4 months in

I haven't posted in awhile but I guess I can take a minute to give an update on the life of a Hooters Girl. Being a Hooters Girl is not all it is cracked up to be. I enjoy my job and I have a lot of fun and get to meet all kinds of people but there are also downsides to being a Hooters Girl. I still can't tell my family what my job is. I am not ashamed of my job. Like I said, I like it. But my mom is still not happy that I work there. She is not proud to call her daughter a Hooters Girl. It's cool though. Everyone else is cool about it as long as my mom's side of the family doesn't know.

The downsides that I mentioned about being a Hooters Girl involve the work that you have to do being a Hooters Girl. We don't have to do that embarrassing or degrading stuff that people suppose that we must do, especially after seeing the Undercover Boss show but we do have a lot more work than people think we do. I can say my arms have gotten in much better shape since I have been working there. We have to carry buckets of ice to stock our stations, we take the garbage out which is very heavy, we bus our own tables and carry the heavy dish tubs back. I've had to do the dishes myself several times and they are always giving us "sidework" which includes silly things like wiping down the poles in the restaurant, wiping down the lamps, removing staples from the wall, scrubbing down the inside of the weight station and other silly things. At least half of the time we don't get any kind of break and we don't get to eat. They lock the closet so we can't get to our things during our shift. I usually get lucky and am heading back to the closet just as the manager is going there to lock it so I can get a drink of my protein smoothie. We aren't allowed to have drinks anywhere so we get very dehydrated. I have worked from 10:25 a.m. to 1:45 am without a break or eating before. These are the negatives that you don't learn about before becoming a Hooters Girl. Not to mention, if the restaurant is not busy we make no money. We make "2.14" an hour but we never see that money. We only make tips. Then, if your tips for the pay period don't average out to minimum wage (which sometimes they do not) the managers start telling you about it in Jumpstart. They tell you that you should never be making less than minimum wage and they assume that this means you are not claiming your tips. Needless to say, they are not happy if they have to pay you "make up tips".

On a more positive note, I have enjoyed working there. It is so much fun working with all of the girls. And I have met so many people. I have met people from Guatemala, Spain, Canada, Germany, Russia, Peru, and from all around the United States. I have had horrid tables that have made me want to cry but I have had amazing tables that I wished would never leave because they offer endless entertainment. I love meeting the tables from other countries. They tend to be my favorites. Although, I had a table of High School aged boys last week that were really fun. I have my regular that comes in every Saturday and Sunday like clock work as long as he is not out of town. I can always count on him coming in and hanging out for at least a couple of hours. He sits and watches basketball with me and keeps me up to date with what's happening in the game when I'm busy. There really is a such thing as the "Hooters family" but just like a normal family, there are ups and downs. I know that one of my managers I only like to work with in the morning because by the night shift, she is too frazzled and I don't want to deal with her at all. You can't go wrong with the guy managers though. As long as you are nice to them, they are nice to you. Just try not to mess up too much and they'll always be cool.

Anyone who is thinking of becoming a Hooters Girl, just know that it is not a super easy job but it is a lot of fun. I enjoy my job and I have fun pretty much every shift that I work. The girls are great and there isn't a lot of drama. Just remember to not get involved when the random drama does pop up. When people talk to me about other people I just smile and shrug and say I dunno and it keeps me out of any kind of trouble with drama. It's better to have people just think you are extraordinarily nice than to have people thinking you are talking crap about them. So, don't gossip and don't get involved in other peoples' business. That is my recommendation. And be prepared to get a work out every shift! It really is a work out being a Hooters Girl.

Also, I don't think that I have posted since February so as a side note, France is amazing and I can't wait to go back! And I was accepted into the accelerated nursing program at my school! This is exciting...they only accept 30 people! So, I will be starting that in August and I will be saying bye bye life. It will be study study study study and work only about 10 hours a week. It's going to be rough. Especially if we end up with only one car. I am sad to say that Goldie (my '02 Saturn) is possibly out of commission. She began jerking back and forth when I got back from France and now it is worse so today I took her to get diagnosed. Hopefully we will know by tomorrow what is wrong and whether it is something that can be and is worth fixing. If it's the tranny, I'm just going to let her die because that car is really not worth all of that money. Also, we are going to Myrtle Beach for my birthday! I'm excited. I haven't been swimming in the ocean in 4 years! Yey to vacation that I can't actually afford! =)