Double Delight On The Diner Day Shift

My restaurant is mostly known as a breakfast and lunch spot and has been a local staple since the sixties. Day shifts can be brutal here because we get slammed more often than not. 

By the time 1:00 pm rolls around, I’m starting to be over it, having been there since 8:00 am and going nonstop. That’s when I have a party of three seated in my section: a mom and two girls, probably about eight years old.

Mom: “[Girl #1], tell the server your order.”

She does so.

Mom: “Okay, [Girl #2], it’s your turn to order.”

It turns out that the little girl and I have the same name. I always give tables my name at the end of ordering because they seem to remember it better that way, so after Mom orders, I say:

Me: “My name is also [Girl #2]! Please let me know if you need anything at all.”

The little girls’ faces lit up. From that point on, every time I was at the table, they called me by my name and giggled with excitement. Mom let them do all the talking and make all the requests from then on since they were having so much fun. Any time I glanced over to keep an eye on the table, they were peeking over the top of the booth at me. It was so cute.

When they asked for boxes at the end, I wrote, “Stay awesome,” and, “Stay amazing,” with hearts on the tops of the boxes so that they would see it and be surprised as they closed the boxes. They loved it and jumped up and asked me for a hug.

On their way out of the restaurant, they stopped at the drink station and asked me for my autograph. I signed the boxes, and they were over the moon about it. They giggled and glanced back at me the whole way out of the restaurant.

It was truly one of my favorite experiences after working in restaurants for seven years and absolutely the best thing to help me get through a long shift.