Personal Narrative: My First Job In Food Service

As a child, if someone told me that my first job would be in the food service, I would accuse them of lying. If they told me I would absolutely love it? Impossible, I’d say. It will never happen. Yet here I am, seven months into my first job at a bagel shop. I now work a job I never thought I would have, and it changed me in ways I never thought possible.
Looking back, I remember the morning of my first day:
I started getting ready at eight o’clock. My anxiety rose through the roof as I paced around my room. The same four words ran through my head with increasing distress: this was a mistake. How could I, someone so introverted, so shy, possibly think accepting a job in customer service was a good idea?
Eight fifteen. I forced myself to eat breakfast as I thought of the ways I could fail. I swore I already felt the angry eyes of
customers burning into me. Eight thirty. Would my manager like me? Did she only hire me because my mom is a good employee? The standards are so high, the expectations so great. I’ll never measure up.
Eight forty-five. Is my nametag straight? Where is my hat? It’s time to leave. Don’t think. Just drive. The last thing you need is a car accident on the way to your first day of work.
I made my way inside and managed a shaky smile as a chorus of “Good morning, welcome to Einstein’s!” greeted me. I followed my mom around as she went through the basics. “Watch closely,” she instructed. “These are your duties. See this? These are the recipes for specialty drinks.” I hung on every word, fearful I’d forget something. That fear paled in comparison to the absolute terror I felt as she rushed away from me to help our coworkers handle the rush of customers. The rest of my shift passed in a blur as a cacophony of “Jaimie, I need you to make these drinks!” “Take these orders out to customers please! Louder, you need to call their names louder!” and countless other requests threatened to overwhelm me.
By the end of my shift I only had one thought: I made it.
The day may have been rough, but I stuck it out. That realization sparked something within me. I gained faith not only in my skill at the moment, but in my ability to improve. I no longer feared mistakes (which I made plenty of) because I knew within was an opportunity to become stronger. With this came a new confidence in myself. I pushed myself to interact and engage with customers. I asked my managers questions instead of holding back for fear of seeming stupid. I grew to love the chaos of a busy Saturday morning and learned the value of stepping up and taking charge. Before long, these changes made their way into the rest of my life. My fear of asking teachers for help diminished. I felt more at ease when presenting to the class and no longer avoided leading group assignments. What I deemed a mistake at eight o’clock that first morning allowed me to grow and become more like the self-assured people I always envied. I think back to that time many years ago when I swore that customer service was something I would never even consider, and I am so thankful I changed my
mind.