she works hard for the money

well folks! No need to worry..I have found a job. I'd say I've been pretty lucky here so far. I've been in Glasgow only 12 days, it was the first place I gave my CV (resume) to 2 days ago and they called me back that night and I started work today. I'm working at a coffee shop/cafe called Tinderbox. It's a very modern, trendy coffee shop that almost has a bar feel to it. My very first trip out to Glasgow a year and a half ago I discovered this great spot and fell in love with their milkshakes and vanilla steamers. YUMMM!!




So i started today and first off I got my black t-shirt that says "STAFF" in big bold letters on the back. Cool huh? Then they put me to work, doing exactly what I thought I would do as my first day as a "newbie" (that's what they called me) which was bussing tables and sorting dishes! I am proud to say that I have earned a college degree and now I am bussing tables! haha! But seriously, I should explain why I've gone for this job and not a straight 9 to 5'er in an office.... Yesterday I went into the city centre to track down a hospitality and events planning firm for a job. I was told they hired a lot of people from my work abroad program, so i thought I was a shoe-in. Well, i walked into the office (if that's what you could call it) and it was just one guy sitting at a desk with about 5 chairs in front of him and he handed me a thick application to fill out. I sat down and flipped through the application and the first page was puzzling. It had about 30 questions on it about how to set a table, clear a table, which side do you serve from, take-away from, and so on. I sat there thinking, "I shouldn't need to know this for an office job, should I?" I went up and asked the man if they offered office jobs and he looked at me, rolled his eyes and pointed for me to go across the hall. Across the hall was just a temp agency, and the more I thought about these "office" jobs I was applying for, the more it sounded like a bad idea. I didn't move 7,000 miles away to sit in an office and make photocopes all day, and I also didn't want to hop from one job to the next, so the coffee job was starting to sound a lot better to me. Working in a coffee shop, especially the Tinderbox which is on the main road in the coolest part of town would put me right in with the culture and the Glaswegians. :)

So i started work today (I swear being from Seattle got me the job because everyone was asking me about the coffee from over there, like i'm an expert or something) and after an hour or so of bussing tables, I moved on to working the till and that was really exciting. Took me a while to get the hang of it and press all the right buttons. There's a slight problem with their system though. In cafes here, we're supposed to ask if you're "sitting in" or "taking out". That's the first button you need to press before you can enter any drinks or food, but it's the last question you ask them after they've ordered. So I'll have to become really good at memorizing and re-calling their whole order after they've said it. Lots of nice customers though, all of which were really kind to me, seeing that it was my first day and i was asking them to repeat their order a few times. My favorite customer of all asked if I was German or French. He was very surprised when i said American. My fake Scottish accent must be worse than I thought.