So You Dropped A Tray.

Okay, picture this:

You’re on your way out of the kitchen with a tray full of trembling cappuccinos. The dining room is loud and filled with people, and the only thought in your head is: please God, don’t let me drop this. 

Out of nowhere, your coworker rushes through the door and slightly bumps you. And ladies and gentlemen, it happens. You drop the tray full of cappuccinos and you burned yourself a little. 

Before you have time to blink and see if anyone watched what happened, you see one coworker already sweeping the floor, another one starting the cappuccinos, and another one helping you up and handing you the tray. 

If this sounds silly to you, you’ve probably never had to do it before because that was one of my biggest fears when I started my first job in the hospitality industry. 

I remember I was terrified of the thought of “messing up” and making myself look bad or inexperienced. But the way my coworkers reacted, made me realize that when you work in hospitality, you’re not a one-man show. You’re part of a team. 

Or at least, that’s how it should be. 

See, dropping the tray means embracing the fact that we can’t control everything.

It means that it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you keep trying. Because let me tell you something, nobody was born good at everything. It takes practice. 

Dropping the tray also means staying grounded. We can get so caught up in the chaos and adrenaline of the moment that we forget to remember that there’s always a way to solve things. My worst-case scenario happened and everything was still fine. It actually made me more confident the next time I was carrying a tray full of food and drinks because I knew exactly what I was doing.

Little things like this happen on a day-to-day basis in this industry to remind us that we’re here to make people happy, to make them have a good time.

It’s not really about perfection, or not making any mistakes. It’s about our attitude and how we deal with unexpected events.

We could make a list of things that could go wrong when you work in hospitality. But the thing is, working in this industry will let you see a different side of yourself. It’ll make you do things that you’ve never done before, things that scare you, or simply things that seem too far away from your comfort zone.

Dropping a tray is also why, when you’re sitting as a guest somewhere else, you’ll have so much more compassion and appreciation for people working behind the scenes. 

Because you understand that after all, it’s not a big deal. 

We might not be able to control dropping a tray, but we sure can control how we get it back up. 

So carry that tray with confidence. The worst thing that can happen is not so bad after all!