Bought this book at 68 HKD at a secondhand bookstore in SoHo and this book took me 3 months to finish! Don't get me wrong though cause it's quite an engaging book written pretty much in blog style and there's not really a plot to follow. Basically a day-to-day account of the author as a waiter, the conflicts and satisfaction he gets from the job.
It provides infinite insight to the job; as said by the author, there are 3 types of waiters: people trying to become something else, people whose lives are falling apart and people stuck somewhere in the middle. Which sounds true to some extent; he mentions that some waiters are self professed writers although they spent the rest of their lives looking for book deals, waiters who after work, go and get themselves wasted every night and come back to work smelling of booze the next morning, and people like him.
He used to study at a Catholic seminary and later dropped out after figuring out it wasn't what he would like for the rest of his life, and then he began waiting tables. And then he started a blog, while keeping his identity anonymous, blogged about his experiences with customers--from the nasty and cheapskate ones to the heavy tippers. He also offers tips on the proper way to treat a waiter, how to tip properly, how to make reservations etc and all are presented in a lighthearted way.
Very worth the read! Esp during stressful exam periods; reminds you that there is still a world out there not related to aminoglycosides, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, mycobacterium tuberculosis....
Oh ya! Check out his blog here.
