The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1952-08-22
"A WORD FOR THE WAITRESS

I've got to pass along WORD Tor
the waitress, that overworked,
over-pestered and ultra-patient
creature who has the toughest
row to hoe of any woman we
know, save perhaps the telephone
girl. The waitress may not know
all there is in books every time,
but she has to be a superior per-
son to take all the Fostering that
plaques her ears while on tired
and aching feet she rounds out
each of the long hot days Of
summer.
It's a good time to remind cur
readers of the obligation they
owe the waitress during these
sultry days of an unusually hot
summer. Nobody gets less SYM
pathy than the waitress, although
every woman she serves knows
what it means to bear the bur-
dens of hot kitchen in summer
time. Nearly every woman knows
how tough it is to stay on ones
feet all day. Nearly every smart
aleck who wishes to wise-crack
at the waitress, and joke about
her dates he would make her
think he wants but. wouldn't
fill; perhaps might think he is
the only person who kids her.
But the poor waitress has to hear
it all day long, and what can be
more tireson1e than to have the
ears constantly assaulted hour
after hour, day after day, with
lot of foolishness.
Sometimes the waitress is
girl who has a husband and one
or more kids. She has to endure
the most cxhausting kind of
work in cafe all day, and then
go home and play the part Of an
ever-loving wife, with kind words
and thoughtful deeds. She is
probably putting in & full day to
help her husband make ends
meet, and then following up her
day in the cafe with almost as
much work at home.
Of course we all know there
are workers in the business who
will never be mattresses. There
are snotty women who have
never been brought up with the
fundamentals of graciousness or
courtesy. There are drones on the
job whose sloppy service takes
all the joy out of eating, even if
the food is good, which is doubt
full, for seldom do we find good
food in a cafe that doesn't have
good mattresses. A management
that fails so grossly in the one
respect, cannot be superior in the
other.
But our real subject, the mar
tyr of the dog-day season, is the
fine, honest-to-goodness girl who
is willing to work, and working
because she needs a job, and is
trying to do her best to please
the boss and keeping the Gus
toners happy. We have never
seen many bad mattresses. Once
in a while we have observed one
who was put on the job without
being taught anything at all. That
is unfair to the girl and unfair
to the profession. To put a green
girl on the job without any
coaching, makes for lot of
heartaches later; it spoils lot
of business and drives away Gus
toners. 1t makes people speak I'M
fairly of all mattresses. The poor
girl, not knowing what she is do
ing, suffers terribly at what she
thinks is mans inhumanity.
The good old waitress who
takes in her stride the supreme
fortunes of dog-days on top of all
the hardships of the rest of the
year is a grand person. If she
has been long in the business,
she has learned a lot about
human nature. If she is keen, she
puts it to work to good advant-
age. She usually knows that the
first thing most people want on
the table is a glass of cold water.
She knows also that sharp words
from the customer usually don't
mean "a thing, except another
man with an empty stomach, and
that nothing is more ornery than
man with an empty stomach.
She knows that some of these
cross grained men are suffering
from various ailments, and after
effects, due to over-eating, over
drinking, or other bodily neglects.
So she is wise and lets the ILL
manners roll over her capable
shoulders like water off ducks
back. No matter how justified
she would be in handing back
some smart talk, over even
knocking off the block for some