Weekend Kindness
Reaching Others Through Kindness

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It was pretty nerve wracking.  I only worked a part time job in my final year of high school, so when I went to college and knew that I would have to work to help pay my college bill, I was hoping to get a position doing Database entry.  The night that they announced the positions, I found that I was going to be placed in the Dining Common at BJU, and I was not looking forward to it.

Fortunately, I was placed in the serving area—as one of the guys that brought the food out of the warmers and placed it in the area to be served.  A job that gave me access to people as well as a chance to demonstrate my ability to get things done.

Robo-Linerunner

From day 1 I decided that I wanted to spend as little time as possible completing my job.  I wanted to get back to the dorm to do my homework—or anything but working.  I know, it goes against the idea of making money for your work, and some would say that I should have taken as long as possible to make the most money… it just isn’t how I’m wired.

So, from the first few days that I was trained, I was determined to look for ways to increase time.  I figured out the optimal pattern of bringing beverage carts to pick up and deliver to the beverage walls.  I constructed elaborate plans of when people would take breaks, what we’d do during slow times, and who was the most competent at each position.  I ran a quick line, and I even jumped in when I saw that someone didn’t show up.

I was told by one coworker at the end of the year that he and my other crew mate hated me at first because I was constantly telling them what to do, but they realized quickly that I knew what I was doing, and the whole team was being more efficient.  They liked that.

We were the fastest crew, and I was up for a manager spot, without knowing it.

Passed Over

But there was a hitch.

In the course of my freshman year, a manager in another part of the Dining Common asked me to do something, and I brushed him off.  I obviously had something that I deemed more important to do, and the hierarchical structure of the DC was not clear to me.  I thought that my manager was at a higher level than he was, when in reality he reported to the man that made the request.

When it came time to vote for student managers, I was high up in the list, but it had to be unanimous, and this manager voted no.

I was, however, given a premier job—working the Red Room1 and another job I really didn’t like—cleaning warmers—was removed.

I was also added to the Leadership Training class that was for campus student managers and spiritual leaders, even though I was neither an APC or a campus student manager.

The New Manager

However, this would have been fine, if it wasn’t for the fact that my next year was going to bring on a new manager above me—for my current manager that I really liked was going to take a lesser role in order to concentrate more on his life after the Dining Common—the life as a missionary.

So, a new manager was brought in to run the line runners/line servers, and guess whose job it was to train him.

1. This was the banquet room that allowed me to mingle with staff and guests as well as Business Luncheons.  It was a premier job because it said that I was capable to do more than just run the lines, I was able to do the full job from start to finish.  It was only given to self-starters that had proven themselves capable, and instead of the usual cook-shirt and jeans, I wore a white suit with a bow tie.  I also worked a few Blue Room meals—which were for the Dr. Bob Jones family and guests.

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