Waiting

After Irene Birungi sat her high school exams in 2022, she embraced the opportunity to attend a short course in the long vacation. The two-month course focused on making coffee, and she graduated with the skills of a barista. Almost immediately she was hired by a restaurateur in Mulago who later struggled to pay employees’ wages. She quit after a few months, but the seed had been planted: there seemed to be a future for her in the hospitality business. In August 2023, around the time she would have been expected to enrol in college, she found a new job at the café in Namugongo where she is currently employed. To return to school or to keep her full-time job – that was the “quagmire,” as she put it. She chose to postpone her education, leaving her mother disappointed. Later this year, she will begin her university studies in hospitality, events planning and hotel management. She aims to acquire the knowledge and skills that she believes will make her competitive in the “foods and beverages” industry. 

Birungi was born in 2003 in the Makindye area of Kampala, the youngest child and the only girl in a family of 11 kids raised by a single mother. Today she is a young woman of remarkable poise, which she upholds at all times despite her relative inexperience. In the stylish café where she is one of many employees, she stands out for her youth as much as her calm comportment. She has had to learn on the job – and very quickly. Once, she told TWR, a pregnant woman made her (and the chef) redo a pizza order three times. Why? Because, as they say, the customer is always right. But she realizes now that they were too tolerant that day: there are customers who simply will not be satisfied and should try somewhere else. 

This is Birungi’s diary between March and May 2024. As always, TWR has not edited the diary, except in passages where it was felt necessary to make minor interventions for the sake of clarity. Her diary evokes the lovely voice of a woman who is trying to succeed in a work environment that takes away too much of her time, who is aware that she will make mistakes from which she may learn valuable lessons, and who knows that, despite today’s aches, tomorrow is another day. – TWR

March 2

Today I received a customer who ordered for what she really does not [want]. This lady ordered for a rolex wrap and she did not know that it was an egg and a chapatti. When the order was ready, I had to bring it to the client but her reaction when she saw a rolex she was really shocked. She said she did not know it was a normal rolex [and] she would not have ordered for it because she thought it sort of had checked and fries.  The rolex was cut into two so after her eating one part, she called me and told me she was not going to pay for it. I asked her if the rolex had any problem she was like she cannot pay for a normal rolex all that much. I thought she was not serious so I packed her rolex and put it on the table and her receipt. So as I was removing the rest of the things from the table I came back on the same table I found when she had paid [less] but not for the rolex and she had also taken the other half yet she had not paid for it.

March 4

Today marks the beginning of my week to be the cashier. At my work place we do re-shuffles and this has helped us to acquire different skills. When one has been the cashier this week, the other can be the waiter or barista. This will be a bit hard in the beginning but we shall cope up with time and this will help us balance work so that one is not overwhelmed and get bored because of doing the same thing over and over.

March 5

Today was my day off and I decided to just keep home. I washed all my clothes including uniforms and did all the house chores. After a very long week, I had to just stay home and rest and I prepare for the new week with new energy and vibes.

March 6

Today has been our pizza offer and this promotion helps us to increase our sales. On the pizza offer day and that is every Wednesday many pizzas are bought since when you buy one pizza (large) you get one free. This offer has helped many people with children or big families. Every Wednesday is a very busy day for us because our team is less by one person who is always off on this day but in one way or the other we try our level best to work on everyone and also give them the best experience ever. 

March 7

Every Thursday is our cocktail day and so Thursday evenings [are] very busy. When you buy one cocktail you get one free and this increases our sales on Thursday and this period people normally refer to it as the Happy hour and it starts from 6 pm to 8 pm. Most people do come early or even call on our café number to place their orders for the Happy hour. Many clients would come after 8 pm and this would make them miss the offer so now they place their orders early enough. Although we do get a lot of money on Thursday, the most annoying part is that people do not want to leave the café in time. When the closing time reaches that is 10 pm some customers who placed their orders for the cocktails earlier can be still demanding their orders. Since this usually happens, we are used that every Thursday we close around 11 pm or 11:30 pm although by this time we are really exhausted. 

