Chapter III: Part 3

Among the men in one of our Eastern States whose business it is to lay stone walls is one who has an especial talent for the work. Stones 110 of any shape answer his purpose. He does not ask any direction, he does not have to make any measurements, or use any stakes or a line to lay his stones by. And in the whole State there are no such beautiful walls as this man lays. Does he ever have to tell a falsehood in order to get work? Does he ever talk about other persons interfering with him? Or does he need to care what other persons think? He does his work so much better than other men that it will always be sought. And although he has a special talent for it, he does not let that make him careless. His is true work, honest work, and so long as he keeps his health and there are stone walls to lay he need never rest with idle hands.

With regard to the privileges granted to workers it is not easy to lay down any set of rules that will meet the requirements of every household in the land. In some cities rules are in force to which the majority of families conform, and they seem to answer very well. But 111 the needs of a family where there are little children differ from the needs of a family of adults. A larger number in a household will necessitate arrangements the need of which does not exist in one made up of a few members. In order to consult the varied tastes and arrange for the comfort of all, special hours must sometimes be considered, and it is not wise for a worker to start out by saying that she must have such and such times for her own. The time offered by the existing arrangements may be, if she will stop to think, much better for her.

It is important to comprehend exactly what is promised, so that there may be no mistake and no disappointment on either side. The time stipulated as belonging to a worker is certainly her own; the rest of her time as certainly belongs to the person to whom she has agreed to give it. But if her sister were going to be married, a girl would feel very grieved if she were not allowed to go to the wedding, and yet 112 there was nothing said about the wedding when she promised her time. Will she realize the equal importance of the occasion if the lady of the house is obliged to ask her to give up one of her evenings because of some especial entertainment?

There is very little doubt about her securing the proper privileges with regard to outings. Something quite as important is that she should care about her sleeping accommodations. Ladies say that again and again they have taken pleasure in fitting up cosey rooms for the maids who were to do the work of the household, and they have been grievously disappointed to find that their efforts were not in the least appreciated. No care was taken to preserve order and neatness; in fact, carelessness had been so universal that they had lost all heart about it. What is needed is plenty of fresh air, with an opportunity to preserve thorough cleanliness, and no right-minded lady will fail to respect a maid who makes a point of claiming these privileges.

Where many privileges are not granted one is inclined to place the 113 blame no more upon the employers than upon the employed, for I think we must all admit that, aside from some notable exceptions, waitresses have not so comported themselves as to make the persons they served take a keen interest in them.

When a reform is attempted there are always some rough places to be gotten over at first, some pioneer work to be done; but it is possible for a new order of waitresses to raise this department of women’s work to such a standard of excellence that there will be no need to ask for privileges; they will be granted without the asking.

Adaptability 114

When a waitress has gone into a home, and has made a contract which is satisfactory to herself and to her employer, she will need to adapt herself to her new surroundings, as she must not expect that they will in all things adapt themselves to her.

The first thing to which she may have to adapt herself is the fact that she is not looked upon as a person in whom one can repose perfect confidence. But she must remember that waitresses of the old order have in many cases abused their position, that they have sent too much china and cut glass to the ash barrel for any owner of such valuable articles to consider these and other belongings safe in new hands.

A waitress will, if possible, go into a new home in the morning, and not attempt a dinner until she has had time to take the bearings of 115 dining-room and pantry. While she is serving luncheon, and is going back and forth from the pantry, she need not be surprised if she hears a conversation something like this:

“The new waitress does very nicely, mamma.”

“Yes, a new broom sweeps clean, my dear.”

“But she looks as if she knew how to work.”

“She may know how; but I suppose she will be like all the rest. I have no faith in any of them any more.”

The new waitress need not be angry. She need not be even enough disturbed to let the blood rush into her cheeks, for she knows that she is competent and she can afford to bide her time.

She will make some haste with the luncheon dishes, for there is an important piece of work to be done before dinner. She will take out her memorandum-book, with its nicely sharpened pencil, and begin to make a list of all chipped china and glass and of all silver that is marred. The lady of the house will be expecting questions, and 116 should be asked to make this possible by showing where all pieces are kept which she wishes to have used. If objection be made, it is only necessary to say modestly but firmly that a contract which holds one responsible for all breakage makes it necessary that such a list should be made. The truth of this will at once be apparent and full opportunity given.

When finished, a copy of the list should be taken to the lady of the house, that she may compare it with the original and so avoid any mistake.

Next to making a list of the dishes should come a thorough study of the pantry. This it will not be possible to make all in one day. The new waitress will not be discouraged by anything that may be in the pantry, for what seems a defect the first day may prove a merit the next. Some things cannot be changed. The window, the sink, the shelves for dishes, are fixtures, and these are some of the things to which 117 she must adapt herself. There are other things which may be made to adapt themselves to the new-comer.

When she finds something which she would like to have changed she should make a note of it, and not feel sure that she is right until she has tested it well. She should go on making notes until she has put down everything which in her judgment seems necessary. The list should then be well studied, and anything which cannot be remedied should be crossed off.

