Waiters And Waitresses

SHE STEERS us to a table in the restaurant and hands us a watch. Our cute waitress' name is Alycia.Get this -- we are to keep track of the length of time it takes the order, once placed, to get back to us.Call it fast food, faster food, or -- food, but it is the all-American dream to get something free.I know Pizza Hut has had a promo that allows you to get a free pizza if you don't get it in 5 minutes. Or something like that.Yeah, yeah, I got a free pizza once, because my waitress slipped on some pepperoni and it took her three extra minutes to regain consciousness and deliver the pizza.

The concessionaire for Oriole Park at Camden Yards wants to hire more than 400 people to sell food and drinks at the new downtown ballpark and will start taking applications at Memorial Stadium from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. today.ARA Leisure Services Inc. will also hold "open houses" at Memorial Stadium's Hit & Run Club from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday."This is new for us. We don't know how many people to expect," said ARA personnel manager Debbie Wyda. "We'll be here until midnight if we need to to accommodate the people who come in."

They have no job security, unemployment insurance, retirement benefits, paid vacations, sick leave or health insurance. Most don't earn a livable wage, either, and must rely ++ instead on the kindness of strangers.They're waitresses and waiters. They work as hard as any of us -- usually for much less. Many also endure daily verbal, emotional and sexual abuse, and it's up to us to put a stop to it.In a busy restaurant in Washington not long ago, a gray-haired, red-faced couple were getting to know each other through a haze of bourbon.

Liberty senior Jack Lambert is playing his third infield position in as many years this season. He has moved to third base after playing first base last season and helping the Lions reach the state semifinals. Lambert was a shortstop his sophomore season. He hit .344 last season for Liberty, with 12 RBIs and nine runs. Lambert was an honorable mention choice last season on the All-Monocacy Valley Athletic League Piedmont Conference team. Lambert's coach, Erik Barnes, said he likes his third baseman's offensive contributions but has been even more impressed with his positive attitude, making him a role model for the younger players.

Just across the Anne Arundel County line in the heart of Laurel, a tiny Chinese restaurant tucked beneath a Red Hot & Blue in a strip center serves sushi good and fast.More important, the cost is reasonable.A friend who was eager to try sushi for the first time had seen a sign along the road advertising the Japanese dish at Mr. Wang's Hunan so we trekked there on a weekday and found the restaurant empty at 12: 30 p.m. The waiters and waitresses seemed a little startled to see people in the establishment.

Tourists attending Operation Sail 2000 and the National Square Dance Convention poured at least $66 million into Baltimore cash registers, the president of the city's visitors association said yesterday. Although firm figures will not be available until next week at the earliest, Carroll R. Armstrong said businesses are reporting that the visitors helped them break sales records - especially during the weekend. "We projected 1 million people over the week, and I think we probably achieved that," said Armstrong, president and chief executive of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, which helped bring both events to the Inner Harbor.

The Carroll County liquor board yesterday adopted 51 regulations, including a provision that limits licenses for liquor stores to one for every 5,000 people in a county election district.Some of the regulations are new rules, but most clarify existing language to better conform with state liquor laws, board attorney Isaac Menasche said at a public hearing, attended by the owners of three liquor stores who hold Class A liquor licenses.For the owners, the most significant change involves the Class A license.

Suzie Hong sat at a table in her empty Suzie's Cozy Corner restaurant wondering aloud what might happen to her business in 1991."I had a good year" in 1990, she said yesterday of her nook in the Belvedere Hotel's lower lobby, but prospects for the restaurant appeared dim after the last guests had packed and left with the hotel's closing yesterday."

For the second time in three months Howard County Executive Charles I. Ecker has vetoed a tough anti-smoking bill -- this time because it would allow smoking in self-enclosed bar areas that have separate ventilating systems."

Pete Stroup and Kay Klovestad spent Wednesday morning cooking together, poring over a sauerkraut recipe handed down through their family.But the mother-and-daughter team was not getting a head start on their Thanksgiving dinner. Yesterday, they carried the huge stainless steel pot filled with shredded cabbage carefully seasoned with bacon, brown sugar and kielbasa to the Salvation Army Glen Burnie Center where they shared it with dozens of hungry men and women."It's hard for me to give just a little bit," said Stroup, one of a group from Pasadena United Methodist Church that serves lunch monthly.