When I got a job as a waitress at Olive Garden, I hadn't waited tables for 13 years, and it was the only place that would hire me with an employment gap like that. For the first time in over a decade, I felt at my wit's end in my freelance（自由职业） writing business for so long that I needed to get a part-time job for inspiration.
My first day of employment was a few weeks before Thanksgiving on my 37th birthday. At first, I was worried about whether I could still physically do the job. But Olive Garden made it easy to relearn serving. For not long, my arms got stronger, I mastered the pace and got used to the chaos and I made friends with my co-workers.
On Valentine's Day, I was surprised by what I saw. That night, Olive Garden was a madhouse. A fight was about to break out in the kitchen. Instead of three or four tables in my section, I had more like nine. In the mid of all this chaos, I was struck with a deep sense of appreciation for what I was doing. Standing in that packed dining room, with my apron and name tag on, I saw myself in the guests — the big families getting together to celebrate love and the couples who were there on casual dates. It was a place of good memories.
After that, I have made a practice of getting inside others' minds, asking myself what people might be experiencing when they are in a confused or bad state. And I have made it a personal challenge to make them happy. Later, I left when my writing work became stable again, however, the experience provides me with completely fresh perspectives towards life.
