Friendly's: chapter one

The first restaurant to ever call me waiter was Friendly's (although at the time it was still Friendly Family Restaurant; they bowed to public pressure and added the "apostrophe S" about 20 years ago ... maybe 20 years from now they'll add an exclamation point!) I was given a navy and white houndstooth short-sleeved pullover in the scratchiest polyester possible and a "trainee" nametag which suggested patience to customers. None was required. Within weeks I had "achieved customer excellence" and the letters A and C and E proudly appeared above the letters j and a and y on my gold nametag. Within months I was training the new girls (it really was all girls at the time, except for me; I saw to it that memos and notes addressed to "waitresses" were changed to the gender-neutral title "servers" and I take credit for my small part in the ensuing evolution) Within a year I was asked to be a part of the Managers Training Program but I turned it down without any hesitation. I didn't want to be responsible for employee schedules and corporate paperwork, for hiring and firing, for long hours and locking the door. I just wanted my section, my tables, my guests, my audience ... and my cash!