JL - The Wall

This week I returned to a completely different lodge. The parking lot was full of motor bikes, cars, and RVs. The lodge was fully operational with new employees at each station. I’d never seen so many people in the gift shop at once – or the milk shake machine!!! I was introducing myself to new people left and right! Some of them thought I was brand new and offered their welcomes while others responded with, “Oh! You’re David!” A couple of girls even went as far to say, “Oh! You’re David! David the dancer, I’ve heard of you!” To which I would smile, laugh, and then leave. Apparently I was talked about in the girl’s dorm while I was gone. A couple of them were especially excited that I knew how to lindy hop. Tasha – who I worked with on the counter three days in a row – later told me about another conversation that took place in the break room. They couldn’t quite figure me out and finally labeled me as a ‘mysterious flirt’ because I was really nice, but to everyone. Again I just laughed. It reminded me of the time when I was first working with the Stokes brothers. I found out that it was a customer’s birthday that day and found them a piece of cake to celebrate. I wanted the boys from the kitchen to come out singing with the cake, but they were too skeptical to go through with it. Later I found out that they just didn’t trust me – thinking that I was setting them up somehow and that there was no way that I would be that outwardly nice to complete strangers. They later learned that I was legit – naturally a nice guy ;).


Day One – The Trailer

My first work day back at the lodge was spent playing in the mud underneath a mobile home. We needed more space for the house keeping employees and had thus purchased a used trailer home to house them. The first part of the day was spent leveling the trailer with hydraulic jacks, cinder blocks and 2x4s. Sale and I did most of the muscle work while 86 year old Uncle George gave us instructions. He was a straight shooter – told it how it was and always hit things right on the head. And he frequently said damn. I liked him.

more to be posted here...


Seeking Validation

As I came in and out of the lodge throughout the day I kept meeting new people that I hadn’t seen the night before. Again I was perceived as a new kid until I introduced myself as David. When asked in which department of the lodge I was working I would raise my hands and shrug my shoulders indicating that I didn’t know. At first however I felt that I needed to prove myself to everyone – seeking their validation. After a few introductions I recognized what I was doing and reminded myself that I didn’t need to appear ‘all knowing’ and prestigious to these new people. If I was to stay on with the “Elite Waitri Team’ then awesome, but if not awesome as well. And though I was very friendly to all the new faces, I found myself revert back to my old group of friends.

Day Two – Left Counter

My second day back blew my world away and started one of the greater learning curves that I’ve had while serving food. I was put on the afternoon swing shift. I was later to find out that the swing shift is the most difficult positions and often given to the more experienced employees.

In the lodge we have a horse shoe shaped counter surrounded by swivel chairs that people sit around and eat. The lodge also has a diner with tables for a more formal setting. During moderate times two waiters manage the diner and another two the counter. What makes swing especially difficult is that they manage the left counter and ‘swing’ into the diner during the rush hours and pick up a few tables.

I felt like it was my first day all over again! I was running around lik e achicken with it’s head cut off! And on top of that the girls that I was working with had only been there a few days.,… I was kept on late swing for three days straight – helping out a little with everyone. Besides two returning veterans of past years I was the go-to man for a lot of questions. Most times I knew the answer of could at least make one up that sounded about right… other times my hands found their way into the air followed by a shoulder shrug.

I was kept completely busy all day long – something I hadn’t yet experienced while waiting tables. Left counter certainly brought me out of my comfort zone and made me sweat like I hadn’t done since the snow mobile gang several months earlier.

I learned a few things about waiting tables this last week that I hope to never forget...

#1 – Being grateful for your co-workers goes a long way. Appreciating them for their positive attributes and overlooking their short comings… Offering little tips of advice yet not over bearing… Help them with their customers with no intention for reward – basically, be a really nice guy.

Number two ties in with number one… have an attitude of service. The left counter is also often the gathering place for the Rich family to eat. Mrs. Rich at 87 doesn’t move from that first seat very often. At first I was a little reluctant to have them continually there taking up counter space… essentially deterring business from my pocket. Here at the lodge, being provided with free room and board my only earnings come from tips generously offered by the customers. So basically – my services to the Rich family not only are for free, but cost me money as well for two hours a day. (Fix this…)

My attitude soon changed when I realized that my tip reports were above anyone elses that I worked with… I wondered how I could be shafted two hours a day yet still make above average tips. My conclusion came that it was that same attitude displayed to the Rich family that earned me good tips from the customers. My whole perspective changed… I looked forward to Mrs. Rich shuffling over to her seat. I loved clearing their plates without it being expected, I loved refilling their drinks and anticipating their needs. I relearned about myself that I loved serving people. I loved to smile and be charming. I loved being nice to people because it made me feel good! And it reflected in the way people tipped me.


Mrs. Rich

Jacob Lake Inn is a family run business established in 1923. Originally it was a trading post way back when for travelers to resupply their essentials along their journey through Arizona. Today, some 90 years later, the business has passed through several generations of the Rich family where John Rich at 63 some years old is not the majority share owner. Mrs. Effie Dean Rich is his mother and matriarch of the lodge. Though her family urges her to rest more than she does, she insists on returning to the lodge year after year to whip us Waitri into shape. I’d heard horror stories of her chewing kids out in front of everyone, humiliating them in front of their customers. I feared the day she showed up at the lodge to resume her post on the left counter.

Oh! Something else I learned! Be humble!!! Take the criticism and put it to good use! Mrs. Rich called me over several times my first day back to ask me what I was doing… The correction was brieg and to the point – most often in the form of a question. She preached consequences be over and over again, “I don’t believe in right or wrong – I believe in consequences.”

The lady was smart – and after decades of experience had become extremely efficient. After each talking to I would try and adjust accordingly. I found that life became easier with each pulling aside. I always addressed her as Mrs. Rich and ended most of my sentences directed to her with Ma’am. I cared for her needs and helped out where I could – almost like she were my own grandma that I was never mature enough to appreciate.

Effie Dean began to smile when she saw me and even called me sir. Occasionally she would throw ‘good sir’ in there and at the end of the week she called me “my good friend.” It made me extremely grateful that I didn’t let her pressure frustrate me for long.