A Little Push

I believe that a little push is necessary in order to improve. My sister already found a job at a restaurant last year to earn some pocket money. While she worked, I was at home studying for the SATs. I procrastinated on job finding until early May when I found a job at this Asain restaurant. I thought the first day would be easy considering I was a trainee and my training day was on a Thursday, which should’ve been a slow day.

 

I still remember that day. It was one of the most stressful days in my life. My job was to wait on people, take calls, handle the money, and package sushi. I thought, “Big deal, seems like an easy job”. I also thought I would be job shadowing one of the workers, but no. That did not happen. The manager gave me a paper menu and told me to study it. Then the phone rang. He picked it up and greeted the customer, took their order on the computer, and sends it to the kitchen. Not even a minute passed when the phone rang again. He asked me if I wanted to take the call. I thought, “Are you kidding me? I am not familiar with the menu or how the computer works yet you want me to take a call?” I shook my head so the manager picked the phone and took the customer's order. After he placed the phone down, he told me that I would be picking up the next call.

 

True to word, the next call was all on me. I picked it up and gave the customer a nice greeting before taking his order. On the computer, each dish was placed in a specific category so it would be easier to find. I just couldn’t figure out where each dish was because I wasn’t familiar with the computer. The manager left me on my own too when the customer called. I messed up so much that at one point, the manager sighed and asked me, “How come you’re so bad at this?” I felt horrible and almost cried. But he let me stay. The workers there sympathized with me and told me that I was doing great and that everyone messes up on their first day. When business quieted down, I studied the menu and the computer until I understood the basics. I knew that my manager had a lot of expectation so once I got home I studied like crazy. I quickly got better at my job and on the third day, I remembered exactly where each dish was and was able to take calls with occasional help from my manager. I realized I had improved a lot because of the pressure my manager gave me. Now I’m doing well and even teaching a new worker myself. I taught her what my manager taught me, but I gave her less pressure so I don’t overwhelm her.

 

Nowadays, the only thing my manager pressures me about is to increase my workdays. I said no and he is definitely giving me more work to do because I decline.