Personal Narrative: My Relationship With Mary White's Restaurant

I am Lucas “Luke” Putnam, and I am completing my practicum at a Mom and Pop home-style family restaurant, White’s Restaurant, in the charming town of Belmont, North Carolina. My job title is “Jack of all Trades.” In this family owned diner, I am required to do whatever is necessary at that point in time to serve the customers efficiently and personally; therefore, I help in all aspects of the diner. I work as a busboy, dishwasher, waiter, server, hostess, line prep, and even the chef. My relationship with my supervisors, Carroll and Mary White, is like being a part of the family in which they are my parents. We are free to discuss all topics among each other and with the customers. After gaining the acceptance of the “regulars,” they became
my whimsical uncles whom I am able to laugh with and still offer excellent customer service. This made the work environment very relaxed and enhanced my work performance. Overall, White’s Restaurant is a team-orientated work environment. According to TripAdvisor’s reviews, White’s Restaurant is the “best place in town to go for breakfast;” therefore, most of the customer comes in during the hours of 7:00 am-9:00 am during the breakfast rush. Therefore, we have to work efficiently as a team and provide quick service for our customers to enjoy their breakfast and have time to arrive at work on time.
The owners of White’s Restaurant believe in equal opportunity and do not discriminate against any applicant or customer because of race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability. However, this family owned diner is not very diverse because the three full-time employees are an elderly white couple, Carroll and Mary White, and their daughter, Angie. Periodically, Mrs. White hires high school students to work on Saturdays and during the summer adding to the diversity to the employment staff of the restaurant. A few of Angie’s landscaping crew will also work part-time at the restaurant increasing its staff diversity. Even though the “regulars” are retired, older, white males, the White’s provide a delicious breakfast to a diverse mix of businessmen, professional women, police officers, and blue collar workers who also enjoy a cafeteria style lunch at the diner. Families with younger children join the “family” on Saturday mornings. As a result of being a local Mom and Pop home-style restaurant in a small Southern town, most customers are middle class white heterosexuals as the following table and facts illustrate. Mr.
and Mrs. White are active members of the community. First of all, White’s Restaurant provides the atmosphere of going to Grandma’s house to eat. Children are catered to by offering pancakes and waffles in the shape of Mickey Mouse ears while the adults are invited to stay for hours and talk about current issues while enjoying their unlimited coffee or sweet tea. Personally knowing their customers and catering to them is what makes White’s Restaurant different than other similar restaurants. If there are leftovers at the end of the day, the White’s will call their church or neighbors to come down to take the food to someone in need in the community. The White’s are also members of the Mount Holly Lion’s Club, which provides health programs to help with hearing loss, diabetes control, vision screenings, eyeglass recycling, and disaster relief for the local community as well as globally. The White’s periodically host the Lion’s Club meetings and provide the meal to the
members.
If I was CEO for the Day, I would demonstrate to Mr. and Mrs. White that the restaurant could function without them in hopes that this would persuade Mr. and Mrs. White to finally close or sell the restaurant. They have provided delicious meals to people in the Belmont community for over thirty-five years; therefore, they have earned the right to retire and start to enjoy life. I would also convince Angie to quit at the restaurant and dedicate all of her time to her landscaping business. After the White’s retirement, my first order of business would be to modernize the restaurant. I would purchase a POS system with a computerized cash register, hire more employees, install a soda fountain instead of using individual soda cans, increase the menu choices with an actual printed menu to offer customers, and open for dinner. These improvements would broaden the client population to a younger age group instead of losing all of the current customers because they are so old they are starting to die.
My “Dream Internship” for HRTM 495 is to work at a bar in Columbia, South Carolina, such as World of Beer or Cotton Gin.
I would learn all aspects of running a successful club from being a bouncer, waiter, bartender, and manager. I would like to gain as much hands-on experience as possible while I am young and still in college; therefore, I will become a better manager because I have actually performed all of the different jobs within a bar. Not only am I majoring in Hospitality Management but also I am in the Army ROTC Program, and I plan on commissioning in the United States Army for thirty years or until I am eligible to retire. After my retirement, I plan to use my knowledge I gained in my HRTM classes and practiums to acquire a job in this rewarding field. I am interested in the food and beverage aspect of the industry. My ultimate goal is to own my business; moreover, I envision an establishment, The Outpost, geared to active military and veterans. The Outpost would offer a family friendly restaurant where active duty soldiers can bring their families to eat near their post and a bar to have a drink with friends. The military memorabilia and my promise to donate a percentage of the profits to Wounded Warrior Project will attract veterans. The operation of a bar is very interesting as well as the challenges of advertising and catering to the needs of the patrons and keeping the bar relevant. My practicum at White’s Restaurant and my future practicum at a local bar in
Columbia, S.C. will teach me how to enhance the overall guest experience, offer first-class customer service, and gain management skills. These management skills will not only help me establish a successful businesses in the industry but also help me as an Army Officer command my troops.