Restaurant Life Lessons

I worked as a server in a local restaurant when I started in journalism. What’s sad is that the pay wasn’t great, but I would make more some weeks serving part-time than Inwould working full-time as a reporter.

Also worked for a time at a high-end onsite catering place in Westchester. My first real exposure to Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Hard work and late hours, but we had a small crew and made decent bank. Unfortunately, new management came in and that was the end of that.

 

Buddy of mine's dad made his kids work shit jobs so he could see just those people and learn humility and how important and fortunate it was to have a "real" job. My friend was inspired by the filth of it all, went on to get an MA in epidemiology from Yale, work for the WHO in Rome and eventually be president of the American Public Health Association. He always says had he not washed dishes as a kid he'd have wound up washing them as an adult.

 

I'm actually about to go meet a friend for a beer that I met almost 30 years ago while working together in a local taco shop. In many ways, that was the most fun I ever had at a job. Super group of employees, we were all really good at what we did, and thanks to the tip jar, the pay wasn't bad.

I also think so much of my work ethic now really started back then, when the line was out the door and you had to really focus amid the chaos of a busy kitchen.

 

Seriously, I believe washing dishes at a steakhouse during my early teens built some character. It certainly made me cognizant of what it is like to earn money.
Minimum wage at the time was $2.65.

 

Never worked in a true restaurant, but I worked pizza delivery for both a national chain and a local shop in Blacksburg when I was in school. It definitely framed the way I treat service industry folks. The job is shit and half of the stuff that happens is not the fault of the front-facing employee. Sometimes it's best to just be polite and understanding, but as a society I feel like we've lost some of that nuance.

 

Never worked in a restaurant. Closest I ever came was interviewing at my local McDonald’s. But I got my lifeguarding certification and was hired by a national hotel chain to guard their local hotel’s pool and hot tub, hand out towels and make sure the ping-pong tables and pool tables had their equipment.

It was a pretty cool gig for a high schooler. Never saved anyone’s life or anything like that. Met a lot of people from all walks of life as the hotel also, at that time, had a monthly membership for locals and allowed day passes for $5 apiece (late 80s/early 90s). I found out later that a lot of members liked me, and more people showed up for my shifts for day passes, in addition to the guests. I semi-joked with the hotel assistant manager that I should get a commission on the passes, but of course, it never happened.

It was fun to flirt with the teen girls, but as a socially awkward teen boy, struck out every time. The only invite I ever got to a room was this creepy old guy who, basically sexually harassed me by keeping putting his arm around me and said he was friends with the hotel manager and that if I didn’t go to his room, he’d tell on me. I went to the manager, who rolled his eyes up and told me not to worry and tell him if the guy tried it again.

And when the pool and hot tub were empty, I could go in myself. It was nice to get paid for sitting in a hot tub.

A few years ago, some relatives stayed at that hotel, which had been sold to a new national chain. Met the relatives there, to go swimming with their kids. There weren’t any lifeguards there; there were signs indicating “swim at your own risk” and “pool is for hotel guests only.” Felt a little sad about it, but other than the carpeting outside the pool area, not much had changed. They still had the same lifeguard stand and group of metal lockers right next to it. I was half-tempted to find a lifeguard whistle and start twirling it around on the stand.

 

Same. There were times working the drive thru, you’re taking orders, taking money, handing out food, pouring drinks, mixing shakes and keeping it all straight. If we got backed up, or I was working the counter, it became what do you need. You need me to bag, done. Cook and assemble tacos, done. Fries in and out of the oil, done. Assemble burgers. My boss didn’t like it that I was working the fry lines at 16 (there might have been labor laws, I don’t know. Also burned myself pretty good by doing something without thinking). I’d come in off books if she needed (got paid under the table because I wasn’t legally allowed OT, but I got paid). It was a good year of my life. Would never want to do it again, but it was great to learn.

 

I worked at a McDonald’s in high school. I wouldn’t call it a restaurant job. It was more like a food factory, working at the grill doing the same things over and over. Came home smelling like a Big Mac.

I went to Colorado to work at a camp, came home, worked three days and left for a landscaping job.

 

Must have been a Taco, John.

 

I worked in several restaurants during and after college, both in the kitchen and as a server. The fast pace is a lot like working on deadline… “This shit has to get done right now!”

I think even now in my current corporate job, the ability to juggle multiple projects and tasks at the same time is probably somewhat rooted to having worked in a restaurant.

Either that or juggling multiple projects is my way of making sure I’m working on deadline more often than not.

The best part of a restaurant was when the place could make an extremely busy night seem effortless because the staff was so cohesive. Of course the opposite also made the experience fun…the shit shows when you run out of baked potatoes on a random Wednesday and both dish guys called out sick, and nobody can seem to refill the damn ice and why the hell are my bar drinks taking so god-damn long…