That Time I Seated Jenna Fischer From “The Office.”
I once worked at an Italian restaurant in New York City. It was your typical “for the love of God please don’t let me go broke and have to move back in with my parents” type of job. There was nothing absurdly special about this certain day. I’m sure I went to an early audition, waited 3 hours to be seen, and by the time I got out it was probably too late to take the train all the way back to Astoria, Queens before I had to be at work. At this point in my life, the whole struggling artist thing was very much a reality. It’s a little scary, but I remember scraping together $5.00 for a footlong at Subway, and thinking “holy shit, what a luxury.”
The Job: I was a host. Not even a Maitre D’. A host. I would take people to their seats. Walk back. Take more people to their seats. Walk back. Rinse, repeat.
The Pay: Not bad, not great. I was living paycheck to paycheck. Granted this was my first job ever in New York City, so I was grateful to even be there.
The Food: Delicious. I love food, and I really love free food. Is it my fault that said free food just happened to be cooked by a gourmet chef? Sorry not sorry.
The Environment: This place was busy. Like early lunch, lunch, early dinner, dinner…packed house. The bar always turned into some sort of makeshift waiting area, and all the while the general vibe of the place was “sit, stuff your goddamn facehole as fast as you can, and be on your merry way.”
Stage Set.
I see the name Jenna Fischer on the reservation books, and immediately I assume it’s the Jenna Fischer. At the time “The Office” had either just ended, or was very close to ending. So that’s where my mind was. Either way I was geeking out. And if you’ve never worked at a job like this (meaning customer service) ask anybody who has, these sort of things will get you through the work day.
Strangely enough it didn’t seem like any of my co-workers were fans of “The Office.” So not only is one of my favorite actresses (whom I may or may not have had a crush on) about to dine at this restaurant, but nobody else will appreciate the moment. Let’s pause. I’m well aware that I’m fanboy-ing quite a bit right now, but I didn’t do anything crazy in the moment. I’ve basically been holding this in for 4 years, so bear with me.
Jenna arrives with a friend, and yes it is indeed the Jenna Fischer. I then strategically place myself in position to be the next host to seat someone, which probably seemed incredibly weird to my co-workers now that I think about it…anyway. Our Maitre D’ proceeds to pick out the worst table in the entire restaurant.
Side bar real quick. Let’s talk about this table. It was a 3 top that we really only used for parties of 2, but if we were slammed it could be used for a party of 4. What the hell? Oh did I mention that one of the seats was in the doorway of the kitchen? Food runners, busboys, pretty much any employee would use this doorway to go about their duties. Not ideal.
I’ve never had to physically check myself out of “deer in the headlights” mode, until that moment. I was terrified. Because not only am I about to take Pamela (Beesly) Halpert to the absolute worst table in the place, but it’s a trek to even get there. First I walk her through the tavern/bar/waiting area/cluster-fuck. We then make our way down a crowded corridor past the bathrooms. The “boardroom” as it’s called, is a gorgeous seating area that opens up very nicely but was unfortunately filled to the brim once Jenna had arrived. After walking through the boardroom, we finally reach our destination at world’s end — I mean, at the atrium. I was 100% positive that she and her guest were going to request another table, and I wouldn’t have blamed them at all.
Maybe it’s because she’s a lovely human being — maybe she could see that the restaurant was packed. Maybe it’s because at the time I was a squirrely looking ginger kid, and she felt bad. But Jenna Fischer sat down at that table, and enjoyed her meal like the champion that she is. I thoroughly enjoyed her work before then. I thought she was an awesome person after that. Like I said, it’s the little things that get you through the work day. You keep doing you Jenna Fischer!
