Can't Hardly Wait

**"Can't Hardly Wait"** is the fourteenth episode of the fourth series, and the one-hundred-sixty-third episode of *The Loud House*.

## Plot

Lori takes a job as a waitress at Dad's restaurant, but it turns out that serving is harder than she anticipated.

## Synopsis

Lori enters the house holding the mail, and discovers that Fairway University has sent her the course catalog. As Lori reads through the classes, Lynn Sr. suddenly gets emotional, saying that the idea of Lori moving away to attend college is too much, and believes that once she leaves, they'll never be able to do their favorite hobbies together. When Lynn Sr. states that he's heading to his restaurant to work, Lori comments that he'll need to hire more waiters given how busy it's getting. At that moment, Lori and Lynn Sr. realize that they could spend more time together if they work together, with Lynn Sr. wanting to use the time to spend more father-daughter time together, and Lori wanting the job to make more money for college.

At Lynn's Table, Lynn Sr. tells Lori that she will be shadowed by Kotaro. Kotaro gives Lori some tips on how to be a good waiter such as using your memory to take orders instead of a notepad, being able to carry all the dishes at once, and when all else fails, provide free mints. Lori attempts to take Principal Huggins and Cheryl's orders, but when she tries to remember what they said, she bumps into Scoots, who asks what kind of dipping sauces they have. However, Lori names so many sauces, that she forgot what Principal Huggins and Cheryl's orders were. When Lynn Sr. places the orders on the counter, she struggles to balance them all at once. However, when she gets to the table, she gets distracted by a fly resting on her hand and ends up spilling all the food onto Principal Huggins.

Lori's next customers are Rita and Lisa. When Lori comments how difficult her job is, Lisa quickly makes her a backpack with robotic arms. However, when Lori attempts to help out a couple customers, her robotic backpack suddenly activates and overtakes Lori, who is unable to shut it off. Fighting the backpack, Lori stops it by ripping off some of its arms.

When Lori tells her father that being a waiter is not her thing, Lynn Sr. suggests that she work in the kitchen alongside him. The first task Lori is assigned is to chop up the onions, but her eyes start to water as a result. Lori quickly grabs a towel, but she ends up dropping Lynn Sr.'s collection of aged rib eye steaks, causing Kotaro to slip on one of them. Lori attempts a third job by being a valet. However, her first driver is Flip, whose van is a pigsty that Lori can't operate due to the engine not starting up and the gear stick breaking. From this point on, Lori attempts to do every other job there is at the restaurant, like storage, cleaning, etc. However, she ends up making a mistake no matter what. Realizing that her career at the restaurant is hopeless, Lori sadly tells her father that she's going to leave, but not before telling him a couple announcements she planned in advance. Suddenly, Lynn Sr. tells him that there actually is a job perfect for Lori: management.

Later, Lori proves to be a successful manager, and she and Lynn Sr. promise to make the most of it while they can. Also, Lori managed to take care of Scoots' difficult attitude by having her hang out with the bikers.

## Cast

* Catherine Taber as Lori / Young Lori
* Grey Griffin as Scoots / Cheryl
* Lara Jill Miller as Lisa
* Jill Talley as Rita / Robot Arms
* Brian Stepanek as Lynn Sr. / Biker #2
* John DiMaggio as Flip / T-Bone
* Phil LaMarr as Kotaro
* Stephen Tobolowsky as Principal Huggins

Grant and Biker Woman has no lines in the episode.

## Trivia

* The title of this episode is a reference at the fact that it involves Lori being a **wait**er.
* This is the first episode directed by Jessica Borutski.
* This is the third episode where Lori has an occupation as a waiter, the first two being "The Waiting Game" and "Job Insecurity".
	+ Coincidentally, the title card is similar in appearance to that of "The Waiting Game".
* This is the second time Lynn Sr. refers to Lisa as "Lisa Marie", the first being "April Fools Rules".
* It is revealed that Lori struggled with her multiplication tables when she was in elementary school.
* **Innuendo**: The way Lisa's ketchup-covered glasses fall to the floor in slow motion plays up the over-dramaticness of Lisa being "killed".
	+ According to Sarah Johnson, she put this gag into the episode.

## References

* ***Can't Hardly Wait*** - The title of this episode is a pun on the expression "can hardly wait", which means that somebody is excited.
* ***The Velvet Underground*** - The banana shirt young Lori was holding is most likely a reference to this band's 1995 five-disc box set *Peel Slowly and See*.
* ***Spider-Man*** - Lisa's robot arms invention are similar to this superhero's enemy, Doctor Octopus.

## Errors

* After the robot arms chopped up the customers' food, it disappears from the plates.
* When Lori is apologizing to her dad and Kotaro after she accidentally dropped the aged rib eye, the towel she was holding overlapped the onions.

## Video

The Loud House - Salad Dressings - Nickelodeon UK