?Let ?em eat cake? is, literally, Florence Smith?s swansong as her long career as a breakfast culinary attendant at the Elbow Beach Hotel comes to an end.

In commemoration of her faithful service, during which time her rum cake has been a popular favourite with guests, the Paget resort is using her secret recipe to produce special, gift-boxed samples for presentation to guests as they check in.

The fact that the hotel is doing this came as a complete surprise to Mrs. Smith, who describes the concept as ?fantastic? and ?an honour?. Nonetheless, at its official launch, Mrs. Smith ? a woman known for speaking frankly ? said the inaugural batch, despite being a ?rum cake?, needed some gin. Such is the esteem in which she is held that management instantly promised to comply.

?Gin helps the flavour along,? the cook says.

For the past 36 years, Florence Smith has left home promptly at 5.15 a.m. in order to be on time for the 6 a.m. start of her job as a breakfast culinary attendant at the Elbow Beach Hotel. Until recently, she travelled by trusty Vespa scooter in all winds and weathers, and before that by pedal cycle.

?Mama Smith?, as she is affectionately known to her colleagues, is a typical ?old time Bermudian? ? a dedicated and faithful employee with a strong work ethic, who loves her job and takes pride in everything she does; and who also enjoys interacting with fellow workers and visitors alike.

Mrs. Smith is also a no-nonsense woman who speaks her mind, but equally, she is someone who doesn?t tell tales. Asked to relate some memorable stories of her experiences at the hotel, she responds: ?I?m not going there. Let?s just say I saw everything and leave it at that.?

Her age is also not a subject for discussion.

Growing up, Mrs. Smith learned how to cook from her mother. Her first job at Elbow Beach was cooking breakfast for the resident band. When they were dispensed with, she moved on to cook in the staff cafeteria.

?In those days, the whites sat on one side of the dining room, and it?s still going on today as far as I?m concerned,? she says.

Later, her duties expanded to include helping to prepare breakfast for the guests and setting up the early morning buffet in the main dining room.

Originally the only female working in a kitchen full of men, Mrs. Smith more than held her own.

?The guys respected me very much, and if they swore at me I?d to swear like a man o?war sailor at them, and if I didn?t want anyone to hear me telling them off I?d take them in the ?fridge and tell them what I had to say,? she recalls.

?One time a gardener came into the kitchen wanting bread. He didn?t say ?Good morning? or anything. When I asked him what he wanted, he told me, ?I am your boss.? He went into the fridge (to get the bread) and I locked him in for ten minutes. The next day, he said ?Good morning? and asked for the bread. He told the other gardeners what happened in their own language, and I got along fine with them all after that.?

With the changing times, Mrs. Smith also worked with women, and of course, if they respected her she respected them. Even so, she still preferred working with men because that is what she had always been used to, she says.

So, are the tales of temperamental chefs who boil over and throw things true?

?We all get mad sometimes, and we speak our minds, but then we are lovey-dovey again,? is as far as she is prepared to go.

When her long work day was finished, the busy wife and mother then went home to cook and keep house for her husband and five children.

Now a diabetic, following by-pass surgery in a leg and the removal of a toe, it is no longer possible for Mrs. Smith to stand for long hours, as she once did, so she is reluctantly calling it a day.

?It is hard to say good-bye,? she admits. ?I will miss the people. For the ones from abroad, you get to know about their families and you ask about them. I still get Christmas cards and letters from some who have left here.?

In fact, the sobriquet ?Mamma Smith? indicates that over the decades she became a surrogate mother to many overseas staff, even to the extent of keeping them out of trouble.

?If I came in in the morning and saw that someone whom I knew should be on duty but wasn?t, I?d telephone or send someone to tell them: ?Get your *** down here and let?s go before the boss finds you!?

As a Bermudian who has been proud to work hard in the hotel industry, Mrs. Smith is certainly not impressed with what she sees of the current generation?s work ethic.

?Young people don?t want to work in hotels nowadays,? she says. ?They want to go to cricket and football, and they don?t want to work Sundays or holidays, but if you?ve got to work, you?ve got to work. When you?re off, you?re off.?

Admitting she would not recommend the hotel profession to ?just anybody? ? ?They must like working split shifts? ? Mrs. Smith nonetheless has this advice for anyone considering a hotel career today:

You have to make your time

You can?t have your pants hanging across your backside

You have to work on public holidays. If you are on duty to work, work. Don?t ring up and say you?re sick because that?s when people say, ?Bermudians don?t want to work.?

?Mamma Smith? might have hung up her apron at the Elbow Beach Hotel, but she still keeps her hand in at the home she shares with her daughter, where her Sunday morning codfish and banana breakfasts are legend.