Day 6: Getting used to it

Another night on which I close. I checked my schedule, it turns out that's pretty much all I'll be doing for the next couple of weeks. I thought this would be a part-time job, but one of the co-workers noticed that I'm getting over 40 hours a week on just my second week, and that I must be doing something right. I don't mind that I'll be bringing in money, but I do mind that my personal life is suffering for a minimum-wage, nowhere job that I'll be quitting in less than a month.

These long days really suck for my feet. When I got home from work last night I noticed my socks were all bloody around the ankle area. The shoes I'm required to wear are pretty much crap. Poor feet...

The boss told me that the Evaluator did say my procedures were all spectacular. She started to say I didn't cost her any "points," but then stopped when she remembered I did in fact cost her a point for having my nose stud in. Honestly, I didn't even think about it. And no one else has even said anything about it until this point. Apparently the Evaluator pointed out that it was nice, barely noticeable, and pretty on my face. But it's sort of against the rules. Oops.

Apparently a co-worker told the manager that I'm a hard worker, and that she should try putting me on the registers next week. Not sure if that's going to happen or not. It looks slower and easier than sandwich-making, but who knows. I'd kind of like to give it a try. Not too many new things are happening at this point. Now that my building-accuracy is pretty high, it's speed that I'm working on. The goal is "seven-second sandwiches." Eesh.

Day 5: Evaluation

When I arrived this morning I was informed that today was "Evaluation Day." That meant someone was coming from the Health Services Department (I assume) to evaluate our food safety procedures.

Today they actually had me work through the lunch rush. It was intense. I actually broke a sweat at one point... And I think one of the patrons was cursing the fact that we had a new sandwich maker (me). Oops... I'm trying!! While I was rushing around, several people assured me, "relax, you're doing fine." And you know, I think it actually helped. Positive reinforcement *does* work!

I noticed that the chick who doesn't seem to like me is actually friendly to everyone else. And it can't be the 'hours' thing, 'cause it turns out she's one of the managers. What could it be? I'm just as cheery as can be while I'm there.

The evaluator was a nice, friendly man. A little more sincere than a used-car salesman, but still strictly business underneath the warm veneer. I also think I overheard him tell my boss, upon finding out that I was a new employee, that my procedures were beautiful. Go me!

Day 4: It's getting juicy in here...

Last night was my first long shift. From 5pm 'til closing (at about 1:30am). And it was impromptu. I got a call asking me to come in the day earlier. It's not easy being on your feet for that long if you aren't used to it!

Well, I heard there's a chance the restaurant will be visited soon by an HR rep. Apparently all this inter-mingling *does* create some issues. I don't know the whole story, but I do know that the reason I was called in to work on my day off was to replace someone that a manager now refuses to work with. And so the drama begins to reveal itself...

I've also started making friends. Might as well sink my teeth into the drama while I'm here, right? I'm supposed to meet a co-worker for drinks tonight. At my favorite place in town, and on open-mic night! Awesome. Another co-worker has mentioned he gets season tickets to all the local basketball games each year, and that if I'd like to go to any of the games I should give him a call. Sweet! Hooray for new friends.

Day 3: Like watching a live video

My new work shoes came in today! They're required because they have a slip-resistant sole. But they come in many styles, including a Chuck Taylor style (I should have gotten those, instead...). Another co-worker has the same style that I ordered, and she warned me that they'll give me blisters. I changed into them on my break. My feet were okay while working, but as soon as my shift was over I walked 2 blocks and had to change back into my comfy Sketchers. I already have a blister. It's only been like 2 hours.

Worked the lunch rush again today. I was on sandwich-duty for a small part of the beginning of the lunch rush, and I'm getting better at keeping up. I'm also starting to be able to make the side orders in addition to the sandwiches. I noticed some of the same high school kids from before. I'm guessing it's a regular luncheon for the lot of them.

Everyone is super nice to me except for one chick; I suspect she's the one who I overheard disapproving of the new hires. Smiles to my face when directly confronted by me, but I don't think I otherwise exist to her.

The way most everyone is teaching me things is by explaining what they're doing as they're doing it. However, I learn much better with hands-on training. If they could provide commentary through me trying something new for the first time, I'm sure I could pick it up much more quickly. This is even more-so complicated by the fact that the ones who are most often teaching me are the ones who have the heaviest accents. While most are strongly Mexican accents, there's also a guy with what I can only assume to be a Russian tongue. I wonder why he's here? Maybe he's in school.

I'm noticing that there is a lot of inter-mingling going on between the employees. Boyfriends, fiancees, cousins, friends, roommates... Everyone knows everyone else. I wonder if that ever causes problems?

Day 2: The lunch rush

Starting to get the hang of this. A few of the sandwiches are getting easier (the more popular ones), as I'm beginning to commit the components of each to memory.

