Hooter's Orientation / Roadtrip Home

The weekend has come and gone, but it ended up being one of the most enjoyable weekends I've had in quite some time. The boyfriend is gone for 2 weeks, and he suggested I go home to Tennessee and visit my family (I'm not sure what my schedule is going to look like, and I'm very close with my family). So I decided it was a good idea, I wasn't doing anything else until my orientation Monday anyways.

I left Indiana after getting a haircut Saturday about 2pm EST. The drive down was pretty enjoyable... no rain, not too many stupid drivers, just me, myself, and I in the Mailbu on the interstate doing 80 with the radio. I did get ran off the road completely by a merging semi who obviously didn't see me right next to his door. I ended up with all 4 wheels in the grass (thank God this part of Kentucky didn't have a concrete wall in the median!) I tried to speed up but there was a car in front of me, who wasn't going any faster, and slowing down just wasn't an option since I would have been under his trailer! I still don't think he ever saw me or the bird I flipped him when he finally merged back over the car he was passing. Horn blowing an all... oblivious. Ugh! Anyways, I finally made it home a little after 5pm CST.

I was going to hang out with some friends Saturday night but was just exhausted. So I spent the night at my parents' house and visited with my family. After falling asleep about 3am, I woke up about 7am with my 2 year old niece kissing my cheek. When I opened my eyes she yelled, "GG wake up!" It was too cute for me not to just pick her up and cuddle with her. My nephew is 19 months old and they can get a little jealous of each other, so he toddled over to me too and wanted up to cuddle too. I couldn't even keep my eyes opened because they burned so much, but I loved on those 2 babies for quite some time! I ended up spending the day in town with my sisters, mom, and the babies. I said my goodbyes about 8pm and headed to my apartment. That night, caught up with a friend for awhile and packed some more of my stuff into my car before my eyes just started to just feel sewn shut.

I woke up about 7:30am and hit the road back to Indiana by about 8:30 CST. Today was the day for my orientation at Hooters! The ride back was absolutely amazing! 95 degrees outside, sunshine, traffic moved at a great pace, great songs on the radio where I was just rollin' down the road with my country music blasting and singing on the top of my lungs all by myself. I even got a call from my amazing boyfriend :) Only got to talk for a few minutes, but I'll take it.

I got home in Indiana about 1:00 EST (I lost an hour on my way) and had an hour and 30 mins before my orientation. I decided to wear some jeans and a squared off neckline shirt and figured if I'm going to be sitting watching videos and doing paperwork for a few hours, then I was going to be comfortable. I got ready, headed out the door, and got to Hooter's 10 minutes early.

When I walked in the girl greeted me and I told her I had orientation at 2:30. She told me to have a seat in the back and the manager would be right out. I sat in the back at the same table where my second interview was. The same manager I had my second interview with came out with a folder of papers and a uniform. Bottoms size XXS and top size XS. He told me to go put them on and they fit but because of my height he had ordered me a S shirt on back order. It really wasn't bad at all. I was completely covered up, and the pantyhose were so thick they felt like pants!

While in uniform we went over parts of the employee handbook and filled out my W-2, I-9, and other paperwork. Went over more paperwork and talked about sexual harassment, the uniform, and the open door policy. After I finished all my paperwork, he showed me around the building and where some basic stuff was. Then we went into the office and put in my schedule request for next week. He showed me how to clock in and out and told me to call him on Friday night to find out when my first day of training is.

Soooo so far, so good :)

-- RJ

New Life, New Adventures

Well, I finally decided to fall into this "blogging thing". I figured now is a good time to start since I'm in the process of moving to Indiana from Tennessee and starting my new life with the most supportive and wonderful boyfriend I could imagine! A little background on me... I'm not like most females, in fact I have a lot more male friends than females because I don't like all the drama most females tend to bring to the table. I also model, I'm not a self-conscience crazed woman, therefore I don't embarrass easily, I'm a very headstrong, determined individual and I love to smile.

I'm 22 years old and about to start classes to become a RN. That's my goal. But, I'm also a realist. School takes a lot of studying and time and money doesn't grow on trees. College is expensive and on top of the other bills... rent, car payment, insurance, all the household bills, etc... yuck! So me and the boyfriend talked and decided I should apply at Hooter's. We figure the tips would be good and it would give me the time I need for school. I tried to Google the Hooter's hiring process so I would know what to expect and to my dismay, didn't really find anything very useful. I've never been a server before, just fast food. So if you're interested in becoming a Hooter's Girl, I'm going to try to give you my best account of the process.

When I first walked in last Thursday, there was a short, skinny, dark-haired girl as a hostess who was very sweet and you could tell she was new. I asked if they were hiring and if I could get an application. She was very polite and said she would be right back. When she came back out, a manager was with her and he gave me the application and told me to bring it back on Monday between 2-4pm and he would interview me.

So I took the weekend and filled it out, looked online some to find out what to expect or what to even wear to a Hooter's interview. Nothing seemed to be much help. Just read a lot of rude opinions of people who have probably never been in a Hooter's or just think girls that work there are air headed Barbies. Not true. So on my first interview, I decided to wear some moderate, everyday make-up (the picture is actually from my way too my first interview), light colored jeans, a fuchsia pink babydoll top (it wasn't very low cut, just fitting), and a pair of brown heels. I walked in and it was the same polite girl at the front. She seated me at the first table closest to the door and went to the back and got the manager. He sat down with me (didn't take longer than 10 minutes) and just asked me basic questions: Are you comfortable with the uniform? Do you have any tattoos that might show through the uniform? What's your availability? Do you have reliable transportation? It didn't seem like much of an interview for me, just more of basic questions. He then shook my hand and asked if I could come back in 2 days (yesterday) for a 2nd interview with the General Manager at 5pm. He just told me then to wear my hair and make-up like I were going to work.

Second interview, I still had no idea of what they expected me to wear but figured I didn't go too wrong during the first interview so decided to follow the same idea. I wore a black kind of dressed up top that didn't show too much cleavage and some jeans with heels. This time, I did wear more make-up than before, but not too much. When I walked in, the hostess was a different girl, but still very polite. I told her I was there for an interview with the General Manager and she went to the back. I waited about 5 minutes and she came back out with a middle-aged guy and he introduced himself. We walked to a table in the furthest back of the restaurant and had a seat. He had my application and basically went over it. This interview was more like a regular job interview. Same questions as before but longer and discussed the job some also. He asked more in depth questions like what are your goals in life? Why Hooters? What do you know about the company? Why would I make a good Hooter's Girl? What would I expect to make in tips a week? Then he told me he has expectations from every Hooter's Girl. Basically, you have to look good and stay in shape. Make-up done and hair down everyday. You have to work hard (no one likes the slacker), be punctual and actually early due to line ups and getting ready. You have to make money. He explained at $2.13/hr and working for tips, it wouldn't be worth my time if I didn't care about the tips. Then he said if I can accept those terms then welcome to the team :) We then discussed stuff I would need before orientation on Monday at 2pm. Driver's license, social security card, white slip resistant shoes, and $7 for slouch socks and suntan pantyhose.

So now, here I am... blogging my first real blog while my prince charming sleeps away this beautiful day. Guess I should wake him up, after all he DID promise me a puppy if I got the job :) I'm so excited to start and more so excited of what other new adventures await for us. After settling for less than I deserve for so many years, I've learned that sometimes things fall apart so even better things can fall together...

--RJ