When Beth, the kids, and I recently went to a dining establishment I had the idea of writing about a part of my past. It was a pivotal part of my life, it was a less than flashy and quite dirty time. My first real job was as a Server Assistant Post Dining Engineer or bus boy for short at Chili's Bar and Grill. This was when Chili's was known more for their exceptional service, cleanliness, and odd paraffinilia on the shelves. I served a 2 year term with the firm, before not renewing my contract with them, becoming a free agent and signing with a shoe company in the mall. The joke from my managers when I left was I was going to hang up my polo to become Al Bundy!
Whenever the family and I are eating out I always watch the "Busser(s)" at work. Partly judging them when they are less than efficient, and in some cases impressed with their technique and speed. I am not sure if it gets on Beth's nerves when I make comments or watch semi creepily as the people are doing their job, watching like it is the last 2 minutes of the 2008 NCAA Championship game (KU vs Memphis). What Beth does not understand or see when someone is cleaning off the tables is the underlying story, history, and drama.
Let me explain the caste system that happens in the fine dining industry. There is no job lower than that of a bus boy or girl, the dish washer is something that is earned and thus a higher rank! As a busser you are never cleaner than when you are handed your uniform, the reds, blues and greens will never be brighter, once a busser puts a uniform on, it is instantly stained. Think of when you have been at a restaurant and a person that works there walks by and has stains of dried food on their shirt... it is kind of gross. Now think of a boxer or a professional fighter, and you see the cuts and scars on them, you think "This guy (or girl) must be tough, must be good or at least can take a beating". The wait staff looks down on you, because they have to cut you into their tips even though your function is to clean up after the tip. The dish washer looks down on you because you just keep piling up a mess for them. The hostesses are the popular girls from your school and the schools around you, they look down on you because no matter how fast you bus a table they are getting a talking to from the people waiting to get seated. And the hostesses look down on you because you are sweaty, smelly, and deemed socially awkward. The shift managers look down on you because you are always walking around like a hawk stalking tables looking for your next quest. (YOU DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE STAND AND WAIT! You do that and you are asking for the manager to rip you apart..."Hey kid, why don't you do something while you are doing nothing!") The toilet is overflowing in the mens restroom, and somehow it is your job. The mop is either crusty and rock hard, or the mop is misplaced and you end up "mopping" it up with paper towels. It doesn't matter that it is not sanitary... a busser is not making or delivering food.
I know i have painted a detailed picture and reading this you may think I am over exaggerating... I wish I was, and I could have been more honest.
Through my years serving in the trenches and observing to gain material for my book "A Bus With No Wheels" (a working title) I have realized that you can categorize the profession into a few categories:
- The Armstrong - They are either on drugs or are just doing this to get money for drugs. These are harder to see until looking back. They also are not very hard workers, do not clean well and have a tenancy to be found mostly at the hostess station because they think they have a shot or the girls older brother knows the the person from a party.
- The Strong Arm (aka The Ant) - They are a smaller weaker looking person who seems like they are an average performer, but they end up busing a table of 9 people in one trip. Lifting twice their body weight in plates, cups and food.
- The Mail Man - They show up for their shift... unless the weather is bad and their parents don't want them out. They stand around and you can tell they hate their job, they do the bare minimum and rarely rinse out the rag they wipe the table with. They move at the pace of a slug and MAY or MAY NOT be wearing orthopedic shoes.
- The Tebow - They are named this after Tim Tebow's speech after their Ole Miss Loss. You can see when they bus a table that they either are quoting the speech, fully bought into the speech, or have it tattooed across their back. The Tebow is a rare sight to see, a spectator would view them as possibly the hardest working person in the restaurant. They hustle to the table, they clean and give their all, and are usually the ones with the most stains on their shirt due to not caring what it takes to get the job done. If they are a male they most likely have a barely noticeable mustache that they have been growing for 2 months.
As the holidays are here, and friends and family dine out more often I ask you to keep a few things in mind. Bussers are people and should be noticed. They work hard and get little to no credit. And if you happen to come across a Tebow or Ant, show them some love and no one ever got in trouble for giving them a tip. A tip whether money or just encouragement goes a very long way. I can speak to that personally, on a Friday or Saturday night when bullets are flying and people are dying, there are 60 min+ waits, a nice word goes a long way to the bottom of the barrel of the food industry. You may never see the person that cleans your table, but you never know how they could affect your life later down the road.
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