ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 1997 TAG: 9702260025
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ANAHEIM HILLS, CALIF.
SOURCE: ANN PEPPER THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Alycia Busciglio, waitress, stops on her way to clear dishes from a table to ask a family of diners if they have everything they want.
The family's two preschoolers look at her, then make a quick reconnaissance of their mother's face. Seeing nothing there to signal that anything is out of the ordinary, they quickly lose interest in their waitress and their attention moves on to a sombrero hanging on the wall.
It's the kind of reaction Busciglio likes.
Twenty-one and with ``an attitude that could stop a truck,'' Busciglio wins praise from her boss for being a top-notch waitress at the Chevy's restaurant. Dan Leahy is surprised when people praise him for employing her.
Still, she's the only wheelchair-riding waitress he knows, and he thinks she's pretty cool.
``It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there,'' said Leahy, who, like Busciglio, started working at the restaurant when it opened 31/2 years ago. ``When she first came in here she made it clear she could do the job. She wouldn't take `no' for an answer. It's her attitude that I respect.
``If she couldn't do the job, I'd fire her and not lose any sleep over it.''
What's the big deal? Busciglio wonders. A birth defect gave her working wheels instead of working legs - but for her that's never been an obstacle to anything except running up stairs.
She goes to the beach in summer. Goes skiing in winter. And teaches handicapped youngsters at sports camps.
``It's the way I've been raised,'' said Busciglio. ``I have an identical twin sister, Regina, who is perfectly able-bodied. She's a waitress here, too. We've always done the same things.
``I never realized there was anything different about us until high school, when she got more attention from guys than I did. As I get older, it's not such an issue. Older guys look at me first instead of the wheelchair. I was taught, and I believe, I have no limitations.''
Diners sometimes don't see that right off, Leahy said.
``I've been caught by customers giving her a hard time over some work-related issue - just like any other waitress I'd told to do something nine times - and they'll be shocked,'' he said. ``They've called me over and told me I should be ashamed and that they are going to call the corporate office about it.''
Busciglio laughed and said there's another side.
``Customers have called over another waitress to ask if I'm going to be able to do the job, or be as fast as someone else,'' she said.
Yes, she's as fast as anyone.
Chevy's is laid out with plenty of space among the dining tables, and before her shift she checks to make sure they haven't been pushed too close together.
All the equipment - drink machines, dish trays, etc. - is within her reach. The only time she needs a hand is when she's serving an unusually large party.
``Someone else will carry out the trays for me then - it would be too much for me,'' Busciglio said. ``But we work on a team system here, and having help with a large party isn't unusual.''
Giving the wheels of her chair a shove, she quickly reaches the far side of the dining room. Stacking plates onto a tray in her lap, she heads for the kitchen, leaning forward to open the swinging ``in'' door. She piles the dishes into dishpans, spins around and heads back through the ``out'' door into the dining room.
She talks about one customer who seemed to be completely taken aback by her.
``He said, not entirely pleasantly, `Wow, this is a first for us. Should we do anything different?'''
Then again, she suspects that sometimes her wheels win her bigger tips.
``But not out of pity,'' she said. ``I think it's admiration. Which shouldn't be either. I do give good service, and that's why I should get good tips.''
Busciglio enjoys her job.
``We've got a pretty good crowd that comes in here,'' she said. ``We see a lot of kids. It's a family-oriented kind of place.''
She'd like to work with handicapped children in recreation, but she's also considering entertainment. A pretty blonde with big green eyes, she has appeared in a commercial and on the ``Leeza'' talk show.
Leahy hopes she doesn't leave any time soon.
``She does a great job,'' he said. ``Her table service is really good. Having Alycia here is working out great for me and working out great for our customers.''
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: KRT. Wheelchair-bound Alycia Busciglio has been aby CNBwaitress at Chevy's restaurant since it opened more than three years
ago. ``I do give good service,'' she says, ``and that's why I should
get good tips.'' color.