I
owe much to the restaurants I have worked.
It
is due to this debt, I write this ode.
Though,
even in the best of times, I do
Find
the onus to be odious, and a
Loathsome
labor, a wearying-work. Yet
The
restaurant has always been there for me;
Since
I left home, un-ripened, and tender,
At
the age of fifteen. My sojourn has
Not
toughened me, but rather softened me;
Like
a prime-cut, of well-marbled, aged beef.
In
the restaurants where I have toiled;
Dish-washed,
with my hands in a chemical
brine;
Cooked-dishes, with fingers in the
Open
flame; dishes-served, humble, knees bent
At
table with forks and knives, cut and slice
Butchering
meat, chopping vegetables,
Pouring
beer, decanting wine, mixing drinks
At
the bar. Now, grown older; I manage,
Like
a juggler, the many little things
That
other servers toss up in the air.
Managing
a restaurant is a feat;
A
floor show, a dance. It involves no small
Amount
of tumbling; twisting-acrobatics,
Mental,
and physical contortions,
It
calls for emotional endurance,
Extremes
of poise, of patience; balancing
Your
needs with your desires, for yourself, and all
Comers;
every guest, on the high-wire,
The
tightrope, fraught with expectations,
The
frayed line, taut with tension and timing.
Restaurants
have lined my pockets; thinly,
Filled
my belly, generously; I run
just
to keep my fat from jellying me.
A
restaurant is a laboratory;
Inspiration,
flashing fire in the pan;
Transformation,
calories become cash.
The
restaurant is vigorous, vital,
Convivial;
sharing time with one’s friends,
Co-workers,
talking about bits, and bites,
The
bitter and sweet, the tastes of the team.
Restaurant
life is a life of industry.
We
often hear it referred to as thus;
The
restaurant industry, where I serve,
In
an industry where hospes means
guest;
The
hospitality industry… has
An
emphasis on rest. The word itself;
Restaurant,
is derived from; to refresh,
Restore. Industry from; diligence, Zeal;
For
the pleasure of others. We give our
Ergs,
Our time for T.I.P.S.[1]; the small gratuity
Hospitality,
is an industry
And
the best word for the work that I do.
Hospitality,
where work becomes quest
In
it, I am not servus, meaning slave;
I am
Hospitaliter-knight, on a
Crusade.
Hospitality links my work
To
an ancient world, and a way of life
That
gives the guest; repose, and respite,
Remove
from the vicissitudes of life;
A
plate of victuals to ease their plight.
Laws
of hospitality are ancient;
are
sacred, universal, and binding
To
all; common before all other codes;
Written
in our hearts before Manu, and
Before
Pharaoh, before Hammurabi set his
Law
in stone, before Abraham, Moses
These
laws governed the conduct of kings,
Emperors,
of gods. Great Hercules was
Sentenced
to labor, for a breach of these,
He
found redemption in their fulfillment.
Am I
grandiose to think of my work
In
these terms? Perhaps; I wonder, and yet
Laboring
in restaurants, more often
Than
not, is a great production, a grand
Play,
staged in a theatre of the absurd
All
of these restaurants have taught me much
About
life; about living, about How
To
endure the painful hits, and the jibes;
To
smile, through the hours of servitude,
The
delights that delimit, and surprise,
At
fifteen years old I took on this role.
When
asked what I was learning through serving;
“Humility,”
I replied, with small pride,
A
quality, which I had been lacking,
And
though, I had yet to become humbled,
A
process called deference was working
In
me, a drop of acid, a base note,
Serving
the guest was changing me; slowly,
Making
me into something new, as with
The
magic of cooking over low heat.
I
have aspired to do more than serve;
To
be on the quest, and yet, looking back
This
work has allowed me to do so much;
The
schedules are always as flexible
As
the duties call the server to be.
I
have run distances, like Marathon,
Earned
a few Masters degrees; fueling
My
endeavors with pastas, with coffee,
Espresso,
chocolate…with wine to unwind
An
equivalency…bread for my time.
I
owe much to the restaurants that have
Broadened
my palate; as my horizons;
Acquainting
me with more people than most
Can
meet throughout the long course of their lives,
Serving
all types, from all walks of life;
Both
the kind, and the mean, the gracious good
Tippers,
and the uptight penny pinchers,
The
sordid the spoiled, the clean and upright.
Serving
in restaurants, while often a woe;
Year
after year has me coming for more.
Given
at the Sisyphus Brewery
Poets
n’ Pints, Second Anniversary Review
2017.02.15
