Welcome to Oceana, home of the famous crab cakes. Come in and meet our jumbo-sized owners from Lebanon. Maybe eat some gumbo.
I've been working at Oceana since mid-august and if there's one thing for sure, its that this environment is warped. First things first, it's all about the money. The more food you sell, the more secure your job is that week. Money money money. Every day before the shift we sit down and have a pre-shift where the staff chows down and the manager gives us the day's spiel. Usually something along the lines of sell this drink, tell people to add crawfish to this so they spend more money. So when I talk to a table, its a mind game. I'm trying to subversively get them to spend more than they intended to. Guys out on a date-easy money. Gotta point out something shiny to the girl and then watch him buy it for her. Usually I mention a 9 dollar drink with Malibu Coconut Rum and thats that. And the prices. Geez. $9.50 for a Hurricane and its only got one shot in it. And people buy it and smile because they're in New Orleans for a short period of time and fuck it they may as well enjoy it. And that's my job. Spot the disposable income and then rope it in, all while providing a "New Orleans" atmosphere.
All along the walls of work there are paintings like the one on the left portraying a very watered down and almost forced New Orleans vibe. Ooh we got fat cajuns wearin lipstick and makin file gumbo. Step right up. Most of our business is tourists from hotels and business conventions. Many of the people I wait on have never been to New Orleans and they just eat it all up. It's a very cleverly crafted environment, in which multitudes of people are fed satisfactorily, all spending well over the cost to make the food/drinks. Where does this money go? Large Lebanese men.

The environment of this restaurant is very different depending on whether you're a customer or a waiter. As a customer, you are given red carpet treatment. Ease of flow, relaxing music, friendly smiling faces projecting this sense of welcomeness because they'll be fired if they don't. Do we actually care that you're here? No. Sorry, its just that there's hundreds just like you every day. We greet people quick, plant some drink ideas, and then they eat some delicious food and disappear, hopefully leaving a nice tip. Interesting, the tip. The tip ensures that the waiter does a good job, it's the tables little spur with which to prompt you. Better suck up, man. You better suck up or you aint gettin paid today.
As the waiter, its a different atmosphere completely. You are at the command of random people that walk in. All night, random people that walk in off the street are your commander for short periods of time. Sometime's they're friendly and warm. Sometime's they're fucking dictators. It's a game of timing. Making sure at every moment the people are occupied with some kind of consumption because they get angry when they aren't.
Then you have the managers and owners to deal with. Some hard cases here. One fine day, during pre-shift, the manager was reading off numbers for a convention that was in town, and a couple new-hires in the back were chuckling at something. One of the owners, Rami, walked by and overheard this. He fired both of them on the spot because they were disrespecting his manager. Another day, someone came in with a very wrinkled shirt. Rami took the shirt to the grill, burned it, and then told the server he'd have to pay $100.00 for another shirt if he wanted to work that night. Also, we are banned from the bar next door(we get fired if we enter) because they're owner apparently angered our owners. These couple of men have total control in this environment. Whatever they want goes. If you so much as slip a little bit in front of one your fucked. Probably. Sometimes you get lucky.

Now it probably sounds like I'm being negative, which I am, I guess. As warped as this environment is, it does provide me with an excellent means of supporting myself. They advertise so heavily that the resturaunt always has business and it's usually wealthy business. They are very understanding of my being in school and give me whatever schedule I request. Also, I was fired a couple of weeks ago and upon sitting the owner down and talking to him I was able to get my job back. So I owe these guys one, corrupt, greedy, and large as they may be.