“He wasn’t looking at my skin, he wasn’t looking at my age … he was looking at me as an American.” “I will never forget the handshake and the look … looking right at you with those piercing eyes that said, ‘I’m one of you. Kennedy grabbed Romero’s hand with both hands and said, “thank you.” For a moment, there was silence. “All I remember was that I kept staring at him with my mouth open,” Romero said. Kennedy put down the phone and waved Romero to come forward. He saw Kennedy toward the back - one hand held a curtain and the other gripped a phone. Romero was on duty and came into the room with a group of other busboys. Romero met Kennedy the day before the California primary, when the senator and his aides ordered room service at the Ambassador Hotel. Instead, Romero got a job at the Ambassador Hotel as a dishwasher and later a busboy. ![]() The family lived in poor East Los Angeles and he attended Roosevelt High School the year that Chicano students started organizing walkouts to protest discrimination against Mexican-American students.īut Romero’s stepfather “ruled with an iron hand,” and the teen feared he’d face trouble at home if he took part. “I still have the fire burning inside of me,” Romero told The Associated Press earlier this year.īorn in the small town of Mazatan in the Mexican state of Sonora, Romero moved to Baja California until his family received permission to bring him to the U.S. Romero rarely granted interviews but recently made himself available for the Netflix documentary “Bobby Kennedy for President,” Stor圜orps and others to talk about the hope Kennedy inspired that remained with him 50 years later. Romero often asked himself what would have happened if Kennedy had not stopped for the handshake.īut decades later, Romero said he no longer felt the same guilt, thanks in part to the support of Kennedy fans who say the former busboy was an example of the type of people Kennedy sought to help in making racial equality and civil rights a cornerstone of his life’s work. The moment captured on film haunted Romero because Kennedy stopped to shake Romero’s hand and was shot seconds after that.įor many years, Romero blamed himself for Kennedy’s death - wondering if he could have done something to prevent Kennedy from being shot. Kennedy, as he lies on the floor of the Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles moments after he was shot in 1968. Richard Drew/Pasadena Star News File photo: Hotel busboy Juan Romero, right, comes to the aid of Senator Robert F. Romero held the mortally wounded Kennedy as he lay on the ground, struggling to keep the senator’s bleeding head from hitting the floor. And you will be more likely to get a promotion when the time is right.Romero was a teenage busboy in June 1968 when Kennedy walked through the Ambassador Hotel kitchen after his victory in the California presidential primary and an assassin shot him in the head. If you do the bare minimum, or exactly what is expected, you are not going to make any big impression.īut if you are super helpful and go fast, time will fly. A manager may ask them to host or buss first. Many times, inexperienced people apply to be a waiter. They will want you to be a waiter too and be a bigger part of the team. They don’t expect you to be this helpful, efficient, and fast. ![]() If you are making a good impression on all the wait staff, they will be thinking about how you are already doing waiter responsibilities. They will notice your big contribution to the team.Īnd why is this a good transition to becoming a waiter? They will be more inclined to tip you extra on the tip-out. And waiters will make more than they could have. The more helpful you are and the faster you are the more efficient the whole process will be. You will have waiters thinking, “Oh wow! That’s already done.” Get things done before anyone even notices they need to be done. When a guest finishes their food, ask them, “May I take this plate?” Pre-buss so much that you can reset the table immediately when they leave. And you will actually make more money as a busser. But get fast and efficient at doing all these things. A new busser may think they are doing their job well, walking around resetting some tables, helping refill water, and picking up some plates.ĭon’t go so fast that you scare guests or anything. The simplicity of being the best busser is just two things:īe as helpful as possible and go fast! Get Fast At BussingĪ lot of people underestimate how fast they need to go. So, one big reason to cover this on Waiter 101 is because it’s easier to get a waiting position after you show the other staff members that you: ![]() Let’s talk about bussing tables and being a busser.
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