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Damairus Law
Professor Ingram
Writing 1101
9/20/14
Social Literacy in the Restaurant Industry
Becoming literate is a part of everyday life that may differ from culture to culture. It is a
system of gathering knowledge from others and incorporating it into different life experiences.
Literacy is not just something that you gather through reading books, it can be learned through
interactions with people, media and things around us that we internalize and intergrade into or
daily lives. Literacy give the opportunity to find new opportunities such as finding a job or
meeting new people. My job was the main place I had developed my sense of social literacy, I
learned the importance of appearance, patience, and how to communicate with difficult people.
My job had an impact on how I present myself in front of people. I use to work at a
restaurant called, Steaknshake, and I had encountered many customers that had made my
job less than pleasant, but I was able to learn how to hide the way they made me feel. As a
server, I had learned early that your appearance can effect everything. Smiling at all times was
something that was nearly mandatory if you wanted to get a half decent tip from a customer. I
have had customers insult me, talk over me, call me a liar and been mocked by elderly people;
yet I still kept a smile on my face. A co-worker had wanted me to take a troublesome table from
them that consisted of an older woman, a young child, and a bitter old man. I greeted him and
asked him if he would mind me going over what she had wrote to see if it was correct. And he
snarled at me saying, I already said it to her once, why are you asking me to say it again?
Before I could respond he cut me off in mid-sentence. He cut me off several times while I was

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talking to him before he dismissed me. I kept my cool and when he threw harsh words at me, I
killed him with kindness (though there was no kindness in my mind). I had learned from a
previous table that customers are always watching your reactions once they know they are testing
your nerves, so I kept this in mind. When they left, they had left me a five dollar tip on the table.
If I had scrunched up my face and rolled my eyes, I would have more than likely received no tip
and possibly lost my job. Keeping a friendly and calm appearance is important to becoming
socially literate.
Working taught me to be patient even in the most work heavy times. Normally when I
rush through the doors of my job with my bowtie half on and my shirt untucked with seconds
before I am marked as late, I am still in that fast and steady pace until I am out the door leaving
later that day. While at work one day, I had a horrible section, yellow was what it was called
on the floor chart. No one wanted to sit in it because it had absolutely no booths, only tables in
the center of the restaurant. It had started to get busy and people were forced to sit in my section
if they wanted a seat, and they were coming in large numbers. I was happy to finally stop doing
side work (dishes, folding silverware, ect.) and actually make money. Though I had started off
with three tables back to back I had a game plan to greet each table and get to them in good
timing. I went to my first table which was occupied by a middle aged man and woman sitting
beside each other on the left side of the table. They both carried a rather round exterior and
wearing clothes that most would wear only at home. On the right side was an elder woman who
kept to herself. I had given them my usual introduction, Hello, my name is Damairus and I will
be your sever today. Can I start you off with drinks or are you ready to order? The ladies pulled
out their pleather pocket purses and began to dig through the chaos of wrappers and coupons that
filled their purses (a servers worst nightmare). I had repeated my question once more and they

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insisted to me that they wanted to order food instead of me getting their drinks when they had not
even looked at the menus. My other customers began to look around and checking their watches,
waiting for their server, waiting for me. I made several more advances to leave yet they knocked
them all down, I was trapped. The male wore a lazy look on his face and talked incredibly slow.
He asked me many questions about the coupons that seemed to be common knowledge
questions, yet he repeated them over and over with minimal changes to the wording. My coworkers who had already had more than enough money and tables saw me struggling and took
up all of the spare tables in my section. I felt an incredible sense of defeat. I stayed with the
customers answering the questions without rushing them. It was very painful to do (to the point
that the pain nearly became physical) but I had to keep in mind that I was not myself when I was
at work, I was an extension of the company and represented them. Patients is an important trait
to have in social literacy.
Learning how to communicate with people when something goes wrong is an important
skill to have in terms of social literacy. I had a customer that had something go wrong with their
food when I first started working there. I had apologized to them, gave them free shake coupons,
explained to them everything that had went wrong and checked up on them often with a look of
worry on my face. They had later complained on my service to the manager even though the
things that had went wrong were not my fault. This had happened to me several times throughout
my first few months and I did not know why I was getting the same results. I got curious one
time and decided to change my approach. When something went wrong, instead of saying, I am
so sorry, I would say, We will fix that for you right now. I avoided giving them anything free
and checked up on them only if it seemed like they needed something. Everything that went
wrong I just kept to myself or even stretched the truth a little on minor details to keep the

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customer satisfied. The customers did not complain and I sometimes got a complement out of
them. I had learned that the more time you spend with the customer worrying about what went
wrong, the more they blame you for it and the more serious a minor mistake can become to a
customer. Sometimes if something like a burger was made wrong and it was my mistake I might
just say, We have a new person in the kitchen and they are just getting use to things, your food
will be out in a few short moments. Short, simple and to the point. It was not something that felt
comfortable to do, but the customer was a lot happier in the end and did not pay much attention
to the minor inconvenience. Communicating with people when things do not go as planned is an
important part of social literacy.
Literacy is an important part of society that allows us to learn and grow. Through
working in the restaurant industry, I learned social skills such as the importance of how you
appear in front of others, gaining patience, and learning how to communicate with difficult
people. These are all important traits to have to become socially literate in a business type
industry.