When she has been in the house long enough to know whether she is likely to please; when she has at least shown that she understands her business, she will show the list to her employer and tell her what things she would like to have in order to make her work more convenient. Possibly a lady may consider her pantry already perfect and be annoyed by any suggestion; but it is more than likely that she will be gratified to find that she has some one in her employ who really cares how and by what means the work is done. She will probably 118 say that she is glad to see such a list; that the articles asked for she was careful to provide when she began her house-keeping, but she found they were neglected, broken, or thrown away. The list would probably be something like this:

Neat brass hooks for fresh white apron, brooms, and dusters.

Three new hand towels.

Zinc dish drainer.

Small towel rack.

Lamp in bracket, to throw light on dishes to be washed in the evening.

Two dozen towels for glass and fine china.

Two new salad cloths.

If the lady be a busy person she may imagine that some of these requests are unnecessary and therefore unreasonable; but she will go into the pantry to see what is already there. She will not be surprised to find her salad cloths with the silver cleaning materials, for she has had too much experience to be surprised at anything. She 119 will sort out the hand towels from the lamp cloths, and see that she needs new towels for silver and china. It is more than probable that the rack, the hook, and the drainer will be promised, although no time may be set for the fulfilment of the promise.

Now is the opportunity to prove that real thought has been given to the matter. The waitress should be ready to say, “To-morrow will be my afternoon out. If you like I will get the hooks; they will cost so many cents apiece. Where I get those I can get a small towel rack for so much. I have measured the sink and find that the drainer needs to be so long and so wide, and I know that the plumber three blocks away will make it for so much.” The amounts will be so small, while the convenience will be so apparent, that she will probably be commissioned to get them at once. She must be sure of her prices and in no case must she exceed them. She must not ask for one thing on one day and another thing on another day. All requests should be made at 120 one time, and nothing further asked for until it becomes absolutely necessary.

When she has adapted herself to her pantry and her pantry to herself, so that she can do her work in the best possible manner, she may turn her attention more entirely to the peculiarities of the family which she has agreed to serve, for it goes without saying that they have their peculiarities just as she has her own. For instance, we will suppose that one of the gentlemen always wishes butter at dinner, no matter how many sauces have been provided. Half of the time he does not touch it; but he wishes it there. She cannot change that any more than she can make the near-sighted lady see by taking away her glasses. What she is to do is never to forget that butter. Some persons have a habit of saying, “No, thank you,” when a dish is offered, and asking for it the moment it has been set down. She can soon determine if any one who does this is at the table and need not be “upset” by the request. If she can learn to make a bit of a pause 121 at the plate--not disrespectfully, but by way of suggestion that some of the dish may be cared for--she will soon have no trouble.

In every household there are some things that will puzzle an ignorant girl and some that may puzzle even a competent, well-trained waitress; but study and careful thought will make her find the best way to promote the general comfort and keep each person at table happy and serene.

A Servant’s Contract 122

One reason of the lack of confidence which exists between mistress and maid is the constant change which takes place between the employers and the employed. If a remedy is to be found for this--and a remedy must be found--it will be necessary to know the reason why, with some exceptions, maids are seeking good places, and good places are waiting for the right maids to come and fill them.

Without doubt the chief reason is the lack of a clear understanding between mistress and maid at the beginning of an engagement. Promises are made very much at hap-hazard, and a contract entered into, the conditions of which are not fully understood by either side. To avoid mistakes it is necessary first to understand the meaning of a contract.

A contract is an agreement between two or more persons by which 123 something is promised on one side in return for something promised by the other side. A contract is just as binding upon one party as upon the other. It is not something to be kept on one side, while it lets the other go free of responsibility. If responsibility be shirked by one party, then the other is at liberty to consider the contract broken, and decline to keep his part of it. For instance, a carpenter agrees to build a house for a certain sum of money. If he fails to build the house, the man for whom he agreed to build it does not feel bound to pay him anything for promising to build it. If a caterer agrees to furnish refreshments for an evening entertainment, and fails to send them, the person who had given the order would certainly not feel obliged to pay the bill, if presented.

In the case we are considering the contract is between two persons. It is an agreement by which a certain amount of service of a specified 124 kind is promised for a stipulated sum of money and a home.

Every maid who goes into a home says that she will do certain things, and that she will do them well. She claims that she knows how to do and will do her work in the best manner. On this understanding she is employed, and is promised a certain sum of money in addition to her bed and her board. Often a few days prove that there has been a mistake. In the first place, she does not know how to do her work in a first-class manner, and in the second place she does not try to do it well. Her employer talks with her about it, tries to show her better ways, begs her not to be careless, all to no purpose. After a fair trial she is told that she will not answer the requirements of the place. Does it ever occur to her to take less than the stipulated wages? By no means. She has not at all come up to the promises of her agreement; or, in other words, she has broken her contract. This would certainly justify the party on the other side in breaking hers to the 125 extent of paying only for the kind of work that has been given, instead of paying for the first-class work that was promised. But ladies do not like to be called mean, and they pay out their money knowing that they have not received the value of it.

