Summer of 2000, I had turned eighteen and was going to get a
job – my first. With high school a
couple months behind me and no college in sight I truly felt free. The summer treated me well the highlight
being a road trip to Alabama with my friend Spanky. That’s no typo that’s his name. We traveled by RV with a man named Bobby, my step dad at the
time, and a couple of his friends.
Those couple of weeks were very fun but that’s a different story for perhaps
another time.
This
is about the week of August 26, 2000, at my first job. It started off much like the rest of
summer, fun. My friend Spanky used
his pull at a restaurant, House of Pizza, to get me hired. He worked there as well – things
couldn’t be better. In a way
Spanky was like an older brother to me in those days. I never thought of it until now. A good guy that Spanky. Anyway I worked in the back, making the pizzas, a perfect
job for an eighteen year old that grew up during the Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles era. It was a busy
restaurant in those days and early on I was just trying not to mess up. I was one of many youths working in the
back so that gave me some comfort.
I was quiet in those days more so than now. One night I had to work a shift without Spanky, which helped
me to not rely on him for everything at this job. It was busy as usual and hot, very hot – it felt smoldering
to me..
I
wasn’t used to such temperatures especially in small poorly ventilated areas. This place had a giant six shelf,
rotating oven that churned the heat out.
At the tail end of the dinner rush I asked my manager if I could go
outside and get some air, I was dying.
I couldn’t fathom how the others could take it. This was hell. She looked at me with cold eyes, which
seems impossible considering heat waves were rippling out from the oven
nearby. She asked if I could wait
until the orders were caught up but I couldn’t. I wanted to leave and never come back to be honest. I wasn’t comfortable there it wasn’t
for me. I had to get away.
She
granted me leave although I know she thought little of me at that point but I
could care less. I hurried outside
to get a welcoming blast of fresh air.
I breathed, relaxed and looked beside me. There was another chap squatting near me also complaining of
the heat – I wasn’t alone. His
name was John Wright he was a bigger fellow. He didn’t last much more than month there. I quickly gathered myself and returned
to my station for fear of taking too long. I, as usual, finished my shift quietly and walked home as I
did in those days. I thought long
and hard (that’s what she said!) about continuing to work at that restaurant.
I
arrived home and talked with my mom about how work went. She understood although I had mentioned
I wanted to quit numerous times.
All she told me was to try it out for a few more days and see how it
goes. If worse came to worse I
could quit. I accepted that, not
easily but I did. Now what I
failed to realize at the time was she probably didn’t want me to quit so soon
especially due to the fact that earlier in the summer I never showed up to an
interview for a local grocery store.
She was very upset at me that day – I remember it all too well, it
wasn’t one of my finer hours. Ask
Spanky he was there – I was terrible in my laziness that moment.
Being
young none of that came to my mind though, I never even thought about that no
show interview. Instead I pressed
on and put my nose to the grindstone and worked extremely hard from then on out. It earned me two pay raises in the next
month alone. I quickly became one
the best at my job behind Spanky of course. I went on to work there on and off for the next six
years. I don’t often think of this
moment in my life but it poked my brain the other night and now I feel as if I
have no choice but to write it down.
No comments:
Post a Comment