Who? Bassel Halawani
Number of participations to waiters races: 1 (2009)
City of participation: Jerusalem
WR: What is your job at the Grand Court Hotel?
Bassel Halawani: I am serving the guests in the living room.
WR: When did you start working at the Grand Court Hotel
Bassel Halawani: In 2005. When I started working in the Hotel, I didn’t know anything about the job of a waiter. I learnt here how to be a good waiter. When someone wants to do something, he has to decide it and do it. Everything is possible. You just have to strongly want it.
WR: How did you decide to participate to the race?
Bassel Halawani: Actually, at the beginning I didn’t want to participate . I didn’t know what it was exactly. However my manager told me that I should do it so I did it. He was right!
WR: Were you ready to win this race?
Bassel Halawani: I didn’t know if I could win this race or not. All the other waiters tried to win. Suddenly, I realized that I should win this race. I don’t know exactly why, but I started going faster and faster, fighting against the other waiters! I also realized that is was serious and not a game when I saw all the media, the journalists and the people around us. Then I decided to do my best. . When I won my manager gave me tickets for me and my wife to Turkia.
WR: Would you like to participate to an international waiters race?
Bassel Halawani: definitively yes.
WR: do you like your job?
Bassel Halawani: When I come to the hotel, I do not come for the money. I come here because it is my home. I like coming here and I like my job. Even if I am in vacation I come anyway! My manager always tells me ”go home!”"but I stay anyway!
WR: What did your victory change in your job?
Bassel Halawani: Bassel: As I told you, I took it like a game at the beginning. But when I won, I understood that my job will change. I can say today that If I would not have won this waiters race, I would not have become a manager. Why? Because we were all the same, just waiters. But when I won, my manager told me ”a person like you should be manager!” Now, I’ve opened the eyes of every waiter here! They want to win a race too because they saw what it brought to my career.
WR: If you participate to another waiters race now, will you consider it differently?
Bassel Halawani: Yes, because now I am ready, and I know I am a good waiter.
WR: Do you have tips for other waiters racers? How do you catch the tray and how do you arrange the items loaded on the tray?
Bassel Halawani: We had a glass of wine and a plate with food. The problem is that you have to look at the route, at the tray and at the items at the same time. Maybe my hand is very big, so it can help. Anyway you cannot catch the tray with the fingers. The best is to put the items in the line of your sight so that you can look at the route, the other competitors and the items at the same time.
WR: You are joining the WaitersRace.com’s Winners’club. What does it mean for you?
Bassel Halawani: I am very happy. It is very important for me and for my friends. Now people can contact me through WaitersRace.com. I can also be in touch with other waiters all around the globe and share with them.
WR: A word for WaitersRace.com team
Bassel Halawani: Thank you, WaitersRace.com and thank you for the official certificate. I will hang it in my home!
