My dad knows the owner of a restaurant chain in Toronto called Spring Rolls. He phoned the owner to ask for a waiter position for me and then phoned me and said there was one available. He told me to go immediately to the Eaton Centre location and ask for Virginia and then say I'm Dr. Vu's son and give her my resume.
If you've ever seen the Seinfeld episode when Kramer told George to name drop "Kramer" to the optician, then you'll know where this story is leading....
I arrived at Spring Rolls and asked the restaurant greeter if I could meet with Virginia. She said Virginia was busy and asked if it was important.
I replied that it was for a job position and Virginia may, in fact, be expecting me.
She told me to have a seat and wait, which incidently I obliged, except I did so in their dining room area. The greeter smiled at me and politely asked if I could sit in one of the chairs off on the side.
Five minutes later, a small Asian lady walked up to me.
"Hi."
She mirrored me.
"Hi."
We both sort of waited expecting the other person to speak. I thought she would make mention of
expecting me and she thought I would explain what my business was with her. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat
"My name is Joe V."
She nodded. I tried to continue the sentence as seamlessly as possible after her nod because I saw then that my name meant nothing and I had to act as though I knew that.
"I'm looking for a position at Spring Rolls and my father talked to the owner who told me to come see you."
"Who is your father?"
I cleared my throat.
"Dr. V."
"Dr. W?"
"V."
"B?"
Not an inkling of recognition or interest in the name so I didn't bother with another correction.
"Yah. I think he's the owner's doctor (at this point I wasn't sure of anything anymore. I wasn't even sure if Dr. V was my father. I was also afraid of her asking me what the owner's name was because I didn't know and that didn't bode well with my story).
"I'm sorry. Until the new location opens we don't have any positions open until September, but if you'll leave your resume with me we can call you then."
I left her with my resume.
PS I ended up getting the job after the owner talked to her, but I had to turn it down in order to help my brother at his restaurant.
