Waiting tables in public service

.@AdamPOlsen is now waiting tables at the reception. #MultiTalented #SideHustle @ElizabethMay @kidderjohn #yyj pic.twitter.com/G5XwNYUSoh

— Stefan Jonsson (@spjonsson) April 22, 2019

I cannot sit in a banquet hall surrounded by un-bussed tables. When the plates are stacking up and dirty utensils litter the linens, my training in The Dining Room Restaurant at the Butchart Gardens kicks in. Table management is important.

I’m thankful for my deep roots serving the public, it started in my 20’s as a waiter. In many ways, that’s the way I still see myself. The communication skills and techniques that I learned in the restaurant business are still the butter on my bread.

The days toiling “in the weeds” when our restaurant got hit with a rush taught me how to manage a mass of information and expectations. Working through pressure has certainly come in handy in my current job and there are striking similarities between walking up to the doorstep of a complete stranger and a new table to serve. You never know what you are going to get, so you quickly learn how to read body language and other non-verbal communication cues.

Always thank the cooks!

Relationships are as critical to success in the restaurant business as they are in politics. It’s not just the relationship the guests that is important, you have to maintain the internal ones as well. The manager organizes the schedule and decides who gets the best shifts. The best shifts equal the potential for big tips. Supervisors organize the front of the house, and they determine who get the best sections. Hosts organize the guests, and they determine who sits in what section and when. Bus staff help manage the quality of the experience. And, that is just at the front of the house.

The kitchen is a whole other world. I have seen many waiters fail because they did not understand the cooks and that their relationship with the cooks will make or break them. It is easy, and lazy, for a waiter to blame the cooks. No doubt lazy and careless cooks produce poor quality food which requires more work out front. But look after the cooks and they look after you! Same goes for the dish pit. I started in the dish pit and I know that nothing happens in a restaurant without the dishwasher and there should be no one in the restaurant who is too important to roll up their sleeves and wash the dishes.

In my time in the restaurant industry, I always worked to break down the hierarchy. Same for politics. It is easy for an elected official to let their achievement go their head. The same goes for a waiter. Success comes from a confluence of energies working together toward a common goal. Each role is as important as the other and just one part of the whole operation.

It is true that I get the honour of standing in the Chamber, under the lights and in front of the camera. I am one of 87 people in British Columbia who get to speak in the people’s house. But, that honour is due to the hard work and dedication of hundreds of people who are never seen.

Do the groundwork!

So when I walk up to a neatly set table, and I begin the process of the next dining experience, I know I have done the groundwork. I know that I am working the good shifts and in the good section. I know that the hosts are selecting the good guests and spacing them with enough time in between to give me a chance. The bussers are working my section hard because I respect them and I show it. And, I can rely on the food prepared for my section to be fresh and the details and presentation to be first rate.

So, if you see me clearing plates it is partly because I cannot sit and look at an un-bussed table and partly because I learned in my time as a waiter that success comes from us all being willing to do whatever is needed.