Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407050110
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Buy her a cup of coffee, and she'll tell you about the man who stood up in the middle of the dining room at Alexander's Restaurant in Roanoke, where she is a waitress, and shouted, "Where's my [expletive] steak?", or about the bulimics who eat there and head to the bathroom to purge after dinner.
Her sister, Susan, a waitress at Stephen's Restaurant, has a few to share, too. Like the time she chased a man out of the Star City Cafe, where she used to work, to give him back the nickel he left her for a tip. He obviously needed it more than her, she figured. Or about the many men who reach out and touch her flat-top haircut without even asking.
"One of these days one of them's going to get some hot soup or ice water in their lap," she says.
The Johnston sisters figure most people just don't get what it's like to be a waiter.
"I'd like to give some customers a couple of tables [to wait on], just to teach them a lesson," Kathy says. "I don't think a lot of people could deal with 15 customers and give polite, courteous service."
Kathy and Susan vent their frustrations at Saturday and Sunday morning breakfast gripe sessions. They own a triplex apartment building in Roanoke's Wasena neighborhood, where each has her own apartment. But they meet for breakfast in one of their kitchens and let fly the troubles of the night before.
They sip coffee and commiserate about what they ought to be doing instead of mixing gin and tonics and plating up cheesecake.
Susan is a full-time student majoring in French at Roanoke College. She spent a year in France, then worked in a few restaurants in Florida. When she returned to Roanoke in 1991, she went into Stephen's, a restaurant on Franklin Road, and was hired on the spot.
Now she works four or five nights a week even while she's in school.
For Kathy, waiting tables is like being stuck in a bus station halfway to Hollywood, without another bus in sight. She has a fine arts degree from James Madison University. She worked for a jeweler for a while, and as a graphic artist at J.C. Penney Co., but started waiting tables in 1990 because, compared to what she was making, the tips at Alexander's seemed like a ton of money. She's been sitting in the station ever since.
"At first I used to say, 'I'm just doing this right now,'" she says. "Now I just don't feel like explaining."
The money doesn't seem like so much any more, either.
But for now, the sisters are doing all right. They both work an average of around 35 hours per week. Susan says the hours she works fit well with her school schedule. Kathy says working nights makes it hard to meet people and maintain relationships, but likes her hours overall.
"I'm a night owl," she says. "So, I'm not in touch with 'Melrose Place.' Big deal."
Still, neither of the Johnstons expects to be waiting tables much longer.
Susan expects to quit when she graduates from college in another year.
Kathy says when she leaves, "it's going to be for money, and to do something that's important to me."
She says she might consider going back to school, and she's not looking too hard for another job.
"I read the classifieds every Sunday," she says, "just for kicks."
by CNB