Working
as a breakfast waiter
One summer, when I was a student in London, I worked as a breakfast
waiter with a friend for a busy three-star hotel in London. It was my
first time working in a hotel, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
(0)
F - However,
the work was hard and the working hours unsociable.
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We worked
six days a week, from half past six in the morning to one o'clock in
the afternoon. As we started work so early, we had to take the first
tube train at 5.30 a.m. In this hotel, each breakfast waiter was in
charge of his or her own kitchen, so as soon as we arrived at the hotel,
we were given the breakfast order slips for our floor. We also had to
collect the bread rolls, butter, jam and marmalade from the kitchen
fridge. (1)
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Once in my
kitchen, the first thing I had to do was to start the boiler to heat
the water to make tea and coffee. While this was in progress, I sorted
the orders into fifteen minute piles. All the breakfasts had to be delivered
at specific times during the morning. For this reason, it was important
to know how many breakfast trays to prepare for each time. The breakfast
trays had to be laid out in a set way, each with enough cups and saucers,
rolls, butter, etc. The breakfast order slips also indicated whether
the guests preferred tea or coffee. (2)
Finally, the trays needed
to be loaded onto a trolley and then I was ready to deliver my first
breakfasts.
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I would push
the trolley around my floor, stopping at the rooms indicated on the
breakfast order slips. Once at the door I would knock on the door and
call out the words "Room service!" I would then wait for the
guests to open their doors so I could hand them their trays. (3)
Sometimes I had to knock
again to wake people up. |
| This is how
it continued until the last breakfast was served. When it was quiet
it was possible to visit waiters on the other floors. In-between serving
breakfasts, used trays needed to be collected, teapots cleaned, etc.
(4) |
Others preferred to go
to the restaurant on the ground floor.
The work was very tiring for us, especially at first. It seemed impossible
to go to sleep earlier, so when we finished at the hotel, we would often
go to one of London's parks and end up sleeping for an hour or so; sometimes
longer. We were usually so tired first thing in the morning that we
would fall asleep on the tube. It surprises me how we always managed
to wake up in time to get off at our stop. |
In the peak
period, when the hotel was fully booked in August, there were two of
us in each kitchen. It was more fun having someone to talk to. We met
a lot of people during our time as breakfast waiters and there was a
high turnover. Every month or so new chambermaids, receptionists, and
kitchen staff seemed to come and go. The same was true of the waiting
staff. (5)
We were the only waiters
who were students in Britain, although there were other, foreign students.
We also met Italians spending some time abroad to avoid doing military
service, a couple of Greek out-of-work actors, and a crazy Spanish
anarchist who told us he was in London because he "had to leave
his country" for reasons he never specified.
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Eventually
he was sacked from the hotel. This happened because he became bored
with the procedures one day and decided to serve all the breakfasts
at the same time. Of course, the guests complained, but he didn't seem
to care. (6)
This was near the end of
the summer, and by then we had all had enough of the hotel. Although
I was ready to leave when September came, I will always have fond memories
of the time I spent working as a breakfast waiter. |
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