This Hooters Girl's living the hot-pants high life

By Susan Thurston, Times Staff Writer
In print: Friday, April 25, 2008

Story Tools E-mail this story Contact the editor Print this story Comment on this story Social Bookmarking Digg Facebook Stumbleupon Reddit Del.icio.us Newsvine

ADVERTISEMENT

Growing up, Meagan Cyr knew exactly what she wanted to be. Not a teacher or a doctor, but a hot wing-slinging girl whose smile could charm a big tip out of even the worst grump. A Hooters Girl.

She knew her father wouldn't object. He'd embrace it. After all, he was a member of the Hooters family himself, having worked as a manager for many years. As a kid, some of her best memories happened in the "soon to be relatively famous'' restaurant. She followed around real Hooters Girls on Take Your Daughter to Work days. On family dinner nights, she ordered buffalo chicken sandwiches, her favorite.

So on her 18th birthday, the minimum age to serve alcohol, Cyr applied to be a Hooters Girl. The next day, she was hired.

"I was counting it down in high school,'' said Cyr, now 22, who went to Clearwater High. "To me, the Hooters Girls were so pretty and so funny.''

Cyr joins the more than 20,000 women worldwide who make Hooters the place that is, love it or hate it. Like many servers, she was born after Hooters opened 25 years ago in Clearwater. There's never been a day in her life when someone, somewhere hasn't peddled beer and wings in tight orange shorts, a tank top and white socks, all in the name of owls.

Of course, Cyr is pretty and bubbly and friendly, requirements for all Hooters Girls, along with wearing a bra and run-free pantyhose. She's also got ambition. Cyr (pronounced SEER) attends the University of South Florida, where she plans to graduate in December with a degree in theater and a minor in dance. She lives and works in Clearwater.

Being a Hooters Girl is like being in sorority or a big family, she says. Everybody knows everybody.

There's the guy who wears Hooters shorts and a T-shirt under his regular clothes. There's the guy who pays his meal with a $100 bill and lets the waitress keep the change.

There's some not-so-nice customers, too. Like the guy who left Cyr creepy notes —- and was subsequently shown the door. Or the woman who told Cyr she would never let her daughter be a Hooters Girl.

Those comments are hurtful to Cyr and others who take pride in the company's motto: Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined. Cyr considers herself an all-American girl who works at Hooters for fun, not notoriety. She has no plans of ever posing for Playboy.

Instead, Cyr gushes about the opportunities Hooters has given her, from appearing at sporting events to going onstage with Martin Short at Ruth Eckerd Hall. She's also volunteered at the Moffitt Cancer Center and other charities.

Giggle all you want, but Hooters has a charitable side. When one of its own, the late Kelly Jo Dowd, was diagnosed with breast cancer, corporate helped create a $2-million research grant in her name. That generous spirit spills over to every bar stool and four-top, where servers double as sounding boards. Cyr has heard it all. Like the man who was just diagnosed with prostate cancer. Or the man grieving from the death of his mother. What do you say?

If you're a Hooters Girl, you flash a smile and ask, "How hot do you want those wings?''