Waitress defends employer against public impression
Rhonda Cookus
reporter

Not many businesses assist or encourage their employees to go to school. Although some do, these jobs are not for everyone. Neither is mine.
I work at Hooters.
Working in an environment like mine can get a bit stressful, and when a guy says or does the wrong thing, I want nothing more than to punch him. Such situations sometimes make it difficult to work at Hooters, but the job has enough perks to keep me hanging in there.
I know most people look down on the idea of working there because Hooters is just not for them or they fear what people might think. I felt that way for a long time, and I used to look down on people who worked there. That attitude changed when I was 17 because I grew up some, but I still was afraid to work at Hooters. At first, my parents were not in favor of my going to work there, and my boyfriend had a large problem with my being a Hooters waitress.
Now that I have worked for the establishment more than a year, everyone is getting used to the idea. My parents love it because Hooters helps out with school so much I have not needed their help with bills.
However, at my job, we have men who ask for table dances and try to grab anything they think they can get away with. Some Hooters girls have met customers who pay for everything from dinner to apartments.
Yes, working at Hooters is interesting, but if you have ever known a waitress, especially a cute one, their jobs are the same. Working at Hooters may not be for them, but they get hit on as much as we do and get strange offers as often as we do.
I do understand, to an extent, why people think the way they do about us. I have seen and heard things that made me feel weird, but we are no different than anyone else. What we do on our own time is probably ordinary, but people just see it differently because we work at Hooters. We go to school just like other people; we work just like others, and, yes, we party like others.
I have had numerous waitress jobs in the past, but I really enjoy working for Hooters. The girls there become some of the greatest friends anyone can have, and the cooperation pushes us to go to school and to do better in school.
The managers at my store always try to help me with my Spanish homework, and one of them used to have me bring in my homework so he could check it before I turned it in.
In order to help the waitresses stay on track and turn in their grades or fee receipts on time, the managers constantly remind us. They help us stay focused and have had no problem letting me off almost all week each semester for exams.
If any waitress has a personal problem, the managers are more than happy to talk to her until everything is okay. People there truly care about one another, and, no, my job is not perfect, but not many jobs are.
With all the stereotypes and the terrible misconceptions that Hooters girls have to deal with daily, we get annoyed at times.
We get frustrated, but we just look past it all and think, “Hey, at least I can pay my rent and still go to school.”