It has been 2 years since I worked in a kitchen, and well
over a decade since I worked at my first restaurant job at Montana's.
As much as I (rightfully) complain and call
out the industry on how it treats its cooks and servers, there is one thing I
neglectfully forget to mention what I gained from it; friendships.
I still keep in touch with a lot of my former
colleagues and bosses that I worked with at my first job and see some of them
from time to time.
I'm sort of a regular at a restaurant where a couple of them
work at.
Last week, I found out that one
of their Managers had died suddenly.
I
offered my condolences on a friend's Facebook wall, not realizing who the
person was at first.
It was when I saw
the page link a few days later, I realized who it actually was.
My heart was broken for everyone there.
I felt especially bad because I was there for
lunch earlier that day, and I had no idea what had happened.
Details were soon posted about a
"celebration of his life", which was earlier this week.
Even though I didn't really know the person
(I'm sure I spoke to him a few times), I just knew I had to go to it.
A combination of me going through similar
experiences through my food service career and knowing a couple of people who
work, or worked, there made me want to be there.
As soon as I walked through the door, it just felt like
"old times" so to say.
It was
like it brought me back 15-20 years when we used to have staff parties (not to
mention the stories and embarrassing stuff that I witnessed/experienced, but
that’s for another day!).
Just seeing
all of staff socializing, laughing, and remembering the good times that they
shared.
That is what I miss the
most.
I miss working with people who,
for the most part, I could trust.
I was
really lucky to have started my work experience there.
My high school years weren't particularly
pleasant for the most part.
I was quiet,
introverted, withdrawn, and didn't talk or socialize much.
When I started at Montana’s, I was a skinny and shy 18-year-old
with no real work experience.
I don’t
know how I made it through that first year.
Before almost every shift I would be so nervous and anxious just
dreading the late night ahead.
But they
all believed in me and saw something in me that I didn’t know was there.
I worked my way up to prep and the line and
became one of the go-to people; sort of a jack-of-all-trades (okay, more like a
jack-of).
I came out of my shell and
helped train new staff and management trainees.
The thing about restaurant work is that hours can be long, and
crazy.
Mind you, working under these stressful
circumstances in small spaces lead to it feeling like family and becoming one.
No other job I have had did I ever keep in
touch with so many people and still consider them my friends.
I was lucky to work with and for a lot of
them.
You know you had a good boss when
she offers to beat the shit out of a (then) current Manager who screwed you
over financially and made your life a living hell (that is also for another
day!).
I’m more than happy to be there for people who I care about
and who have or would have done the same for me.
I can’t think of any other place that would’ve
supported me the way they did and the number of times they did.
A lot of them were like big sisters, or
mothers in some cases!
I may not have
said it enough when I was there, but now I can say that I am truly thankful for
the experience.
And if there’s one thing
left to say, it’s that hopefully I come across more people like them in the future.
