I was completely out of money when I graduated. In company with
our other Hampton students, I secured a place as a table waiter
in a summer hotel in Connecticut, and managed to borrow enough
money with which to get there. I had not been in this hotel long
before I found out that I knew practically nothing about waiting
on a hotel table. The head waiter, however, supposed that I was
an accomplished waiter. He soon gave me charge of the table at
which their sat four or five wealthy and rather aristocratic
people. My ignorance of how to wait upon them was so apparent
that they scolded me in such a severe manner that I became
frightened and left their table, leaving them sitting there
without food. As a result of this I was reduced from the position
of waiter to that of a dish-carrier.
But I determined to learn the business of waiting, and did so
within a few weeks and was restored to my former position. I have
had the satisfaction of being a guest in this hotel several times
since I was a waiter there.
At the close of the hotel season I returned to my former home in
Malden, and was elected to teach the coloured school at that
place. This was the beginning of one of the happiest periods of
my life. I now felt that I had the opportunity to help the people
of my home town to a higher life.
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