Elizabeth arrives at Rockabees for Orientation. A bubbly blonde approaches her as she begins to enter the front doors. The host over enthusiastically shouts,
"Welcome to Rockabees! How can I assist you today?"
Startled by the host's enthusiasm, Elizabeth nervously replies,
"Um, I'm here for Orientation."
The host slouches with a sigh of relief. At least she doesn't have to fake it in front of the new girl. She greets Elizabeth with a firm handshake and says,
"You must be Elizabeth. Hi, I'm Lauren and I will be your trainer for the next few days. Let's go back to the office to get your paperwork."
As Lauren and Elizabeth make their way to the office, Elizabeth can feel the piercing looks from soon to be fellow employees. Never before had she felt such judgement be passed upon her. It was though they were deciding her fate. Since Elizabeth had never worked in a restaurant before, she had no idea that this was part of the culture. See, when you work at a restaurant, you aren't just an employee, you are being accepted into a family.
Once Elizabeth reaches the office, she lets out a sigh of relief. She has to remind herself that it's just a job. Lauren sits Elizabeth down in a chair that is in front of an old, dirty television screen. Lauren hands a stack of dusty DVDs to Elizabeth and says,
"Watch all of these while reading your handbook. I'll be back in two hours."Two agonizing hours pass and Lauren comes back into the office. Lauren smiles and sarcastically asks,
"So, how was it?"Elizabeth responds,
"Well, I now know that massaging a coworker's shoulders is sexual harassment."Lauren replies,
"Haha, if those corporate assholes only knew what goes on in this place."
If you've never worked in the restaurant industry before, let me just inform you on something. What is considered "sexual harassment" in the workplace is laughed at in the restaurant industry. If you aren't constantly crossing the sexual tension line with your coworkers, then you aren't really apart of the group. Getting your boobs and ass grabbed are just a part of your daily routine. And that goes for both sexes, by the way. There is no gender discrimination when it comes to sexual harassment in the industry. Sexual harassment just seems to be a part of the gig. Does that make it right? Absolutely not. But, it is a part of the culture and 9 times out of 10, as far as the harassment goes, there is a boundary that everyone knows not to cross. If it is ever crossed, it is never crossed again. And that one person who doesn't understand the boundaries, well that person is not forgiven and either quits or gets fired. I guess it's not so much that the restaurant industry doesn't have sexual harassment. There's just a more relaxed idea of what that actually entails.
Lauren hands Elizabeth a piece of paper.
"So before you can start you have to take a bunch of lame tests. But all the answers are in your handbook. Just make sure you do it tonight."As the words leave her mouth, Lauren feels sympathy for Elizabeth who has to spend her evening taking tests quizzing her on the history of Rockabees. At this moment in time, a bow-legged man in his mid-30s named Trent walks in the room.
"Oh why hey there Lauren! Who we got here?"
"This is Elizabeth," Lauren replies.
"Why hey there Elizabeth! Can I call you Liz or Lizzy," Trent enthusiastically asks.
"I prefer Elizabeth," Elizabeth responds.
It takes all of her energy and acting skills not to express the irritation she is feeling hearing his overbearing Texan accent. She thinks to herself how horribly funny it is when stereotypes like Trent, are true. Elizabeth pictures Trent exiting the room with a leather jacket that has the saying "Don't mess with Texas" written on it with the emblem of the American flag flowing through the word Texas. She then imagines him wobbling to his big old pick-up truck that has an Confederate flag on the back window with a window decal of Calvin pissing on a Ford.
"Welcome to the team, Lizzy!," Trent proclaims.
He then waits a couple awkward seconds to gauge Elizabeth's annoyance.
"Haha, I'm just kidding," he says.
Elizabeth isn't really sure where the joke is, but begrudgingly laughs at his apparent joke.
"Welcome to the team Elizabeth. My name is Trent and I am your G.M. here at Rockabees. I work for you, so never hesitate to come to me with anything."
Elizabeth surprisingly finds a bit of comfort in his words.
"Lauren, sales meeting is in 5minutes. Let's get pumped," Trent over enthusiastically proclaims.
As Trent exits the room, Lauren looks at the stunned look on Elizabeth's face.
"Yeah, he's a lot to take in," Lauren says, "Don't worry, you get used to it."
"I don't know if that is necessarily a good thing," Elizabeth responds.
Lauren smiles and says,
"Come on, let's get you introduced to everyone."
As Lauren and Elizabeth walk back on to the floor, Elizabeth is reminded of the cold eyes staring her down hours ago. But this time it's worse. This time it's as though this is her final judgement. Part of her is waiting for the guillotine to be rolled out from some secret room. But as she takes a closer look she notices some pretty friendly looking faces as well. Elizabeth thinks to herself, "maybe this place won't be so bad after all.
