Name: Martin Anaya
Background: Anaya, 25, came to Chicago from Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1981. He began work as a busboy shortly after arriving in Chicago and is now the senior busboy at Lou Mitchell`s restaurant, 565 W. Jackson Blvd. He lives on the South Side, in a two-flat he bought this year.
Years as a busboy: 8
I was living with my sister when I first came to Chicago and took a job as a busboy in an Italian restaurant, where I worked for 18 months before going to work at Lou Mitchell`s.
I work 55 hours a week, and I like it enough to have stayed here longer than all the other busboys. I get decent pay, lots of hours and time-and-a-half after 40 hours.
I get to work at 4:30 in the morning, an hour before the restaurant opens for business. This gives me just enough time to make the juice and coffee, set out the rolls and ice, and get tables ready for the breakfast rush, which lasts five hours.
First, I take four cases of oranges out of the cooler, cut them and squeeze them in an electric juicer. This fills 26 pitchers, and I figure that I squeeze eight more cases of oranges and fill 52 more pitchers by the time I go home at two in the afternoon. The other guys stay around until closing-3:45 p.m.-because they come in later.
Next, I grind enough beans to make two gallons of coffee at a time. By the end of the day I`ve used up 16 pounds of beans. Coffee`s what people ask for the most and want the fastest. I don`t make the decaf; the waitresses do. I just serve it.
Before I put on my uniform at 5:45 in the morning, I make a lot of trips up and down the basement stairs to and from our bakery. I`ve got to get the baked goods set up on the carry-out counter before all the people come in. We start out with 12 big trays of muffins, cheese bread, coffee cake and whatever else the baker makes downstairs. I wish there was room for a bakery up here, but there isn`t.
I don`t put on my uniform earlier because somewhere in that hour I sweep the sidewalk outside the restaurant. It`s important for everything to be clean. Nobody wants to walk into a place to eat that looks dirty outside. Besides, I might splatter the black pants, white shirt or black bow tie with orange juice and coffee. As it is I change my shirt two times during the day. I`ve got to be clean for the people too.
At 6, I hand out morning newspapers and make sure that my regulars get the one they like to read. Everything else is ready. I`ve set the tables with clean silverware, fresh napkins and water glasses. Waitresses take care of the jelly, salt and pepper shakers and filling the mustard and ketchup bottles. The only time I deal with the condiment containers is when a customer thinks one needs a refill.
Busboys here don`t have a regular station. I work at any of the 40 tables that need me. Each one seats four people, and they`re full during the breakfast and lunch rush. With all the clearing, cleaning, answering requests and packing ”doggie bags” that goes on, the busboys have to be careful not to bump into each other. If we break anything, we sweep it up as quickly as we can. It doesn`t happen often, but I dropped a tray full of dishes once and got red in the face I was so embarrassed.
To be ”Johnny-on-the-spot” to help a customer, a waitress or another busboy, my eyes have to be everywhere. Even the boss might need my help if a light bulb has burned out or we run short of an important ingredient. I usually pick up the mustard or ketchup or margarine from one of his friends who runs a restaurant down the street. The only time I run into trouble is when everyone needs help at one time. Then I wish I had another pair of eyes- and another pair of hands.
Waitresses count on busboys to serve water and coffee as soon as they take an order. Most of the time they say how much they like my work. But sometimes I hear, ”Move faster. Clean faster. Set the table faster.” I do the best I can. My best must be OK because at the 11 o`clock break between breakfast and lunch we relax and laugh together.
I clear as soon as people leave. But to keep a table looking nice while people eat, I take away an empty juice glasses or a dirty dish. I`m careful about plates with even a little food on them. People get upset. They say:
”Hold it. I haven`t finished eating.” I always answer: ”Excuse me. Here, please finish.” I want people to feel good and eat here again.
We all help a new busboy clear a table the right way if he`s slow in learning. Some take a few days. Others take a week. Some never learn. I caught on fast but it`s not easy. You`re supposed to carry the silverware and as many as 14 dishes in one hand, and all the glasses in the other hand. Then you pile the dishes by size so the small plates and the cups end up on top. Afterwards, you set them into a bus pan that another busboy takes away on a cart. We have to help each other. People are waiting.
I don`t mind sweeping the floor. But I don`t like to push the carts. I did that for three years when I first started. It was enough. I`d much rather put the dishes on a cart and have someone else push it.
As senior busboy I train the new ones. We have to know how to put milk into the machine; when to use small, medium or large glasses and what size plate to put under a sandwich or dessert. We also have to know what the menu items are. If a new guy doesn`t understand what the customer wants, he`ll ask me in Spanish and I`ll translate. A new guy might never have heard of Sweet
`n` Low. If he can`t read English, he could mistake a bottle of hot sauce for ketchup. It happened once, and the customer used it before reading the label.
I try to give people what they ask for with a smile on my face. They want me to bring an ashtray, more coffee, more water, get the waitress or the check. It`s my job to please them.
Once, I did the worst thing a busboy can do. I spilled coffee on a customer`s lap. It was embarrassing. But I brought towels right away to soak it up. She was nice about it, and I was lucky. Her skirt cleaned up with seltzer water, which is good for taking out stains. The boss didn`t get mad at me. He picked up her check and the cleaning bill.
I try to answer what people want before they ask me the question. If someone comes in and looks around the restaurant before being seated or he leaves the table and doesn`t seem to know where to go, I know he wants a washroom. I point him in the right direction.
I want to stay in the restaurant business, but I also want to make more money. I could become a cook. Two of the cooks here were once busboys. Or I could become a waiter. That`s how a busboy moves up. I know English and can write up a check.
But the boss doesn`t want to lose me as a busboy. Neither do the waitresses. I know how to take care of people. Customers who know me always say good words to me. They speak Spanish to identify with me. They learn Spanish to joke with me, especially the Spanish word for hurry. When they`re nice, I`m even nicer. I try that much harder to satisfy them.
