. The only thing I didn't allow was doing cocaine in the stalls, at least not with more than one person in the stall. If people tried to do that, I asked them to consider that I might get in trouble, and to go outside or anywhere else. I did not want that happening on my turf!
My shift was over at midnight, and I'd have a few beverages afterwards. I made an amazing amount of tip money, much of it in quarters! So every few months my family would help me sort it out and take it to the bank.
I think my experiences at Clyde's are why I'm not bothered by the scatological material I read in some journals lately. I got totally inured to that side of life. But most people, then and now, didn't want to hear the details about funny things that happened at work.
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So many things about being a restroom attendant suited me, that I stayed there far too long. It's always difficult for me to go on to the next thing. I stayed at college extra time partly because I liked the small town I lived in there. I stayed in a dead-end job because I didn't know what to do next.
A career counselor I saw during that time did help me identify the factors that make a job satisfying for me. But she was off base when she asked me if I stayed at Clydes because I was worried about my speech impediment! My response was, "What speech impediment??!!?" If there is any small imperfection in my Rs or my Ss, I was and am unaware of it, so it couldn't have been holding me back.
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There is a bit of a flame war proceeding on one of the mailing lists I am on. I hope it will calm down soon, since this list is really a valuable, work-related resource. It's grown in the past few years from about 20 people on the list, to over 600!
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