March 8

Today was International Women’s day and at the Café Nsawo Namugongo today morning we sent messages to all women clients wishing them a Happy Women’s Day and thanking them for their continued support. Women really add a unique recipe to life and since every woman has a story behind of what and who she is today, the Café Nsawo celebrated that story with them as we gave every woman on this day a special treat of a free lemonade of their choice on every meal they ordered. In the morning the day was really slow but as time went on in the evening the day was hyped as people ordered special meals for their mothers and many deliveries were done. Many couples also walked in and this really showed that men wanted to celebrate their ladies. Since I am the one balancing this week we really made good sales and so far today is the day that had highest sales for the whole of this week.

March 9

We weren’t busy today and it was raining then a client came in. She ordered for a pizza from the counter then she asked whether we have ice cream but to her surprise, it was too expensive. It is from this point that we started our long but interesting conversation. She told us that she has ever worked in the same industry as us. She gave us some words of encouragement and the best thing about her she is so inspiring. She said always have your ambitions on your hands and never settle for less. She told us how she quit her job last year in February and she got another one in September and to her, patience and hope helped her to go through all the time she was not working. She went on and told us that fear makes us to lose out. In order to become successful, we have to face our fears. She continued and said many people are stuck in one place because they fear changes and have the what if I fail attitude but you just have to continue trying and never stop trying whether you succeed or not. She told us that education is the key to success but it is not the only key to success, it is only a matter of doing best.

March 10

It is Sunday and then a woman walks into the café, guess what she ordered for a pizza and it was a takeaway. After getting the pizza, the lady was going to pay using the card. I gave her the bill and then also the visa card machine. She inserted the card and the machine refused to read it and so she passed the machine and the card to me. When I inserted the card, the machine directed me to swipe so I decided to swipe the card. Unfortunately, I did this without the lady’s consent because she was on a phone call so getting back to me the machine had already authorised the card and the payment was already done. The lady was surprised because she did not know about swiping of cards. She was really scared by the look of her face expression, she said that so someone can access your bank account using your card without a pin code? The way she talked to me it was as if I had done something wrong to swipe the card without her permission. I agreed with her that I was not right and I learnt from this moment that you first confirm with the client whether it is okay to swipe their cards.

March 11

Every Monday morning, we do general cleaning at my workplace since we open at 2 pm every Monday. The management chose Monday since it is not a busy day especially during morning hours. People are very serious on Mondays they go early to their offices hence we get few customers on Mondays. Today our sales have been low since even our Moslem brothers and sisters have started fasting and that’s why I think even today our sales have been too low.

March 12

Every Tuesday is my day off and today I spent my day in Makindye and paid a visit to my mother. I had almost spent a month without visiting her. She was so happy to see me and whenever we meet it is a moment full of vibes because she will tell you whatever you missed at home. She always tells me that I do not want you to be left behind, you have to know all updates.

March 14

The management of the café brought in an experienced trainer who will take us in different sessions in order to be more professional. We hope to learn more from him and for the start am really hoping to add something on my experience because he is to teach us sales skills, good customer service and proper sequence of service. When we go through all of this we hope our sales to increase and retain more customers.

March 15

If you work in Food and Beverage Industry and specifically service my dear you have to be patient and tolerant. So today our frequent client comes and she orders for a pizza. I am the one who waited on her and so I bring the pizza after a few minutes she calls me and tells me my dear the pizza has no enough chicken and its smell isn’t nice at all. I quickly apologised and told her that I was going to inform the chef. When I took the pizza back to the kitchen the chef decided to make her another. The chef changed the cheese he used on the previous one plus the vegetables and chicken but surprisingly when I took the pizza still the woman said it was not smelling good. I was really pissed.

March 16

Today I have remembered [what I learnt] when I had just joined this industry of Food and Beverage. So a guy orders for a breakfast combo and a hot chocolate and after eating I immediately give him his bill but my dear the guy got upset. He asked me whether we were tired of his presence because he was still around and going to order for more things. I apologised for giving him the bill before he asked for it but he could not listen. He told me to give him few minutes and they bring his car and he leaves our place because he thinks we are tired of his presence but I continued to apologise.

Surprisingly, they delayed to bring his car and he spent more 2 hours and even he ordered for lunch because his driver had delayed to come. We became friends and he told me after some days that if a person did not ask for his bill do not rush to give it to him or her because you do not know whether he or she is still ordering for more things.

