6. Social butterfly. My first shift as a waitress was quite… | by Anna | Sep, 2025

My first shift as a waitress was quite something. Not that I was bad in English or with my hands, the opposite actually, but I discovered that I loved to talk with people.

As long as I remember, I have always been shy and hated to be the center of attention. Also, I never liked to talk much because I felt people were not hearing me. As if they were not interested in having a conversation with me. It had been a bit of a struggle as a teenager and that made me question myself a lot growing up.

That’s where hospitality came into the picture.

I started in THE industry that I would never pick up because of the talking involved. But here I was, starting conversations with strangers every single day. My job was literally to talk with people and make them have a great time. I was forced to get out of my comfort zone and deal with my introverted side.

I could say that after a few weeks, I slowly became a new person. I could never imagine fixing my social issues with more social interactions. But to be honest, the effect that it had on me was incredible.

And the fun fact is that people were loving it!

I was the frenchie from Paris, full of stories about a country that every stranger is crazy about. People were asking about me and I was talking way more than actually doing my job. I was going from one table to another, letting guests get to know me better, almost forgetting about the service part of my job.

The truth is, I was having fun and that didn’t happen in a very long time. I woke up excited for the shifts coming just like I was before to go out and meet my friends. If someone had told me that a few months ago, I would never have believed him.

I was blooming day after day, as if the old me was letting space to the new version of me, like a butterfly going out of his chrysalis.

And that glowing part was just the beginning.

I was starting to find myself and to love myself.