Today I worked from 11am to 3pm (day 1 was 3pm-8pm). Things were getting off to a smooth start, and that's when everyone around me started warning me about the busy period. "Are you ready for it?" I said I think so... "No, you're not, trust me," from the friendly guy stationed at the fries behind me. About five minutes go by. It starts with a mom and three kids. A construction worker. Then it happens. High school kids. Thousands of them. Ho-ly crap. Well, at least several dozen, anyway. The place was packed. I was taken off sandwiches just before they arrived so that I could make drinks. Drinks only. Sodas, mixed sodas, ice cream drinks, waters and refills. That actually kept me pretty busy on its own.

After the lunch rush I learned how to clean the dining room. Even the rags used to wipe things are color-coded. High school kids sure are messy! I don't think I was that way...

I also learned how to do the temperature log. You just go around with a digital food thermometer, wiping the thermometer with a sanitary wipe between each meat/food, of course, and write in the temperatures of each food on a table chart.

I'm slowly learning everyone's names. The name tags help, heh. ...Um, even the people are labeled. Not just with name tags, but also according to rank. Higher managers get button-up, cotton, collared shirts, with a solid color. After that is a button-up, gridded pattern, cotton, collar shirt. Then there are us underlings with what feels like polyester, a collar, but not full-on buttons. Only down part of the shirt.

Then it was back to sandwiches. Nothing too complicated happened. Before my shift ended I learned how to make sweet tea. It smelled delicious, actually.

I've noticed that my nails have already started looking like absolute crap from being trapped in latex gloves for several hours at a time. They're all chippy and flaky. I imagine that won't be the last part of me to experience a physical downgrade, though...

Day 1: Minimizing food waste

First day seemed to go pretty well. Got a second tour of the kitchen, more specifically my new workspace. Then watched some more training videos... This time it was the kind that shows you how to do your job. A lot of the sandwiches are extremely similar... Then they gave me a laminated sandwich-building reference card while I worked. I used it. Frequently.

There are procedures for everything. Which is a big change from my last job (small-company design job), where with a lot of things the protocol was to just go-with-the-flow. That was nice in a lot of situations, but sometimes I'd get frustrated because of the lack of organization in the company. But in this situation, once one is familiar with everything, it seems like they've pretty much perfected the streamlining of sandwich-building. I guess it *has* been several decades in the making, though...

Everyone was pretty nice to me. The girl stationed next to me (at the grill, and later at the register (on the other side of me)), was very helpful. She gave me a practice bun and wrap so I could get the hang of wrapping things, told me what goes on each sandwich, where to look when someone has a take-out order, etcetera. I would have floundered much more without her.

In the training video, and according to the highest manager (so really, just in theory...), food must be thrown away once it's past its holding time. That's a safety measure, so no one gets unhealthy food. It's also to ensure the quality of the food, since no one wants chilly fries. Well, in practice I quickly learned that rule gets slightly stretched. We don't want to waste too much food due to the recession and all that noise. So there were a few times when the "holding time" timers were reset. Huh. That's one way to make sure all the food gets used, I suppose. Just lengthen the holding times. But someone frequently checks the inner temperatures of the food, so at least it's likely that no one is getting sick from this practice.

Oh, my uniform. When I asked for size 'medium' at my orientation, I didn't realize the shirts were unisex. They hang down to my upper thighs. Huge. And bright. I could make a tent if I sewed the two shirts together. Awesome. At least I have to tuck them in, so it's not *as* noticeable. But when I walk to work, I sweat like crazy because there's no breathe-ability, and no cloth in my armpit area, due to the sleeves hanging down so low. Ugh.

I haven't decided yet how standing next to the grill all day makes me feel about meat. Honestly, at this point, a burger still sounds pretty tasty. We'll see if that changes.

Orientation

This is the beginning. First paid day. I had two interviews (yes, they make you attend two of them) with different managers, and I passed through them with flying colors. In the first interview, my interviewee pointed out that though I look very young, I sound quite mature. Little does she know I probably have more schooling than she does under my belt. Now I'm going to find out what working here is all about.

When I arrive they have me fill out all sorts of paperwork, signing each page of procedures to acknowledge that I understand and will comply. Then came an hour or so of watching training videos. Not the sort that tell you how perform in a position, but the sort that tell you the background of the company, and what working there is all about. All I could think about while watching the videos was "Branding." I know exactly what's going on here, the reason for making everyone familiar with this stuff, and it makes me quietly happy that I'm not just blindly watching some boring videos explaining the background and values of the company.

I meet a few of the team members. They all seem nice. I think one of them has already decided to hate me. I heard her complaining about 'all of the new hires,' while her hours 'continue to get cut back.' Later the manager explained to me that some people are getting their hours cut because they aren't exactly competent workers. Heh. Everyone working there seems to be either in high school or Mexican, with the exception of the managers and the one 60-something lady.

It was weird to walk behind the counters for the first time, through the hall of fryers and grills, past the cutting stations and past the drive-up window. Like some land that's always been forbidden, but I've suddenly gained a full-access green-card to. "Behind the scenes." Not just a field trip.

But that's what I'm all about! Infiltrating the stations. I start my first position on Monday. Apparently Spongebob's job as fry-cook is very complicated and important. They'll start me on "sandwich making." Wish me luck...