March 18

Since every Monday the management decided to bring in a trainer to help us improve on our customer service, today we started our training sessions. My team and I today learnt how to improve customer service and qualities of good customer service. Our trainer was really a good person, fluent and confident and we engaged in these sessions of training. Hopefully after this professional training we shall be really the best in customer service. The training has officially begun so we shall be opening at 2 pm every Monday and also have our weekly meeting on the same day before 2 pm.

March 19

Today was my day off and I spent my day at my friend’s hostel at Kyambogo University.  While we were catching up she told me of her friend who got pregnant and the man who was the father of the baby or responsible for the pregnancy was a married man. So, when the girl called the guy to tell him she was pregnant the guy just told her that she should get rid of that thing in her stomach or else she should not expect any help from him because he had no way he could tell his lovely wife how he made another woman pregnant. The girl is now in a quagmire because she does not want to abort due to fear of death and her education is going to be stranded and she is also still looking for a way to tell her parents that she is pregnant. 

March 24

Today was really hectic as I went back home late. It was closing time that is 10 pm and customers entered and they were hungry so we decided not to disappoint them and we worked on them. Their order took long since it had a long process but finally they were served. They enjoyed their meal and the cosy environment but we were really tired and they had to take their time with their food and they had paid their money. Our hard work did not go in vain they tipped the whole team and apologised for keeping us waiting on them. Although we were tired, we were happy that we waited this table because it had some money that has really pushed us today. I left work at around 11:30 pm since it was still my week of balancing so I had to stay for extra minutes after my colleagues had left for me to close the shift and also balance. 

March 25

Today our trainer took us through the service session which was also attended by our boss. This trainer has really helped us to improve on our service delivery. His sessions are very interesting since he also shares his working experience from different hotels, cafes and restaurants. I just feel one time in the week for meeting us ain’t enough but have no control over that. He taught us the qualities of good customer service and benefits of good customer service.

March 26

Today was my day off and this time round I decided to spend it at church. Church was really interesting and I think the day was well spent. I woke up very early and by 06:00 am I was already on my way, by 09:00 am I was already in Bukalango, Mt. Zion Church. I know this church is far but just feel comfortable and at peace whenever am there … and at Bukalango they pray Sunday to Sunday with normal church services. I feel it’s the right place to be at on my off days. Since this is a holy week, we were told by our Father Joseph to also try to be holy by reflecting on our deeds if we are also to sit on the right hand of the God. I just feel sad that I am going to miss the Way of the Cross this Friday and it will be my first time because this Easter season we have to work and of which we get very good sales on such days.

March 28

If you are used to eating every day my dear fasting is really hard. Since today was holy Thursday, I decided to fast and also Good Friday as well but I have struggled. I thank God that I have at least finished today but it was not easy for sure.  My day had gone well up to when my cousin called me and told me she had come back in the country because she was abroad. She told me she could not wait to see me and I was super excited because we were buddies. After all the excitement she told me how she was disappointed when she came back home to their home with the husband and found when the guy had got a new babe and the guy did not know that she was about to come back and he was really shocked. The good thing is that she found both of them home and the girl was putting on moreover [my cousin’s] clothes. This was too disheartening and the guy told her that what did she think? That he would wait for her yet for him he wanted kids and this one had gone abroad and he did not know how many years she would spend there? The most shocking part was that the girl she found at their home was even pregnant.

March 31

Today has been hectic since we were very busy and yesterday I left church very late and so I did not have enough rest. I thank God that I managed to go through the day well. We received a very big table today that really pushed our sales but there was a scenario whereby the last person to be given food on the table refused to eat because we made him to come last.  When my colleague took the food he said that he had gone out and got something to eat so he no longer wanted the food. Our supervisor tried to apologise but the guy did not want to hear any explanation. Oh yeah we accepted that his food had a bit delayed but we tried to apologise but he could not listen. The good thing was that the rest of the members on the table really appreciated our services and also left some tip and in this world you cannot make everyone happy and we tried to apologise and also compensate the client but all these did not work out. 

April 2

I lost my grandmother on Easter but I could not leave work because we were not numbered and I could not leave my workmates in dilemma. Since public holidays are our busiest days, I decided that I will go to the village after these days. Guess what, I did not even tell my workmates because I saw it was of no use since I would not also attend the burial. I got the news late and I would not just leave abruptly but I hope to give my condolence on Tuesday when am off as it is when I will go to the village.

