After graduation from NYU, I came back to New York from a trip home and started auditioning that summer – and looking for the job that seems to be a rite of passage for so many actors: waiting tables.
I strutted into a restaurant on Park Avenue one day to fill out an application. A former cast mate had put in a good word for me there, so I figured between that and my five years experience waiting tables during college, I’d get hired on the spot.
Rookie move.
I pushed through the revolving doors into the swank, dimly lit room and greeted the host at the front. She ushered me to an empty booth and went to find the manager. I filled out the application and pulled out my additional resume, ready to demonstrate how prepared and awesome I was and receive my gold star.
“Megan? Hi, I’m Rob. I’m the General Manager.” A guy with dark hair and a firm handshake slid into the seat across from me. “So you’re a friend of Jacob’s? We like him a lot around here. Wish he’d get done with his tour and get back to work with us.”
I smiled and laughed as if I couldn’t agree more that waiting tables is clearly the better choice when compared to getting paid to sing onstage to the approving applause of an audience.
“So, tell me why it is you want to work here?” he said as he uncapped his pen.
“Oh, we have one of these restaurants back home and my dad goes there a lot for work and loves the food-“
“-so you’ve never eaten here?”
“Well…no.“
Rob re-capped his pen and set it down on my application.
“Megan, I think it’s important for employees to experience our restaurant before we hire them. We want them to know what sets our restaurant apart. I’m interested in you working for us but first I’m going to need you to show me that you want it.”
Oh, dang.
“Why don’t you check out our other location on the east side. Have a meal there, talk to someone that works there about what we expect from our servers and then call me and we’ll set up another interview. Okay?”
He’d already gathered my application and was scooting out of the booth. My afternoon had just turned into episode #567 of “Naivety Lost.”
A week later, I was back, this time talking to an assistant manager about my “amazing” experience dining at their other location. I felt no need to mention that I took one look at the menu prices and only ordered a side salad. (Which was actually really good.) I won – I mean, passed – that interview and the next one, and was finally scheduled for a fourth and final interview.
Fourth interview. For a job waiting tables. I had no idea there could be so many steps to getting hired at a restaurant in Manhattan. By now I was determined to get the flippin’ job and was well on my way to doing so! But in the course of that week between my third and fourth interviews, I got a pretty great birthday present from Jesus – I booked a six month cruise ship contract!
…you can make plans for your future, but the Lord chooses the steps you take to get there. – Proverbs 16:9 (TPT)
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