If I Were a Waiter Looking for Work Right Now During a Pandemic and Afterwards

Right now being a waiter is not a coveted job to have. If you happen to be working you have to wear a mask to serve guests who are not required to wear one. The reason I say "if you happen to be working" is a lot have yet to be called back to work as indoor dining remains closed as bars.

Add in additional cleaning duties such as sanitizing the seats, serving areas, smaller sections, and perhaps even less hours due to guests feeling  kind of leery about heading back to indoor dining the waiter has to think now about where the best place to work be in a pandemic world when he or she does return.

Here are a few points below as to what kind of dining restaurant I would be looking to work in during these times.

1. I would choose to look for work in establishments that had a bunch of money still left once things open up again. These might be hard to find as many will not even reach first base. For the ones barely hanging on they may start to bend the safety rules a bit. Maybe even have waiters doing tasks they did not do before like deep cleaning after closing. The worst may even have you cleaning the men's and ladies restrooms. Then have you tipping out higher on your sales to cover cleaning products. I see that happening rather than have the people return only to see that added charge on their bill. So check to see how they are working as to safety equipment or PPEs. If they paid a lot of attention to these details they will probably be safe to work in.

2. Look for a bigger establishment such as a hotel where you already have a captive guest where each shift you can work without any fear of being cut in 2-3 hours and sent home or being called off a shift. I see where restauranteurs will rely more on reservations than walk ins to guarantee that everyone who comes to eat has a table waiting for them especially with the tables alternately being used for social distancing.

3. With an establishment that has multiple outlets such as a big banquet capacity you can make up for shortened hours in a restaurant and do a wedding or other function to make up for it. There might be no need to have to look for a second job if you can be flexible in this manner. Do not forget in a hotel setting you would still have in room dining if the indoor dining had to be locked down again.

4. Do not serve in restaurants where the guests come in are wearing a baseball cap or have holes in their jeans. These people probably have no money and never wore a mask. Working in places like this may be hazardous to your health. Unfortunately this probably eliminates 95% of the restaurants out there.

5. Look at where the rich eat or the 5%. They will not take a chance and eat in an unkept environment. They will only eat where all the staff wear a mask or shield. Why they will do that is because they do not want to catch the virus. They will follow science no matter how uncomfortable it is. They will tip well.

6. Try to find a place like I just mentioned who will hire you and you will get some guaranteed hours and is big enough for you to grow there. The days of job hopping are over and employers now have to find some dedicated service staff who know what they are doing and want to grow.

7. Last thing I would add is now more than ever be proud to work in such an amazing career. If you take this way seriously it can lead you places. Here is your chance to step in and work in a great place and get some great experience. More than ever if you want to separate yourself from everyone else you must  work at places that will make you grow and expand your knowledge. Take courses through your work. Learn.

This pandemic will end one day so sow the seeds now for an exciting future later because that is what awaits you.

Year Two of Three

Okay the splenectomy is done after what has been a year deciding whether I qualified for a stem cell transplant and plenty of blood transfusions. I had undergone plenty of procedures to check on my body to see if there was anything else wrong, had pneumonia a few times, and then in the end it was decided that I should get the spleen out.

Up to that time I was not taking any medication. It was basically let's get the stem cell transplant done to start all over. Anyway they still couldn't figure out what was causing my hemoglobin to drop.

The two liver biopsies showed conclusively that on my liver there was some damage so on my follow up visit with the hematologist I was prescribed Methotrexate. This was to get rid of the Large Granular Leukemia they noticed. I was to take this chemo pill once a week and the other six days take a tiny Folic acid pill. Apparently we lose a lot of Folic acid when we go through anything related to chemotherapy and it is essential.

As soon as I was discharged figuring everything was under control I planned for a two week vacation out to the West Coast. We would be staying with friends for nearly a week in Victoria BC where we could show our boys where we got married and lived etc. After Victoria we would then go to the Rockies visiting Jasper especially because I spent some time there working as a waiter.

It is funny to note but shortly after the operation we had an appointment with the surgeon to have him check me out and remove the staples. He removed most of them but then said there were four he did not want to take out. So he asked Soley if she would mind to save us a trip pulling them out herself. It was a staple remover that was specially designed for such a task. She said yes she would do it and so he gave us the stapler and we said goodbye. Four days later she removed the last four staples.

The only problem was that after about a month my improved blood results took a turn for the worst and with the hemoglobin hovering up and down it seemed every couple of weeks I had to get another blood transfusion. So that was disappointing. It wasn't over as it appeared at least to me the spleen had been left there too long and now the pains of neglect were taking over. My bone marrow appeared to not be up to full force. My liver was not great either. So I was just hoping that time would straighten this out.

Before our trip out west the hematologist advised me to get a top up with a blood transfusion just before we departed. Then she brought up the stem cell transplant again. I replied that I just had my spleen out to which she replied I could still get one with or without the spleen.

I shook my head. This was becoming her dream now not mine. I was psyched up for it the first time around but again I thought. It had definitely lost it's shine by this time.

Off we flew out West. Had a great time and spared no expense. Seeing our good friends again after 18 years was fabulous and we had planned our trip perfectly. I was taking the chemo pill and Folic acid.

The only thing I couldn't do was walk fast enough to keep up with the others. We skipped breakfast to go straight to the airport on departure day

and my only episode was while in line I started to get queasy and funny looking. The security saw that and allowed me to jump the queue and find a seat in the terminal. After a couple of hours nap I was better again but the skipping of breakfast was not a good move.

When we got back I went in for blood work and my hemoglobin was down but only to 72. So I was not surprised it was down but it was not tragic. When people have lower hemoglobin they say the body fights through it and manages to get use to it. Well after climbing hills and driving a lot of kilometers I guess my body was getting used to it.

I got the transfusion again then I got a call from the hematologist...

The Wife Enjoying Jasper