Narrative

I picked up a second job at a corner restaurant. It was a Monday afternoon, the busiest time of the day. Just before noon, which was the time all of the nearby workers get off for lunch. A large group came in and suddenly the place livened up. It had been a slow morning, but I was told it always picks up around noon. Everything had gone wrong that day and it continued going wrong for most of the remaining day. I slept through my alarm which meant I was going to be cutting it close to making it to work on time, and the heavy traffic didn’t help my cause. I was a little over ten minutes late and got a scolding from my boss. It wasn’t the way I had planned on making a first impression. Most of my co-workers were pretty bitter and not very welcoming. There was one other waitress who had a warm personality and gave me some insights of the restaurant. She was probably the only person in the restaurant, including myself, that was into the holiday spirit. You see, I picked up this job to save some money for the holiday season. Christmas was right around the corner and the money was short. I was lost in thought when the crowd of people entered through the door. I overheard some of their conversation and quickly learned that they were members of a church group who were stopping by for a warm drink after a few hours of Christmas caroling. I spoke to one of the carolers for a short while and soon enough told them of my situation. She gave me some kid words of advice and a smile and went on her way. When I went to clean their table after they left, I saw that she had left an extremely generous tip. That one customer was all it took to put me in the Christmas spirit.