Many of you would have some kind of experience working at a part-time job. I have done numerous part-time jobs from English academy to bakery and more. But my first job always stays on top of all the experience as most strenuous yet valuable. My first part-time job was actually for one day only and it was at a hotel. It was the most strenuous yet unforgettable part-time job I've ever done.
I was lying down with my stomach down on the bed browsing through the internet when my phone rang. A message in the group talk of the university appeared and it was a friend from the same French reading class. She was looking for a person to fill-in her friend's place in a part-time job at a hotel for a day. It was in the parents' day so there was no class and since I was staying in Seoul alone, away from my parents I had no other schedule unlike others. I have always dreamt of earning extra money from part-time jobs ever since I got into university. It was the perfect chance for me to do so I messaged my friend saying I'll take that place.
On the parents' day, I got up at 6 o'clock in the morning and got ready to go out. When I arrived, my friend was waiting for me and we went straight to the basement where all the part-timers had to check in and get dressed in uniforms. Afterwards, we were introduced to the manager and staffs and given instructions on what we were supposed to do and how to do it. There was a dinner-show for parents at the hotel and our job was to prepare for that show and serve the dinner course. The manager emphasized that the dishes will be very heavy and we were not to take more than what we can hold. If, by any chance, we drop the dishes we were to tell the staff right away. I was a bit frightened because the manager had a very firm face with glaring eyes and it felt like as if he will dismiss us without any payment if we made any mistakes.
The show began and salads were served first. Serving salad was easy as pie because they were in plastic bowls. Then there was the bread and it was okay until the soup came out. Since then, the dishes changed to chinaware which was much heavier than what I expected. My arm started to ache when I made a sixth visit to the kitchen and there was plenty more to serve. All of us were given a tray to put dishes and holding it in the palm of my hand was not as easy as it seemed. As it went on to appetizers and main dish, I could feel my arm trembling. Not long after, I did it. I felt my arm suddenly losing strength and my tray fell off from my hand. I was on the way back to the kitchen to return empty plates and as the tray slipped, it hit a shoulder of a man sitting on the table in front of me. I panicked and was worried if the man had been hurt or become furious with the poor service. I quickly apologized to the man as I retrieved the plates. Apart from my worries, this gentleman asked me if I was okay instead. He was so kind to relieve me by saying that he was not hurt nor angry from the mistake and told me to proceed with whatever I'm doing. The manager came running after seeing the scene, but as the gentleman did not make any comment, he delivered his apology and just let me go.
The work ended around 11 o'clock in the afternoon and my whole body ached from muscle pain. I had to put pain relief patch all over my body the day after, but I was proud of myself from completing the job. It was the first time I earned money by myself and though it was not a big amount, it gave me a chance to think about the value of money. Also, the gentleman's consideration made this experience the most unforgettable one.
Wow. That must have been horrible dropping the tray like that! What a relief to hear that the man was a gentleman. I haven't done any work like that before but I've heard many stories from my friends who worked as a waiter so I was able to relate to what you were saying. You've mentioned at the very beginning that you've had a "strenuous" part-time job experience so I was curious to keep reading. While reading, it reminded me of my first working experience. Anyway, I think how you wrote about a topic that everybody could relate to was a good idea in catching the reader's attention. See you in class :)
ReplyDelete-Kyeong Ju Seo-
FINAL DRAFT
ReplyDeleteMany of you would have some kind of experience working at a part-time job. I have done numerous part-time jobs from English academy to bakery and more. But my first job always stays on top of all the experience as most strenuous yet unforgettable. My first part-time job was actually for one day only and it was at a hotel.
I was lying down with my stomach down on the bed browsing through the internet when my phone rang. A message in the group talk appeared and it was a friend from the same French reading class. She was looking for a person to fill-in her friend’s place in a part-time job at a hotel for a day. It was on the parents’ day and since I was staying in Seoul alone, away from my parents, I had no other schedule unlike others. I have always dreamt of earning extra money from part-time jobs ever since I got into university. It was a perfect chance for me so I replied to my friend saying I will take that job.
On the parents’ day, I got up at 6 o’clock in the morning and got ready. When I arrived, my friend was waiting for me and we went straight to the basement where all the part-timers had to check in and get dressed in black uniforms. Afterwards, we were introduced to the manager and staffs and given instructions on what we should do and not do. There was a dinner-show for parents at the hotel and our job was to prepare for that show and serve the dinner course. The manager emphasized that the dishes will be very heavy and we were not to take more than what we can hold. If, by any chance, we drop the dishes we were to tell the staff immediately. I was a bit frightened because the manager had a very firm face with glaring eyes and it felt like as if he will dismiss us without any payment if we made such a mistake.
The show began and salad was served first. Serving salad was easy as pie because they were in plastic bowls. Then there was the bread and it was okay until the soup came out. Since then, the dishes changed to chinaware which was much heavier than what I expected. All of us were given a tray and we were supposed to hold it in the palm and it was not as easy as it seemed. My arm started to ache when I made sixth visit to the kitchen and there was plenty more to serve. As it went on to appetizers and main dish, I could feel my arm trembling. Not long after, I did it. I felt my arm suddenly losing strength and the tray fell off from my hand. I was on the way back to the kitchen to return empty plates and as the tray slipped, it hit a shoulder of a man sitting on the table in front of me. I panicked and was worried if the man had been hurt or become furious with the poor service. Also, I desperately hoped that the manager would not have seen the incident but he was watching every one of us like a hawk. I saw him coming closer to the scene glowering at me. I quickly apologized to the man as I retrieved the plates. Apart from my worries, this gentleman asked me if I was okay instead. He was very kind to relieve me by saying that he was not hurt nor angry and told me to proceed with whatever I’m doing. He even helped me getting the plates back on the tray. As the gentleman did not make any comment, the manager delivered his apology and just let me go.
The work ended around 11 o’clock in the afternoon and my whole body ached from muscle pain. I had to put pain relief patch all over my body the day after, but I was proud of myself from completing the job. It was the first time I earned money by myself and though it was not a big amount, it gave me a chance to think about the value of money. Also, the gentleman’s consideration made this experience the most unforgettable one.