By Emily Lawson
The Herald Bulletin
ALEXANDRIA — Growing up, Gaither’s was a place Morgan Smith knew well. Now, the Alexandria resident travels five minutes from her home to work as a barista, waitress and occasional sales person for the company.
Each day at Gaither Family Resources Latte Cafe, 1617 S. Park Ave., entails something different for Smith. The 19-year-old does it all, from serving food to selling merchandise in the gift shop.
Q: How long have you been at your job?
Smith: I’ve been here since March of 2009.
Q: What do you like best about your job?
Smith: Meeting all the different people that come from all over the world to see the Gaither studios. I’ve met lots of people from Sweden, some from Norway, and a couple from New Zealand.
Q: What do you like least?
Smith: The stress. We work out of a very little kitchen, so it gets really hectic.
Q: What’s the funniest thing that has happened on the job?
Smith: Well, I was opening for the first time and I was rinsing out the tabs that go in the pop dispensers. I left the water running in the sink to rinse them off and I left to go open some registers. While I was gone, some of the tabs fell down and clogged the drain and the sink was overflowing. I had no idea until I got back in the kitchen. I had to clean it up and I was really embarrassed. I was new and opening for the first time; it was really embarrassing, but really funny at the same time.
Q: What’s the most serious thing that has happened on the job?
Smith: Since I’ve been here we haven’t really had anything serious happen. We have really nice people that come through here and a lot of regulars. So, nothing too serious really happens.
Q: Any dine-and-ditchers?
Smith: We’ve had a few dine-and-ditchers, but it’s all been by accident. A lot of the time people will get the bills mixed up, or they get really sidetracked and think they’ve paid when they haven’t, but we’ve never had anybody intentionally do it.
Q: What kind of jobs does Madison County need?
Smith: We just need more jobs period. Probably more entry-level jobs. I don’t know what the education status is in Madison County, but I do know that not everyone has had a form of post-secondary education. If we don’t have a lot of entry-level jobs, then there will consistently be a lot of unemployment because of that.
Q: What other jobs have you had?
Smith: I worked at Old Navy for a little bit and at Dortees Drive-In. I started nannying when I got back from discipleship training school in Colorado, then I was a migrant teacher at the school (Alexandria Intermediate School). I worked that job while doing this, but now the migrant children are gone, so I’m just waitressing.
Q: What would be your idea of the perfect job?
Smith: Well, I want to be a missionary. Ever since I went through DTS in Colorado and went to Colombia. I have always also wanted to be a veterinarian, but then I got my calling for missions.
Q: If you didn’t have to work for a living, what would you do?
Smith: Be a missionary. They get to travel and love on people. That’s what I’m good at.
Q: How do you like to spend your hard-earned money?
Smith: I am a shopper, but I have to save for my missionary college. So, right now I have to have control over my shopping and save for school. I’m really planning out my finances, everything goes towards bills and paying for school.
Contact Emily Lawson: 640-4800
Local Business
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