Mary Richerson

 

English Composition II

 

November 12, 2000

 

 

 

“A Day in the Life of a Hooter’s Girl”

 

 

 

            I wait tables at Hooter’s, which is a restaurant.  There are only female employees

 

that actually serve the customers.  The only males that work there are kitchen employees

 

and managers.  The only thing that sets Hooter’s apart from other restaurants is the way

 

the waitresses dress.  We wear fitted white tank tops and spandex shorts with suntan

 

colored pantyhose underneath.  We also wear big puffy white socks and all white high

 

top tennis shoes.  We have to follow many rules when it comes to our appearance and

 

personality.

 

            The Hooter’s girl is supposed to be the girl next door, the All-American

 

cheerleader, someone you would be proud to bring home to mother, and a surfer girl. 

 

What this really means is we are supposed to be innocent, peppy, wholesome, and

 

looking good in a bikini.  We are told to always be camera ready.  Our hair and nails are

 

to be well groomed and we should have on make-up.  I guess this is where the owners got

 

the idea for the logo on the shirts we wear, which read, “delightfully tacky, yet

 

unrefined.”  These shirts give customers their different opinions and ideas about

 

Hooter’s.  As if there isn’t already enough confusion about what kind of place Hooter’s

 

is.

 

            Most people do not realize Hooter’s is a restaurant.  They think it’s only a bar or a

 

strip club.  I actually had some guy come into the restaurant and ask me where the

 

dancing girls were and I told him they were at the Gold Club.  Customers make the

 

common mistake of trying to give you their credit card to keep an open tab, which is

 

something done at a bar, not a restaurant. 

 

            I have also had women come in and ask me if it is okay to bring their children

 

inside.  I usually reply with a very sarcastic, “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”  The next

 

question that follows is, “Well, do ya’ll even have high chairs?”  This is a good time to

 

remind them Hooter’s is a restaurant.  I also like to remind them women and children are

 

our number one priority as customers. 

 

            If women come in to Hooter’s they are immediately greeted.  We have been

 

taught to get a woman’s drink order first and talk directly to them.  But most women

 

come into Hooter’s with their heads down and let their man do all the talking, even when

 

you ask them a direct question.  Others come in strutting and showing off their breast

 

jobs and treat their waitress horrible.  But the women should know that we just don’t

 

cater to men’s needs.  Women are more important to us because they give their men permission to come to Hooter’s.

            The men should know that Hooter’s is not a “get a date”

club.  We get hit on so many times a day and it gets very annoying.  We are not flirting with you because we want you; we just want your money.  Most of the waitresses have boyfriends and some have husbands, so you can leave the cheesy pick up lines at home with your wife because chances are we have heard it before. If you want to complement us that’s fine, just don’t think that complement is going to get you a phone number.  We value you as customer and we like to be valued by you as good waitresses, but we also deserve respect.

Hooter’s is an extremely fun restaurant to work at and when I was hired there I knew I would have to put up with certain sexual comments.  But some people take their comments one step too far.  A waitress is more likely to carry on a conversation with someone who has something interesting to say rather than some pig who just wants to tell her what a nice ass she has. So remember your manners men. 

            I’ve worked at Hooter’s for one year and two months as a waitress and bartender.  I arrive at Hooter’s for a morning shift at 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. for an evening shift. The shifts last anywhere from four to eight hours.  I have to arrive at work five minutes before my shift to get dressed.  After we set up the restaurant in the morning we have a jumpstart meeting.  This is the time when our manager gives us a pep talk and lets us know about upcoming events.  In the evening we do the same except instead of setting the restaurant up, like we do in the morning, we shut it down after we close. 

            Hooter’s is run just like any other restaurant.  We open the restaurant and serve food and drinks to the general public Monday through Sunday.  The only difference is we serve the food and drinks in skimpy little outfits.