April 15

Today I was really shocked when a guy came in the café. I welcomed him and he was a jolly person, he asked my name and asked me even the time we close. I told him it’s 30 minutes to time we close the café. The guy told me he is waiting for his girlfriend and so when time reaches to close we should leave those indoors but we should not allow those coming in. After around 10 minutes his girlfriend arrived so he called me to pick his order. Man the guy removed 10k [shillings] from his pocket and put it on the table and told his girlfriend this is all I have if you are ordering anything above 10k you have to top up on this. Man it was very disappointing for a man to call a girl on a date and actually you have no enough money to cater for both of you. You could see the pain and the disappointment in the girl’s eyes but at the end she topped up on the money and they ordered for a pizza. 

April 16

Yesterday was my mother’s birthday but we decided to celebrate it today. She was turning 50 and so we decided to organise for her a surprise birthday party. We invited some of her favorite siblings to make her day joyful and also all her daughters in law. She was really happy to see her kids and her family members some of them that were invited to celebrate her life. In order not to spoil our surprise we just ordered for lusaniya food and also a cake. We made the celebrations from home and it was more of a get together party because all my brothers, grandchildren, daughters in law and some of other family members together with our friends and neighbours were around. Am very sure she will never forget this birthday because it was a special one from her beloved kids as a way of appreciating her although we cannot appreciate her enough for the strong woman she was, she is and she will always be our prayer warrior. We love her so much.

April 17

I woke up very early today since I had to set off from Makindye to Namugongo so that by 7 am I am already at work. Man I had to use a boda boda but these guys are so fun … I used a taxi from Makindye to town so I got the boda boda from Luwum street and he was to take me to Kireka. On the way he asked me “ma’am is the speed enough or I should increase?” I was shocked because the speed was already high and he is asking whether he should increase. I just laughed and told him to even reduce the speed because it was better to reach late but safe. Thank God we reached Kireka safe. From Kireka, I got another boda boda and I took different boda bodas because this reduces costs and by 6:43 am I was already at the café.

April 28

We had another training session and our trainer talked about assumption. A good service provider should not assume for customers. I remembered one Sunday when I received a client, he had made his order on phone before coming to the café. He had ordered for breakfast combos three plates whereby all these plates come with a cup of black coffee or black tea … So the guy comes with his kids and I welcomed them and asked them whether they wanted a cup of coffee or tea for their combos but they insisted that they wanted juice. I told them if they wanted juice they would pay for it separately and the father agreed. Unfortunately, I assumed that they never wanted the tea or coffee. I brought their juice and I thought they could not take the tea. After eating the guy called me and asked me for his tea. I told him I thought when you ordered for juice I should leave out the tea. That was the worst mistake I did to tell him I thought. The guy was too pissed and asked me why would I think for him and trust me I was finished. I tried to apologise to the guy but he was too angry. He told me never to assume and if I was not sure, I would have asked him. 

April 29

I got a call from my mum at around 6 pm but we were too busy and I could not pick her call. So after work I called her back but she gave me bad news. I had started a business in November and it was about juice and I had bought a juice dispenser in November last year but to my surprise in March it got a malfunction. My mum had lost the receipt so we could not take it back for repair so she got a guy who repairs them and he was a good friend to her.  After some few weeks, the guy was not returning the machine yet we paid him fully. He has been playing games with us that soon he will be bringing back the machine but now they are 2 months. My mum called me to look for another solution because it seems the guy will not return the machine. I told her we had nothing to do but …

April 30

I got a call early in the morning from my friend at Makerere University and she was telling me to check out the call for applications for admission to undergraduate programmes 2024/2025. She told me to get ready to submit my application before the deadline of 31^st May 2024. I was so excited but I decided to submit my application on my next day off.

May 1

It is labour day and guess what one of our clients gave me some money as an appreciation token and he told me it’s not a tip. He told me that he had come to specifically give me the appreciation token because all the time he has been our customer he noticed that I am a very hardworking girl. I was really happy to see that there are people who appreciate my work and I pray to God to continue blessing this client for the good heart of appreciating other people’s work.

May 12

It was mothers’ day but I think people do spend their day with their mothers at home because we did not receive many people as expected. ▪