By: Holden Maynard
This is Noah Barker (left) and Hailey Russel (right). The two of them work in a restaurant called the Lake House at Creek Fire. In their own words their job is a "sweaty struggle".
Hailey sifts through her server book to find cash to pay for gas. Most people don't realize servers typically have to buy their own server books with their own money.
Noah buys Hailey and themselves a cup of coffee. Noah's care is currently inoperable and in exchange for a ride to work Noah buys Hailey coffee before they head to Savannah.
After spending nearly an hour in traffic Noah arrives at work with only two minutes to spare. They must now take those two minutes to clean all the tables in their section before opening.
An hour has passed since their shift started and the temperature inside the restaurant is already reaching the mid nineties. Despite facing the water the restaurant has very little air circulation.
Noah sits on the restaurant's porch in an effort to cool off while the restaurant is empty. according to the servers the restaurant doesn't get almost any customers in the first two hours.
Above the bar is a television displaying what music is currently playing in the restaurant. According to Noah and Hailey, three out of five of the songs played are Linkin Park.
As customers begin to fill in Hailey and Noah begin to divide up the section they'll serve. between the two of them they have to manage twenty tables.
The first drink of the day is finally ordered and it is served by Noah. the drink was a regular bloody marry but with the special request of a strip of bacon to be placed in it. Noah is not impressed by the drink.
An argument breaks out between Tammy (left) and a customer who arrived already drunk (right). The two were locked in a shouting match until the customer was escorted out by the manager.
In spite of the heat, Noah still has to must the energy to smile and be incredibly friendly with customers. the struggle of being polite only increases with he customer's alcohol consumption.
Miles Platt, a kitchen worker, has to begin delivering customers their food. As the restaurant becomes more busy the number of customers begins to overwhelm the two person wait staff.
Miles begins letting down plastic flaps to prevent the restaurant and the customers from getting wet. The upside of the poor weather is that the temperature finally starts to drop.
The winds of the storm begin to increase and they rip open one of the rain flaps. An entire section of the restaurant is now unusable for the duration of the storm.
Hailey sifts through her now soaking wet receipts to see which ones are still readable. Her section was the one that got rained on when the protective flap ripped open.
A pile of wet receipts begins accumulating at the bar. The wait staff decide to let them dry and try to read them later
The two waitresses and their drafted recruit find a moment to rest and dry off. A large and very intoxicated party finally left the restaurant giving the wait staff a minute to breathe.
With their shift over Noah orders some wings and goes to wait for Hailey's shift to end. Since they don't have a working car Noah must wait another hour for Hailey's shift to be over so she can drive them home.
