"To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness." - Benjamin Franklin

Well, since I am in big need of money, a lady from church asked me and my youngest if we would like to help out yesterday for a venue she and her husband own that holds (mostly) weddings. This is a Godsend, as we are hurting. We worked 10 hours yesterday to set up for the wedding, serve the dinner and drinks, cut the cake, and then clean up. Whew!
And we live in Texas, and it was an afternoon wedding with 100 degrees! The wedding was half indoors and half outdoors. They arrived for appetizers indoors, bar was outdoors, and dinner was in a tent outdoors, then back indoors (when it was cooler) for dancing. We almost ran out of ice since we poured ice water the entire time.
The bride and groom were darling, and the guests were all great. I think the older guests felt sorry for me, as the lone Baby Boomer working with 9 other teenagers, kind of like I feel sorry for the old guys that are greeters at Wal-Mart. But hey, we're all thankful for the money we can make in these oppressive days.
As servers, we had to wear black pants, black shoes, and they provided the man's white button-down shirt, the man's tie, and a black apron. We looked very official. And I never realized how 'servant' you feel in these clothes, almost invisible. Half the people don't even notice you. It's very strange to watch all these people dressed up, having fun, eating, drinking and dancing, while you cater to them. It felt very 'Cinderella,' like they were the lucky ones, and I'm trying to survive.
I found myself striking up conversations with the guests since I'm in sales in my 'real' life, and then they seemed surprised that the 'help' was talking to them, yet were still nice. Then I'd catch myself, and try to blend in the background. I found the older folks nicer than the younger, as the latter seemed to want to order me around. But I signed up for this, so okay...
The band was awesome - best wedding band I've ever heard. I wanted to dance! Have fun! Cut loose! But, alas, I could not. I'm a paid worker. After we finished, and all sat there completely exhausted from 9 hours on our feet with no breaks, we changed out of our sweaty clothes and waited for paychecks. Once we got back in our regular clothes, we all seemed to get our personalities back and felt human again. Got home by midnight, with throbbing feet.
Now that I've worked 'the other side,' I'll be extra nice to anyone who ever waits on me again...