10-year-old girl going on 20

‘10-year-old going on 20’
Youth waits on tables — and adulthood

November 28, 2005
By JOANIE BAKER
Index-Journal staff writer


There have been many jaws dropping at T.W. Boons lately, and it’s not just because the food is good.

It’s because the 10-year-old barely able to peep over the counter is taking orders and waiting tables just as well as peers twice her age.

Sarah Ellen Wideman might have to stand on a folding chair to ring up orders and stretch a little farther than most to reach the sweet tea canister, but the 4-foot tall waitress handles a couple of tables with as much ease and charisma as if it were all pretend. But unlike other girls her age who pour tea to their teddy bears with a snuggle in return, Sarah Ellen receives tips from customers who say she’s the best waitress they’ve ever had.

Tony and Anna Wideman, owners of T.W. Boons and parents of Sarah Ellen, said they hadn’t really planned to let their daughter waitress at first.