After knowing Debbie Burton, the server with the light bulb smile at Jesters Court for eleven years, I have to admit I am still in awe of her energy, vitality, friendliness and, let’s be frank, her sheer sexiness.
Debbie always seems so happy to see you when you walk in the door that you get to thinking you’re special and feel like a long lost buddy.
Debbie is Jesters’ longest serving server, beginning her reign at the Court in October 1997, several months after its opening. She came to Jesters as a professional server/bartender and has now spent thirty eight years doing what she loves the most; entertaining and serving customers.
As a hint to her seriousness about her chosen profession, Debbie mentions that she has never called in sick in the eleven years she has been there.
When asked what has kept her in the restaurant/bar business for so long Debbie said “I don’t do mornings. Serving and bartending suit my lifestyle; I simply can’t be nice to people in the morning so this is perfect.” Debbie looks forward to going into work later in the day and says it feels like she is entertaining at home rather than going to work.
Her customers have kept her young and fit and many have become good friends over the years. Debbie has known many of her customers since her Toronto days as a server and is now serving their kids and grandchildren.
Debbie mentions that her longest standing customer is Dave Zink of the Grenadier. She met him when she was eighteen working at the downtown Toronto Holiday Inn.
Quite a few customers from Bell and various other companies eventually moved to the Port Perry area and Debbie says, “we were wild in those days. Many of these people are now lifelong friends and we laugh ourselves silly at some of the stories we’ve shared.”
There are stories aplenty in the restaurant/bar business and Debbie of course has legions of them. Her most memorable customer is a lady who ordered a prime rib dinner, asking for it to be served blue rare. Debbie was called back to the table and the woman announced that her meat was overdone. With a piece of the offending meat on the end of her fork, the woman fired the small missile straight at Debbie. Patience is a virtue and Debbie has it in spades.
Her biggest tip was $100 from a table of one. Debbie was about to leave for a trip south and the customer told her to have a tequila on him.
I believe she took him up on it.
Debbie unfortunately suffers from foot and mouth disease. More than once she has asked a customer when the baby was due, only to be informed in a chilly manner that the lady is not pregnant.
She is legendary for spoiling surprise birthday parties, so much so that all other servers try to keep her away from customers entering the restaurant on party day. Their efforts are to no avail; time and time again Debbie can be heard saying to customers “oh, are you here for the surprise birthday party? It’s upstairs.” The customers she informs are always the birthday boy or girl.
My favourite, albeit not totally funny Debbie story took place last year. She was serving two couples on the patio when a wasp flew down the front of her shirt. Her hands were filled with dinner plates. Both men at the table immediately jumped up to help but then quickly realized their wives were there with them and so they promptly sat back down again. Debbie killed the wasp by squeezing her arms tight, after already having been stung badly. It never occurred to her to drop the plates. I believe that is above and beyond the call of duty, although is also shows professionalism.
From the very beginning of her tenure at Jesters, Debbie started having repeate “occurrences.” The Jesters ghost is a well documented story but Debbie didn’t know anything about the spirits when she started. In her early years in the building, the spirits made themselves known frequently, turning lights off and on constantly, as well as the radio.
Most employees as well as numerous customers have experienced the spirits. Debbie says, “on the night of Mother’s Day I was telling a ghost story to a table of customers. A woman at another table went to the washroom and experienced the same story that I was telling. For years, the middle bathroom stall closes and locks with no one in sight. My story was verified right on the spot.” No doubt a spooky experience for the customers.
Debbie has no fear of ghosts or spirits at all, yet she is deathly afraid of the dark. Over the years she has somewhat become the resident ghost specialist, adept and giving tours and telling tales.
Imagine loving your job for thirty eight years, with no end in sight.
Debbie puts it this way. “I chose this as a career. Some people put serving down as a menial job but it has been extremely good to me. I have successfully, on my own, raised four children, I’ve owned my own home since I was twenty four years old, I’ve travelled often and, most of all, I’ve had a tremendous amount of fun doing it. As much as I’ve put in, my job has given me back twofold.”
I presume hard work and a great attitude have also contributed to how successful and happy Debbie has been with her career choice.
You will never be alone when you show up at Jesters for a meal or an after work libation. Debbie will be there, although never in the morning. She will be your psychiatrist, your confidant, your friend. She will tell you stories, make you laugh, grab your baby out of your arms and let you enjoy your meal. She will do it all, not because she has to but because it delights her to do so.
You are in her home and she will entertain you and then send you on your way feeling better than when you walked in the door. She comes from the die-hard school of serving as a pleasure and a profession.
I know I will be back soon to see her - we all need some Debbie time to lift our spirits, make us laugh and sometimes just be silly.
By Marjorie Fleming
Focus on Scugog
Personalities
