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Summary: Waiting, True confessions of a Waitress
Review: I have been a waitress for twenty years plus, often questioned by friends and family why, I would recomend this book to anyone
wondering why thier bright and talented friend or family member
waiting tables doesn't have a "real" job.
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Summary: Bad Tippers and Other Tales from the Edge of the Table
Review: THIS is a good book. You've just got to trust me on this one. Part memoir, part guide on how to treat your waitress, this book rocks!Based on the author's life, Ginsberg's book follows her from when it was cool to be a waitress to when it was necessary. From "low end" waitressing to raking in the dough at fancy restaurants and exclusive country clubs, Ginsberg has been there, done that, and now she's going to sit you down and tell you about it. Her writing is very accessible and you won't be able to put it down. For most of the book you will think that she is foolish to continue working as a (gasp) waitress while she has a college degree and a natural talent for writing, but by the end you'll realize that if she hadn't, you wouldn't have been able to go through it with her.
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Summary: Why do people demand so much from waiters and waitresses?
Review: Have you ever wondered why people sometimes demand so much from waiters and waitresses and at the same time have very little regard for many of these individuals? Debra Ginsberg waited on tables for twenty years to support her other career as a freelance writer and editor. In Waiting: The True Confessions Of A Waitress Ginsberg tells it "like it is" and engages her readers with a story format of her experiences and memoirs. Some of these tales may not be too pretty, such as having to clean up used dental floss, emptying used syringes and bloodied linens, however they do give us an idea of the real world of what it is like to work in a restaurant or bar. Pressure and stress very often take their toll as a result of the enormous variety of mental and physical tasks that must be performed over a short span of time. Patience, stamina, good memory, human relation skills and personal organizational abilities are essential requirements if you want to last.
Furthermore, no matter how obnoxious the customer behaves, you are required at all times to keep cool.
Remember, you are constantly under surveillance, either by the customer or the management.
How well you perform the task often determines your earnings. Ginsberg also lets us in on some of the dirty secrets of the restaurant business.
As an example, in order to save on costs, it is not too rare where management will cut corners and cut down on supplies such as eating utensils. When these items run perilously low, the customer suffers. Many of us are unaware that waiters and waitresses sometimes have to run to the kitchen, frantically rinse these utensils (which were soaking in dirty water), and dry them with soiled linens. These utensils are then sent to the table. There is, however, some kind of comfort working and even dining in a restaurant.
Ginsberg points out "a restaurant is a place where several basic human needs are met all at once. Within these walls there is food, shelter and warmth. Often there is a sense of family. At the very least, there are plenty of people all around. One is never really alone at the table. There is certainly some security in this, even if it is only temporary." Perhaps the next time you are out dining think about some of Ginsberg's perceptions. This review first appeared on reviewers' own site
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Summary: Educational, personal, and not as whiny as you might think
Review: I thought this book was interesting because it swept past the curtain that is the front of the house so that we see the food industry from behind its many facets-"the back of the house" is an entire social/political system of waitressing trying to please their customers while staying on the good sides of their fellow staff. As a waitress that worked in many different food venues, it was entertaing the author's perspective... I think it's amazing that the writer wasn't entirely negative about her waitressing job. True, she was a waitress the better part of twenty years; that kind of longevity does give her an authority of the subject of waiting, from all her experiences. The book isn't a chronological journal of waitressing; with the title "true confessions" I didn't expect this book to be so all-encompassing, but it is both personal and objective. Maybe more objective than expected, still, I hope the book brings waitresses more of the respect, and gratuity, that they deserve!
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Summary: More than just a "behind the scenes" expose'
Review: I just finished Ms. Ginsberg's second book, Raising Blaze, and couldn't wait to read this one. It was an easy and enjoyable read. What I got out of it was more than just the "dirt" on the food service industry. She is showing that she and so many of her co-workers weren't just waiting on tables, they were "waiting" on life. They considered their jobs just a stopping point until they got to their "real" lives - the relationship that would rescue them, the career they were destined for, whatever the dream was. She looked at waitressing as a temporary job on her way to becoming a writer, then realized that she had been waiting for twenty years. In the meantime, she had not been waiting for her life to start, she had been living it. So many people are waiting for their lives to start; when they finish college, after the baby is born, once the kids are in school, once they get that promotion, etc. Meanwhile, while they are waiting for life to start, it is going full swing. I always remember a quote by Cher (not someone I would usually quote), and she said that life is not a dress rehearsal. We should be living it to the fullest, no matter what stage we are in.
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Summary: We Don't All Spit In The Food!
Review: As a waitress, I found this story to be not only a true perspective of the business, but also an inspirational tale. The one thing I would have to say is that not every waitress will do something to your food before it gets to the table, regardless of how someone acts! I liked this book because it reveals stories that I can relate to, such as cheap tippers and relationships in the restaurant, but it also examines the culture and icon of waitressing. Everyone should read this book, whether they work in the industry or not.
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Summary: Yawn
Review: Horribly written, lacking in style (literary, that is), and worst of all-highly sentimental. Ginsberg writes under the assumption that her life is interesting enough to merit the sort of memoir that this book is. As for the actual 'waitressing stories'..... I don't know how this woman worked for 20 years in the food & bev industry without getting some better stories than these. This book is maybe riveting enough for a readers digest cover story, but it doesn't even come close to (the far superior) 'Kitchen Confidential'. Even my own experiences working in the industry were more interesting than this, and I was only in it for 5 years. Wait on [chemical substance] dealers, celebrities with self esteem issues, and various other miscreants, and then get back to me about how 'crazy' the job is. Watch the expeditor get loopy on pills with the food runners in the middle of the friday night rush, and then tell me how you're going to explain the backed up plates, and wrong orders. I could go into the lowdown dirty antics of the bar staff, as well as the art of balancing a tray of 6 martinis in the middle of a crowd of drunken (barely) dancing investment bankers and their even more inebriated bimbo dates, but I think I've made my point that any waitress can whine about being triple sat, the real stories are the ones Debra is holding back.. Explaining how tips are taxed does not make a good book, and I firmly believe that the only types who can't grasp that tips are acuall 'income' and not a 'bonus' are either dimwitted hayseeds who have never seen the inside of an eating establishment beyond McDonald's, Europeans and Australians (admittedly, she does point out that more often than not they are just feigning ignorance), and honest to god jerks who could care less how much you (don't) make, and just want someone to unload on after a bad day. This book was a great idea, and in better hands, it could've been sizzling. As it is, it barely pops.
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Summary: Fantastic book.
Review: This is a must read for anyone who has ever worked in food service of any kind. Waiters, busboys, cooks, anyone would love this, even patrons. I loved her take on the whole culture of waiting tables, and her examples are perfect. My brother recommended this to me, and I am now recommending it to everyone - even waiters I don't even know! Read this book.
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Summary: I give bigger tips now!
Review: A very interesting read. Although this story is more of a personal journal there are still pertinant observations about the waiting industry. I learned a tremendous amount about the hardships these people have to endure and I am most certainly more understanding and sympathetic.
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Summary: Fun Read
Review: Fun read - I have waitressed for 17 years and Debra Ginsberg tells it like it is. I think anyone who has waitressed will find it full of humor. The feint of heart will even find the comedy in the tales of a waitress. And yes these things really do happen. I especially was fond of the tales of romance within the restaurant settings, it's so true. Pick it up and read it. It's a book you can read through while riding on the train, commuting or just sitting around the house on a lazy day. The burnout is true. . .
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