Restaurant Work

I worked in a Greek restaurant called It's Greek To Me for three summers in high school. It was my first job besides babysitting. I got the job because I wanted some pocket money that has a more steady schedule than random babysitting jobs. My mom also thought it would be good to do before college. I definitely learned more than I thought I would working in that restaurant. And I also learned about work ethic. This job was definitely a lot of work for little pay.

Each shift was 5 hours long and mostly during the dinner hour. I started out as a hostess for a while, then learned how to ring up checks at the cash register and answer phones for take out orders. It was not until my third summer did I get the opportunity to become a waitress. Seems pretty simple right? That's what I thought too. Working in the restaurant business is much harder than I thought and the customers are so demanding and rude sometimes. They do not have any sympathy for the fact that you are actually trying to remember and process about 10 things in your head at once.

I only got paid minimum wage too. Think about that, after 5 hours at $7.15 an hour, you make only about $32 after taxes. That can barely buy you a tank of gas. And, of course you have to think about the gas you use to drive to work and the quarters you use to feed the meters for parking. That is pretty sad.

You couldn't ever live on this minimum wage budget! This job really did teach me to value my money and to work hard and get a good education so that my skill level and experience will allow me to be happy and secure in my career. I think it is important for all teenagers to have a job regardless of if they need the money or not whether its in retail, or the restaurant business or even at the local ice cream shop because it teaches responsibility more than a parent or school can.