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27
www.deltalivingmagazine.com
April – June 2014
27
leave your idea of that word at the
door.Within this environment that
word takes on a whole new genre.
These folks are broken down
between FOH (front of house)
and BOH (back of house) in the
list below, and in this industry, they
don’t hide it or at least very well,
anyway.
Foreigners:
who are more
than happy to tell you what they
think of Americans, can’t or can
but won’t, speak your language,
don’t or won’t understand the cul-
ture they have chosen to live in
BUT won’t return to theirs.
Students:
Culinary or col-
lege, who are always happy to re-
mind you how smart they are in
comparison to you.
Alcoholics:
Either full blown
and in denial, recovering, or on the
wagon or just fell off ... again.
Drug Addicts:
You may insert
the alcoholic’s statement here too.
Felons:
(Because it’s one of
the only industries where they can
work, because it doesn’t handle
money and either they just got out,
or about to go back in.
Perverts:
Always happy to tell
you about their most recent esca-
pades, as well as stare at you or who
or whatever has turned them on at
that moment.
Bohemians:
Tattooed and
pierced in full; and in areas you
didn’t even know possible let
alone why.
Stoners:
Not part of drug ad-
dicts, but you will realize they are,
once you actually speak to them
when they’re not high.
Haters:
Need I say anything
more?
Know-it-alls:
Need I say
more here.
Religious:
Newly or settled, I
am a believer, Christ is my savior
though, not my religion, but we’re
in there too.
Decent:
Few and far between
but sprinkled in for good measure.
I don’t know you, I would think
this is your category Rita, hope-
fully mine as well, which actually
might include your idea of profes-
sional.
Jocks:
Sports, stats and figures,
they have forgotten more than
you’ll ever know and love to de-
bate with others when they’re not
agreed with, all night long.
Red Necks:
The complete
opposite of jocks, who always have
a dip in.
And to think Rita, I haven’t
even reached the pros and cons
yet, but happy to inform you, we’re
here now.
We’ll start with the cons, which
will be the proving grounds:
The Cons:
Work every night, every week-
end including Sundays,andEVERY
HOLIDAY known to man.
If you have any children, I hope
they are old enough to take care of
themselves in all areas. Pets: good
luck with that unless it’s a cat. Dogs
are a different story.
Begin to prepare your standing
strength as there will days when
you are on your feet anywhere
from 8 to 14 hours a day for five,
sometimes six days a week. That’s
40 to 60 hours a week. I only wear
Birkenstocks.Getting yourself ready
to wear those is painful in itself, so
read on the benefits of them and
what it will take to prepare your
entire body for them. However, if
you’re going to be standing all day,
it’s worth the effort to go through.
Start now. I wear the “Boston.”
“Clopens” is a close shift one
night and open shift the next (by
closing I mean NOT home, show-
ered and in bed by 10 p.m.Try mid-
night to 3 a.m. and back to work as
early as 5, 6 or 7 a.m. sometimes).
Sleeping will become a luxury.
Relationships: Are you in one?
Expect that relationship to become
part-time as the new career you’re
considering will be your new
lover, which is often, not very lov-
ing.What does that mean exactly?
There will be days when you get
home, tippy-toe in so as not to
wake anyone and you will tippy-
toe out the door, back to work so
not to wake anyone.
You’ll be preparing a whole
bunch of good food, wonderfully
presented and raved about from the
customer, but you certainly won’t
have time to eat any of it.You’ll be
too tired to even eat it or just plain
sick of looking at it as well as eating
it; it will actually begin to all taste
the same.
While you love to cook now
and are clearly passionate about it,
that may change after a few months
of working the hours you’ll be ex-
pected to.You won’t want to come
home and cook for friends, let
alone yourself or family members.
YOU CAN NOT ENTER
THIS INDUSTRY FOR THE
MONEY; I cannot stress this
enough if I tried!
Expect to be viewed and spoken
to as a servant or slave. People will
be quick to vent on you, to let you
know in a matter of words that you
are beneath them and how rude
you are to not have considered
them above all else first, and that
you have ruined their entire day.
Do not expect general common
courtesy on a regular basis from the
people you work with, your peers,
or the customers you are serving.
Rita Caruso of Discovery Bay, who learned the ropes of working the line (and more) at
Trilogy at the Vineyards in Brentwood, dreams of one day becoming a chef.
“YOU CAN NOT ENTER THIS INDUSTRY FOR THE MONEY;
I cannot stress this enough if I tried!”
DELTA DINING