After we sold the restaurant in 2004, I said to myself I would never work in a restaurant again. Looking back, I should never say never for when I focused on where I did not want to be, I learned now it was likely where I might be.
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Not long after we sold the business, my husband got a call from his friend, Mark*, who owned a restaurant. Mark said he needed some help urgently. He said one of his employees had not shown up for work on weekends. He asked my husband if I could work a few hours at night on Fridays and Saturdays. Of course, I said no. I did not want to work in restaurants anymore. I said he could easily hire help because servers liked to work on weekends. However, Mark said he did not need someone to wait on tables. He needed someone to seat the customers, answer the phone, write down carryout orders, and take care of the cash register. He said some Chinese might not be able to answer the phone because of their limited understanding of English. He asked my husband to talk to me again. I did not really know Mark, but my husband had known him since young. My husband wanted me to help Mark, and I finally agreed to work there temporary (i.e. until Mark hired someone else).
I arrived at the restaurant in the afternoon. Since I had to take care of the cash register, Mark told me what to do every time I came to work. He said he put a certain amount of cash in the register every morning, e.g. 20 $5 and 10 $10. When I came to work, I should add up all the receipts of dine-in and carryout orders of the day. Then I should check if the money in the cash register corresponded to the money he put in and the sum of the receipts. I did as he said. There was $10 more than it should be. I thought I had make a mistake somewhere. I added the receipts again. Indeed, there was an extra $10.
The boss (Mark) worked in the kitchen. I told him what I found. He said, "Oh, before you came, a customer walked in and ordered. I took care of his order. He gave me $10. I forgot to write a receipt."
The job was easy. I got along with the waitresses. When they were busy, I helped them clean up the tables. Sometimes they asked me to take care of their customers. They asked me to take the tips on those tables, but I never did. A waitress who had worked there for a couple of years was surprised that some customers left tips for me when they picked up their carryout orders. She said she handled the cash register before, but she never got any tips. I did not keep the tips. I passed the tips to the cooks. The customers came because they liked the food. The cooks decided to use the money to buy lottery tickets. They always gave me a copy of the numbers.
After a couple of weeks, I asked Mark if I could leave. He wanted me to stay. I said I really did not want to work in restaurants anymore. I asked him to hire new help.
Some more weeks passed. Mark told my husband and me that he had to go to China for four to five days to take care of some personal business. He wanted me to take care of the restaurant while he was away. In other words, I had to work from morning to close up at night. I suggested for him to let another person take charge. This person was very good in English, and had worked for him for a long time. However, he said he knew whom he could trust. I promised to help him this time, but he needed to hire someone else when he came back. He asked me to go to the restaurant the day before he left for China so that he could show me how to set up everything in the morning.
When I came in that morning, he said he did not have the time to add up last night's receipts. He asked me to check if the money in the cash register was correct while he worked with the cooks to get things ready in the kitchen. I was surprised the same thing happened again. There was $5 more than it should be! I told Mark about it. He said a customer came in late last night and ordered a few egg rolls. The customer gave him $5, and he forgot to write it down.
Mark, a cook, or a waitress packed the carryout orders. They usually put two packets of soy sauce with an order. If a customer wanted another packet of soy sauce, cookie, or chopsticks, Mark charged 5 to 25 cents for each additional packet or item. It was very different from what I did in our restaurant.
In our restaurant, I never charged any money when customers asked for more soy sauce packets. We also gave hot mustard packets free if they asked. For each small order, we put one fortune cookie in the bag. Many times, I put two cookies in because I knew the husband and wife were sharing it. In time, I came to know the customers well. A few families had five or six children. When they ordered, I always put more cookies in.
One time, my son was taking care of the dining room and the orders. He told me a woman came in with five kids to pick up a small order. She asked for four more cookies so that the kids could each have one. My son asked how much money should he charge for the cookies. I told him to give her five more cookies free so that the woman could have a cookie too. After the woman and her children left, my son was upset. He said, "Mom, how can you give them cookies without charging more money? No doubt the restaurant is not earning money." I said I knew this family was not rich. Sometimes they dined in our restaurant. They could not order much. They shared the soup and food. The children were very happy as if this was a special occasion for them. I said, "I always put more cookies in if I know a family has more than one or two kids. For instance, a family with three kids order a quart of sweet and sour chicken from us. We normally put two fortune cookies with a quart size order. Do you want to be the kid who cannot have a cookie because there are only two cookies?" My son was quiet for a while. "Is it very wrong for me to put in another cookie if I know there are three kids?" I added.
Of course, I had to follow Mark's instruction since I worked in his restaurant. Occasionally, I saw customers winced when I told them the extra charge for each additional packet of soy sauce. I talked to Mark about it. I knew some Chinese restaurants did not charge for soy sauce packets. Mark said every penny mattered, and it was the reason his business was a success. He had his restaurant for a long time, and it was true he was quite successful. I thought I was not there to change anything since my work there was temporary. I came up with a way to handle the situation. Every time I came to work, I took with me a handful of coins. When a customer asked for an extra packet of soy sauce, I gave it to him or her without charge. I took a nickel from my own pocket and put it in the drawer of the cash register. I believed I used less than a dollar of my own money while I worked there since most of Mark's regular customers did not ask for extras.
When the boss was away, I had to take care of packing carryout orders. Therefore, the cooks and I came to know each other better. They had worked for Mark for years. It seemed they worked well together. The waitresses talked to me after the rush hours. They told me Mark liked to scold people. Some servers left after working there for just a few days because of his temper. The waitress who had worked there for two years said I was the only one that Mark had shown much respect. She said the boss had spent less time in the restaurant in the recent year. He asked the waitresses to take turns taking care of the cash register when he was not there. One day, he scolded her for stealing $10. She said she was sure she did not make a mistake, and did not understand why the boss said $10 was missing. I realized the extra $10 and $5 in the drawer might be a test for my honesty.
When Mark came back, I told him to hire somebody else. He sat down with me in the restaurant a few times trying to convince me to stay, but I did not stay. In all fairness, it was a pleasant work experience. There was harmony in the restaurant, and Mark did not scold anybody while I worked there. However, my mind was set. I did not want to work in restaurants anymore.
Months later, my husband and I happened to come across Mark. During our conversation, he said it was not easy to find someone who was honest and capable of taking care of the restaurant. He said to my husband, "Your wife is honest, but many are not. When I let other people handle the cash register, it is like there is a hole in the drawer."
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If you have been reading my blog, you probably know that years later I worked in a cafe. My amazing dream played a part in that experience.
One day, I participated in the quarterly healing service at church. I believed there were seven or eight healers that day. Afterwards, a woman came to me. She asked, "Where do you work?" I said, "I work in a cafe." It seemed she already knew that. She looked at me. She said, "You are a healer! Why do you work in a cafe?" I did not expect to hear that. I did not know how to respond. She repeated those words (i.e. you are a healer...) before she walked away.
I knew my cafe experience was relevant on my journey. It was in divine order that we were here to connect and work with other people. When I said I did not want this or that, there was a negative emotion attached to what I said. I was glad I felt good in these restaurant experiences. I truly appreciated the people I met and worked with.
I understood the sister who talked to me at church meant well. She must have seen something that day, and wanted me to step forward. Oh, Sister, at times I wonder what to do too.
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Different people have different experiences. To some people, giving away something without charging money or paying for the soy sauce packets out of my own pocket is stupid. Every penny counts may be the right attitude towards building a business. I cannot say I am right or wrong. Experiences are experiences, and it is not about who is right or wrong. However, what matters to me the most is I am at peace with what I do, and, I am.
Peace,
Q of D
*not the actual name
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