Monday, January 5, 2009

Review - Waiting: the true confessions of a waitress

So, this isn't a real review, since I've never done one and really don't know what I'm doing.

What you will get is the Amazon review:
In a truly just world, everyone would have to wait tables for at least six months, just to know what it's like. Failing that, we have writer-waiter Debra Ginsberg's tasty memoir to remind us about life on the other side of those swinging doors. Horror stories? After 20 years of serving other people's food, she's got 'em--and being handed a drunk's vomit-soaked napkins certainly fits the bill. But even though she expresses the usual frustrations with bad tippers and control freaks, in the long run Ginsberg is anything but bitter. In fact, she recently left her publishing job to return to waiting tables, hooked on the freedom, spare time, and ready cash the lifestyle provides. Of course, there are other perks too. Sex thrives in the close quarters and steamy atmosphere of a typical restaurant (not to mention with the high-drama personalities who work there). Fans of Kitchen Confidential will be relieved to know there's as much bad behavior among the floor staff as there is in the back of the house. As in that book, Ginsberg also relates some eyebrow-raising tales about what can happen before your food gets to your table. (The moral here: "It really does pay to be nice to your server.") But Waiting is far more than just a sexual soap opera or a cautionary guide for dining out; it's also the story of one woman's coming of age, most of which just happens to take place while she's wearing an apron. During her tenure as a waitress, Ginsberg thrives as a single mother and comes into her own as a writer--and waiting (as she suggestively calls it) helps her do both. Most of us (including waiters) think of the profession as a stopgap, not a career, but what happens on the way to somewhere else, Ginsberg writes, is every bit as important as the final destination: "Perhaps the most valuable lesson I'd learned was that the act of waiting itself is an active one. That period of time between the anticipation and the beginning of life's events is when everything really happens--the time when actual living occurs." --Mary Park --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
And my rating: 3 out of 5.

It was a good read, as a waitress in a past life I was able to relate to most of this. But, I only worked in bars, so there is some difference. I totally relate to the 'hating people' phases, and that it's really good money. It is a job that is looked down on, and I've never really understood that. Maybe people are jealous that their waitress makes more than they do and works less hours? Waitresses work their butts off and put up with alot of crap.
The reason for the rating is that is was a slow read. I don't know if I would have stuck to it if I hadn't forced myself.
Whether you've waitressed or not, you should read it. Just know it may take awhile.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I liked your review!