Chapter 1: "The Working Life of a Waitress": Summary and reflection (Elizabeth Wingerter)

Chapter 1: “The Working Life of a Waitress”: Summary and reflection

Summary:

As Mike Rose acquires information from his mother about her job experience as a waitress beginning in the 1950s, she expresses what most waitresses come across in their everyday “work life”. He describes how challenging this job can be even though it is considered as “the least skilled lower class occupation,” (Rose 2). Rose believes that this occupation requires physical, social and cognitive skills when working. In the last half of the chapter he describes how important it is to contain an emotional dimension (Rose 20). This basically means providing every service needed, even if it is not necessarily required. It seems that being a waitress requires much effort in social situations when working with customers, managers, cooks and co-workers. This is the only job that requires a person to change their social dynamics each day in order to fit the role the customers want (Rose 21). For example, some want to see their server as a “mother, daughter, servant, friend or sexual object,” (Rose 21). In this field of work a waitress’s definition of “service” is altered because it depends on the consumer’s wants and needs that constantly change from table to table. It is then the work of a waitress to obtain these roles in order to fulfill the requirements in their job. The waitress- customer interaction is considered to be the most important part in this career because it directly relates to the process of emotions that come with being a waitress (Rose 22). Throughout this research it is easy to see that a waitress needs to have a great memory, the ability to stay focused, the physical stamina to last though the rush, and the process of keeping a ratio of waitress- consumer interaction (Rose 22). In the end Mike Rose’s mother recalls that even though the job is hard, “it’s interesting. You learn a lot as a waitress. You work like hell. But you learn a lot,” (Rose 24). Roses’ mother enjoyed this career because it never got boring even though it was a challenge. It gave her a sense of value and an identity throughout her life.

Reflection:

I chose this particular chapter because I also happen to be a waitress. Everything that Mike’s mother mentioned I have directly experienced. It takes many skills to “perform” each night on the dining room floor and it is nice to see someone break down the requirements of being a waitress. Reading this section of his book actually got me thinking differently about my job. I never though of myself as “changing character” in order to talk with my customers. However, I now realize that I do this every time I receive another table. I knew I had to have a physical stamina and the ability to think on my feet, but I never pictured my job as having an “emotional dynamic”. I do agree with Rose’s mother in the end when she mentioned that this service gave her the most sense of value because of all skills she had to acquire during this career. She said that this job gave her fulfillment and an identity even though it was not the most glamorous job. “This work provided her with a way to feel useful, engage her mind, and be in the flow of things” (Rose 6).