How To... Take an Order At Manhatten Bagel (my work)

I work at the Manhattan Bagel located inside of the Super Fresh market. I have multiple responsibilities to fulfill. One job in particular seems to be an art. Although it may seem simple, taking and order at Manhattan Bagel is actually quite a complicated task. There are several things that must be done to get the correct order and please the customer.
When taking an order at Manhattan Bagel you let the customer take a quick look at the menu. They will usually glance at it for around a few seconds and they make their decision. The cashier should start out by ask a question such as “How’s it going?” As the customer responds, the cashier the cashier must get his pen and pad ready in order to take the order. The next question the cashier should ask is, “May I take your Order?” As the customer places his order the cashier must write down the order on the notepad. There are different symbols to represent each bagel that the cashier and cooks must have committed to memory. These symbols make it easier to take the order as opposed to writing down the whole word. For example, a bacon egg and cheese on a plain bagel toast would be represented by: bec pl (t) It is key that cashier converses with customer to see if he or she would like the bagel toasted. The cashier should also make recommendations such as coffee, orange juice, or cream cheese tubs. Next, the cashier must receive the name of the customer and find out if the customer would like the food to be packed “for here or to go.” This information tells the cooks how to package the food and the name of the person that the food belongs to. You must then “ring up the customer.” At Manhattan bagel there is a white laminated booklet that contains the bar code at every item at Manhattan bagel. The cashier must quickly scan the necessary bar codes. Before the cashier totals up all of the items in the order he must take the order off of the notepad and give it to the cooks. This gives the cooks more time to comprehend and prepare the orders. Then the cashier must type in the code to unlock the register and tell the customer his total. The customer can choose to pay with a credit/debit card or with cash. If the customer gives you cash, you must type in the amount given on the register and then press the cash button. The register will calculate the change that must be given to the customer. The cashier will hand the customer his or her change and offer them their receipt (often time the customers do not want the receipt). That is all that must be done with the actually ordering taking process.
The order will be taken care of by the cooks and promptly delivered to the customer. The person that delivers the food to the customer will commonly use a phrase like, “Thank you, and have a nice day.” Hopefully the customer is pleased with the service and food and would like to come back again sometime.

Night and The Merchant of Venice- Vompare and/or Contrast

The novel Night by Ellie Wiesel can be compared and contrasted with The Merchant of Venice in a multitude of ways. Characters and reoccurring themes can be compared through out both works of litterateur. The Merchant of Venice is a classic Shakespearian novel which has the usual characters and the common “happy ending” love story. Night, on the other hand is a holocaust story told in first person that references to the experiences of an individual who lived through the Holocaust. There are literal and figurative comparisons that can be drawn from both stories. These two sorties may sound very different but they actually have many similarities.

Racism towards the Jewish religion was a very evident issue in both of the Novels. Although Racism was much more evident in Night, Shylock, an important character in The Merchant of Venice was discriminated upon in the Shakespearian play. He was depicted with the stereotypical Jewish looks/features. He was shown as a very greedy man who even bargained to get a pound of flesh at one point in the novel. Shylock was often times compared to or thought of as the devil. This can relate to Night because all of the Jews in Europe (including Ellie) were forced to work in concentration camps. They were being killed by the thousands. Hitler’s goal was to eliminate Jews from the face of the earth. In both stories, the Jews were discriminated upon by perpetrators. (Actual people were perpetrators in Night, while Shakespeare was somewhat of a perpetrator in The Merchant of Venice)

Another comparison that can be made between the two stories was the character comparison of Portia and Ellie. It seemed that both of these two characters took on the role of both savior as well as victim. Ellie was forced to leave his home and everything he loved and was put in to a concentration camp. He was in a camp with his father and was separated from the rest of his family. Ellie was a victim of the Nazi’s and SS officers. At times he also took on the role of Savior. He tried to protect his father and encouraged him to look his best for inspection days. With out the support and love Ellie’s father receives from Ellie, he may not have had the faith to continue living. So in a sense, Ellie was a savior. Portia also takes on similar roles in the Merchant of Venice. She is not treated like a victim to the same extent that Ellie is, but she faces some difficulties in her life as well. Her father has designed Portia’s marriage so that her suitor must choose a casket which has a picture of her in it. This may not allow her to marry the man of her dreams. Later in the play, Portia appears to take on the role of savior. At the court, where Antonio must give Shylock a pound of his blood, Portia arrives as a lawyer and influences the case greatly. Antonio is the best friend of her new husband, Bassanio. If Antonio were to be killed, it would place a great burden on the marriage of Portia and Bassanio. She brings up during the case that the deal made between Antonio and Shylock does not allow Shylock to spill any of Antonio’s blood while he takes his pound of flesh. Thus, Shylock does not know what to do and ends up losing the case as well as a lot of money. Portia saved the life of Antonio and he was very gratuitous to her.

The next comparison that can be made between these to stories is the fact that both stories end positively and with a conflict that has been resolved. At the end of Night, The Nazi’s plans were spoiled by the Americans and all of the Jews were free. Ellie went on to live in freedom. In the play Merchant of Venice, Shylock lost his case, which was a positive for the protagonists in the story. All of the characters “lived happily ever after”

The last comparison that can be made between the two stories is the simple fact that they were both tenth grade level books that are being read in Mr. Juliani’s language arts class. All though Night and the Merchant of Venice seem like two completely different stories they have a lot of similarities. (Don’t get me wrong, they also have a ton of differences as well). The plot of both stories was captivating. Both stories were very intriguing and taught many valuable themes.

By Matt Soffer

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