How to maintain your mindset when you are not expected to perform
Working at the wedding venue that day felt tense.
When I arrived at work, the guests were already there.
(Since I arrive at least an hour and a half before the ceremony, they usually aren't there yet.)
While we were changing in the locker room, we were chatting among ourselves when a senior staff member snapped, "Quiet!"
(The ceremony waiting room is on the first floor, and our locker room is on the second.)
Everyone naturally started whispering...
When the pre-ceremony meeting started, the manager himself led it instead of the usual planner.
He said, "Well, today's bride and groom are... in my 10+ years in this business, they are perhaps the first...extremely particular people I've ever encountered. Fortunately, they seem to be in a good mood today, so please be thorough and avoid any carelessness. If anything happens, no matter how small, report it to me immediately."
The bride and groom are highly educated, and the guests and relatives have similar backgrounds.
I have to be even more careful than usual, not just with the bride and groom, but with all the guests.
I tend to be a bit of a "screw-up," so I was breaking into a cold sweat.
But when I looked at the instruction sheet, it said, "Tofu, drink service".
Usually, I'm paired up to handle several tables, but today I was clearly left out of that rotation 😅
I felt a mix of relief and disappointment...
But I think it was an accurate judgment.
For a ceremony like today's, I definitely want to avoid any "carelessness."
Well, I always do, but 😂
It's safer to leave out a liability like me.
When I feel like I'm "not expected to perform" or "not a valuable asset,"
I honestly get down, but
this is how I try to think about it.
"There are people who are helped by the work I do.
If I don't wipe the glasses, someone else will have to do it.
If I clear the plates, the table looks neat, which makes the guests happy and makes it easier to serve the next course.
If I serve drinks, the guests get to drink them, and that frees up other staff to do their own work.
And I get paid.
It's a win-win."
I am well aware of my own lack of ability, so I try to be proactive in my own way to compensate for that, and although I'm often careless, I make sure not to make the same mistake twice.
Though when I do mess up, I really mess up... 😭
Conversely, if I were to cut corners to make things easier for myself or try to hide my mistakes, I would feel guilty and get down.
So, even if it takes me longer to grow than others, I try my best in my own way, and as long as I am a better version of myself than I was yesterday, I try not to get down more than necessary.
Unless someone tells you directly, other people's evaluations are just "
imagination".It's not good for your mental health to overthink things when no one has even said anything to you.
As an adult, even if you are corrected for mistakes, you rarely get praised just for doing your job as well as everyone else.
It's hard to stay motivated, isn't it?
That's why I don't worry about it more than necessary.
I think that's important.
That day, I managed to finish wiping the glasses and silverware on time, I served a lot of drinks (at weddings, we go around to each guest to take orders), I was extremely careful to avoid the worst kind of mistake I've made before—dropping a fork and staining a guest's clothes—and I worked hard on the cleanup. I even volunteered for overtime.
So there's no need to get down at all! 😆
When things are tough, I encourage myself in my heart by saying, "You're doing a great job, well done!" 😊
By the way, the manager seems to have been pushed around by these customers for the past six months, so he was relieved, saying, "I can finally sleep peacefully now."
He said, "I'm tired, so I'll have an orange juice," and then chugged an apple juice.
I guess he must have been that tired 😅
Manager, thank you for your hard work! ✨