And they say waiting tables is just a “temporary job”

New York’s veteran waiters aren’t going anywhere

Posted on 28 December 2009. Tags: bars, Bemelman’s Bar, martinis, New York City, veterans, waiters  

Tommy Rowles has been working at the Carlyle’s Bemelman’s Bar for 51 years. (Photo: Joel Meares)

  

By JOEL MEARES  

Tommy Rowles has been shaking martinis at the Carlyle Hotel’s swish Bemelmans’ Bar for 51 years. He was 17 and fresh from Dublin when he first got the job.  

“I came in to go to the bathroom and there was this Irish bartender here,” says Rowles, standing at the bar on a quiet November morning. “He said, ‘Are you looking for a job?’ Then he asked, ‘Do you own a pair of black socks?’”  

Rowles told the man to mind his own business – he wanted to work in an Irish pub, not a ritzy hotel – but he was soon swayed. Just weeks later, he was serving his first drink in the bar named for “Madeline” creator Ludwig Bemelmans.

Read the rest of the article here:  

http://nyfoodchain.com/2009/12/28/new-yorks-veteran-waiters-arent-going-anywhere/ 

Just a style note here – in this article, the term waiter mostly refers to male servers, with one exception, referring to her as a “waitress” (the “New York waiter” is often perceived as a legendarily cantankerous, garrulous and crusty old dude, especially the oldtimers at Carnegie Deli). In my blog, waiter refers to both sexes. I feel that women have the right to be perceived as cantankerous, garrulous and crusty as well. 

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