The Waiter Chronicles: Go Toward The Light

I sat down with one of the Ristorante owners last week to have what was, to her, an obvious conversation. Before I could even begin, she preempted me, "You're quitting."

That is was so obvious made it easier. Not that it was going to be terribly difficult, announcing that I'd been offered a call at a church and that my time at the Ristorante would soon be over; but I felt a strong need to relate to The Owners as colleagues, and not just as bosses. So, even though I won't start at the church until early February, I felt I should let them know now.

It's somewhat surprising how much more enjoyable an end-date has made my work. Now that it's only something I'm doing in the interim, I can admit to myself and my fellow waiters that I'm not very good at this. At the same time, given a two-month timetable, I can set a couple of modest goals. I can challenge myself to master a couple key waiter skills before my tenure is up, like making a solid recommendation for a bottle of white wine to go with the Sea Bass or telling a diner, "No, you can't add to chicken to a Spaghetti Pescatora."

There will be time to reflect on these six months, what the Ristorante has taught me and what, if any, contribution I have made to it. But for now I'm relaxing in the good news that, while there is a time and a season for everything, this season will soon come to an end.