University of Virginia Library

Dorothy W. Carver

Unique Charm Wins Friendship

Profile

By BOB MAHONEY

You might ask her for two
scoops of ice cream, but if she
sneaks in an occasional 'little
extra,' for her regular
customers, you're not about to
complain.

You're not about to
complain, either, when you
realize that she's not just doing
you a favor when she serves
you, that she's not 'just
keeping the line moving,' but is
happy to serve you
individually, pause for a
moment and say hello.

If you think that this type
of service and courtesy can be
found only in the public
relations angle of advertising
and that ordinary workers are
concerned only with punching
in time, then you have not met
Dorothy W. Carver. Mrs. Carver
is the assistant manager at the
Glass Hat in charge of the night
shift.

She works five nights a
week, eight and one-half hours
a night (one-half hour off for
dinner) and during that 4 p.m.
to 12:30 a.m. stint Mrs.
Carver is worried about a lot
more than the clock.

She worries about the
crowd of students who
invariably come into the 'Hat'
between 5:30 and 6:30 and
make that hour the most hectic
of the night. She and the four
other workers on the night
shift are under the gun to serve
the students as quickly and
efficiently as possible – the
students expect this.

What they don't often
expect but do get is a smile and
courteous greeting. It's not the
"Hello, may I help you?" that
seems to have come as part of

MacDonald's raising the price
of its hamburgers, but a
sincere, "Hello, fellow, how are
you doing. We haven't seen
you in a long time. Don't you
like our food anymore?"

Serves 500 A Night

But if one gets the
impression through this that
Mrs. Carver talks her way
through the night, then one
hasn't seen Mrs. Carver work.
The demanding task of serving
500 customers a night is not
avoided, either, just because
she is a supervisor. A supervisor
sees to it that things work
smoothly, but Mrs. Carver is
not satisfied with seeing things
work smoothly, or merely by
giving orders. It's not below
her dignity to roll up her
sleeves and make things work
smoothly by personally
pitching in.

And those sleeves are up for
the whole night, for she is as
proud of the appearance of the
'Hat' as she is meticulous in
making a good sandwich. There
are always things to be filled
and cleaned, re-filled and
re-cleaned.

Aside from a conversation
with her when she is not on
duty, about the only time a
person can really talk to her
for a while is on her dinner
break or coffee break. Yet, it is
quite unusual to see her sitting
alone on these breaks, because
there are always some students
or an employee or two talking
with her, telling her their plans,
or just exchanging gripes.

Comments On Change

When the casual observer
finally ambles over and just sits
down to talk, it seems that
within minutes you've come to
know this warm lady, Given
the chance to comment on
what changes she's seen at the
University, Mrs. Carver will
reply without hesitation.

"There really haven't been
that many changes. Sure, there
are a lot more girls, and pretty
ones at that, which means that
the University isn't as deserted
on weekends like it used to be.
In all these students who come
in at night are still very polite,
they respect the employees,
and I think they appreciate the
work we do."

Handles Rowdy Students

"Once in a while we get a
student who might be looking
for a drink of coke or
something, but is also looking
for an argument. Some little
thing, just what he's been
looking for, sets him off and
now everyone is supposed to
bend over backwards. What I
do is simply try not to
overreact. If I can't reason with
him, I serve him as soon as I
can, not say a word and try not
to explode."