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I enjoy dining out, but I cannot stand crowded restaurants anymore. I was a hostess at a restaurant for about 5 years though college. I did briefly serve, but that's not my cup of tea. I think people underestimate the hostess (or host) position. I had a lot of duties actually, including opening, closing, answering phones, running waitsheets, taking reservations, bussing tables, filling the salad bar, and taking to go orders. Opening was pretty easy because everything should have been clean from the night before. I would roll out carpets, brew iced tea and coffee, set up the soda machines, and assign servers to their sections. Closing was more difficult... I had to roll up the carpets, sweep the floors, break down the soda machines and clean all the little nozzles, clean out the coffee pots and iced tea pots, sanitize all the counters in the kitchen, and clean the glass doors. I was actually paid by the servers to do everything. Here's how it worked: our servers made $2.83 an hour, and the rest was to be made up in tips. (Please think about that the next time you decide to not tip a server.) The servers would then split their tips between the hostesses and salad bar attendants. I made a little more than the servers for my hourly rate, but they usually made much more in tips.
I've dealt with everything you can imagine running the front door. First of all, hostesses don't really care if you want a booth or table. It was my job to seat the dining room fairly so all the servers had the same amount of tables. Yes, there is a system, we don't just randomly decide where to seat you. Nothing is more annoying than someone giving me 50 reasons why they can't sit at a table. If you want a booth, tell the hostess in advance. Next, a hostess cannot seat 50 tables in a row, so don't complain if you have to wait for 15 minutes in the lobby and some of the tables in the dining room are empty. By seating 50 tables in a row, you would successfully cause a huge traffic jam in the kitchen, and that 50th table seated would likely wait over an hour for their food to cook. Third, it is rude to throw pagers at the hostesses. It's not my fault you have a party of 12 on a busy Saturday night and consequently the wait is an hour. There are only so many tables that can be pushed together to accommodate large parties. I'm sorry if the sun is in your eyes, or you're too close to the smoking section, or too close to the kitchen, or in the bar area, or the music is too loud. I'm not a mind reader... again, just following the order of my seating chart.
I did enjoy my hostess job though, and it certainly made me a stronger and more outgoing person. And I had a lot of regular guests who made the job enjoyable. It was just every once in a while we'd get a sour guest. I even got to train a whole group of new hostesses for a new store opening. However, now every time I dine out in a crowded restaurant, I notice EVERYTHING. The table to my left that hasn't been greeted by their server and are anxiously waiting, the onions on the sandwich I specifically said I didn't want, the empty containers on the salad bar, and the hostess getting angry because she has to clean off a booth because people were unhappy with their table. Next time you dine out, take these things into consideration, and please be nice to the hostess!
On to racing... last weekend I went to Summit Point Motorsports Park to see some racing with my mom and dad. It was fun despite dodging thunderstorms! Congrats to IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon for finally winning another race in Kansas this past weekend. (I know my friend Theresa was thrilled!) The IndyCars move on to the exciting month of May now with many festivities at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Here are this week's racing forecasts:
IndyCar Series - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Opening Day & Rookie Orientation, Sunday (5/4). The excitement leading up to the Indy 500 kicks off with cool and sunny conditions. A low pressure system will push through Friday and Saturday bringing some showers and storms. By Sunday, however, high pressure will build in bringing sunny skies, but cooler temperatures. The high will be near 60 degrees.
NASCAR Nationwide Series - Richmond International Raceway, Friday (5/2) at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Well, NASCAR makes a stop very close to home this weekend! If you're taking some time off from the Apple Blossom Festival to go to the race, have an umbrella handy just in case. Friday will be partly cloudy and warm with temperatures near 80 for the start of the race. There is a slight chance of a pop up shower or storm.
NASCAR Sprint Cup - Richmond International Raceway, Saturday (5/3) at 7 p.m. ET on FOX. Saturday will be another warm day with a race time temperature in the upper 70's. Most of the day will be partly sunny, but there is a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms at night when a front advances across the state. It will be breezy with winds out of the south at 8 - 14 mph.
Winchester Speedway - Winchester/Cumberland Clash. Well, here we go again... another front moving in from the west will bring the threat of showers and thunderstorms in the late afternoon through the night. Temperatures will be in the lower 70's with a breeze from the south at 10 - 15 mph.
Hershey Vintage Hillclimb - Hershey, PA, Saturday (5/3) and Sunday (5/4). It wouldn't be the Hershey Hillclimb without a threat of rain! A low pressure system will move across the region over the weekend, bringing the threat of showers and thunderstorms. Temperatures on Saturday will top out near 65 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. Sunday will have a chance of showers early as the system departs. Temperatures will again be in the mid 60's.
Here is a double rainbow I spotted on my way out to Summit Point after a storm last Friday.
On the track at Summit Point... it's still a little wet.
Cars racing on Sunday in damp weather.
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