In order for a waitress to know whether she has fulfilled her part of a contract, and whether the blame rests with her, she will need to understand very fully what she has contracted to do.

Most important of all in this connection is the promise not to abuse the china and silver. We all know more or less about the china craze--the collecting of pieces of old china, some of it not so fine as may be bought in the shops to-day, but old. This old china has passed through a great many hands, and been washed a great many times. Some of it has passed from pantry to pantry, as it became the possession of one family after another, and a great deal of it is neither broken, cracked, nor chipped. This proves that somebody, or a good many somebodies, must have known how to wash china without 126 injuring it in any way, and what has been done in this way may be done again. It will not be done by ignorant girls who have no idea of learning the best ways; but it will be done by the many who are anxious to do always what is right, even at some inconvenience to themselves.

Superstition must be gotten rid of in the beginning. Some persons say, “There! I have broken that; now I must break three things before I can stop;” or, “Now I have begun to break, there is no telling when I can stop,” as if they were not responsible for the damage done. For this there is one sure remedy, and possibly one only, which has been tried in a number of cases, and always with success. The person who breaks china or defaces silver must, so far as is possible, repair from her own purse the damage done.

But accidents? Yes, once in a lifetime a dumb-waiter breaks down, a cleat under a shelf gives way, or a child runs against a door and knocks a tray full of dishes out of a steady hand. All these are 127 accidents. There is no question about them: they could not have been helped. When anything cannot be provided against it may be called an accident; when it happens from lack of foresight it may be called carelessness.

One point to be considered is that the articles which a maid destroys are often too valuable for her to replace. Even if she has the willingness, she has not the money to buy pieces of equal value. All the more should she provide herself with all possible safeguards against the destruction of other persons’ property. A contract might be entered into which would be something like this: A certain sum of money is promised to a waitress in return for work performed in an acceptable manner. If at the end of each month no china, glass, or silver is broken or defaced, then one-fifth or one-quarter of the sum promised is to be added to the original amount. If pieces are broken or marred, then the extra dollars are to go towards replacing what has 128 been spoiled. That is, if the maid keeps her contract by doing her work in the manner she has promised, she will be paid for good work and careful management. If she breaks her contract by carelessness and heedless handling, there is some slight provision made against the damage done.

When the idea is once grasped that a contract is not a one-sided affair, when a maid realizes that she is as much bound by it as her employer, then she will think before she promises, and she will not undertake more than she has capacity and training to perform. Then she will not expect to be paid for what she has not done, and she will have too much self-respect to accept wages which she has not earned.

Another thing which will not fail to be discussed by reformers of this branch of household service which we are considering is the question of tips and souvenirs. We are told that the reason why the system of tips prevails on railway trains and in hotels is because the wages of 129 the employés are not sufficient for their support. This is not true of all these workers; and if it be true of some, it need not be true of the household. A really good waitress can always command a proper return for her services. If she has brains enough to become a model waitress she will have sense enough to know what her services are worth, and her demands will be gladly acceded to when she has proved that her work is worth the price which she has placed upon it. This point being settled, she will be satisfied with the stated amount, and bend her mind to her work without any idea of attracting the favor of, or receiving tips from, any member or guest of the household. How else can she preserve her self-respect?

Souvenirs are not tips, and may be considered. The new order of waitresses will so conduct themselves that after a time no one will think of offering them tips; but there are occasions when souvenirs are quite suitable, and may be accepted with perfect propriety.

Suppose that preparations are made some morning for a child’s party to 130 take place in the afternoon. A little guest confides to the waitress that she is going to wear her sweet white dress that was finished just before she left home. She begs her nurse to show it, and the nurse goes to a trunk to take it out. Alas for the child’s hopes! The sash, which is an important part of the dress, is hopelessly crushed, so that it is not fit to wear. Nurse is too busy to freshen it up; another dress must answer. The waitress may not half comprehend what a terrible disappointment this is to the child, yet she carries away the sash, and, long before time for the party, brings it back as smooth and fresh as it was in the beginning.

When the mamma returns she listens to a wonderful tale of distress and joy, and it means far more to her than to the child. When she is about to leave the house, if she wishes to show that she remembers how thoughtful the waitress had been, and offers her some pretty gift, 131 there is no reason in the world why she should not accept it with pleasure.

If old people are among the guests, there are many little things outside the line of prescribed duties which may sometimes be done for them. Elderly persons are so grateful to those who see and remember their especial needs and wishes that it seems quite natural and proper that they should offer gifts to those who are thoughtful for them.

But the things I speak of are those which a true waitress will do wherever she is placed. She will do them for a person without money as quickly as for one who has money. She will do them not because she is a waitress, but because she is a woman--a woman with a warm heart and a willing hand.

THE END

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End of Project Gutenberg's The Expert Waitress, by Anne Frances Springsteed