Tales of a waitress

[raven]

The weirdest thing happened at work today. I was wandering along, pretty in maroon with pinny and pigtails and gathering up empty mugs and cups, when I came to a table where an elderly man and most likely his wife, plus another little old lady, were sitting with a pot of tea and some scones. The pot was empty, so I did the whole can-I-take-that-for-you thing and added it to my tray.

The man stopped me. "How are you settling in?"

I gave him my best I-have-no-idea-what-you're-talking-about smile and nod, whilst desperately going through my memory to try and remember if I'd seen him before. There are some people who come every week (yes, it baffles me too) and they get to know the waitresses and like to take an interest in us. But I didn't recognise him as one of them.

He tried again. "How long have you been over here?"

I took a deep breath. "Over where?"

"Here."

Smile, nod...

"In this country."

I gave him a Look. "Seventeen years. I was born in Liverpool."

It was his turn to smile and nod, as if what I'd said didn't exactly fit into his worldview. When I walked off carrying the tray, I saw him staring after me with a baffled expression on his face.

Weird, no? I suppose on some level I ought to have been offended, but it was just so weird and funny and surreal that I couldn't help but find it strangely amusing. A strange way to end it, but what can you do. Even though I've quit for now, I think I may end up going back. It's a terribly boring job, but the people are nice. And that's always worth something. They really seemed sorry to see me go today - can't think why - even though they've already got a replacement for me. My last day was the first day of the new girl, who I already know - her name's Margaret and she goes to Merchants. A small piece of cosmic irony, methinks.

Comments

[arianwen.livejournal.com]

Well I guess he was being polite. I totally didn't understand ... that whole story, for ages. I truly had to stop and think about it. Maybe cause I'm a bit slow on the ol' uptake sometimes.. x

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*grins* Don't blame you. It was so weird that it even took me a few minutes to get it.

[ex-senza930.livejournal.com]

Oh, man. People are just so incredibly dumb sometimes. I suppose there's not anything necessarily insulting about the question itself, but it exposes an obvious and rather ignorant assumption, no?

I'm quite sure I would make the world's worst waitress. I salute you for keeping at it this long. ;)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

As long as I keep my pinny, you don't have a chance of being world's worst waitress. I drop stuff. I catch it, generally, but I still drop stuff.

Yes, the weird guy - you've got to wonder what thoughts were going through his head. I suppose Teasels Coffee Shop isn't exactly a cosmopolitan hub, but still.

[tygermoonfoxx.livejournal.com]

At least his was a thoughtful inquiry; I've seen much worse over here. I guess it's not easy to take offense at an elderly man.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

You're right - you couldn't take offence. Just nod, smile, then go off and tell all your friends about it. :)