Let’s talk about my first job shall we?

My first job was working at a small café in my hometown. Tin Roof Café opened in July of 2012, and I told my mom, “I’m going to work there”. I was hired that September. I worked for about a month before we closed up for the season.  In April of 2013, Tin Roof opened up again and I returned. I really enjoyed working there. I had amazing coworkers who were splendid to work with. My boss, the owner of Tin Roof, was a very fun person to be around, he always made sure I was comfortable with my work responsibilities. When May rolled around, Rod (my boss) confided in me that he was going to sell Tin Roof. I was so sad that his family wasn’t going to own TR anymore, they were such great people. He assured me that the people he was selling TR to were pretty cool. He was correct. The next owners, the King family, were also great to work with, they always joked with us about the crazy customers we encountered. They had to learn how to run a small business and with the help of their daughters, Tin Roof continued to be a success.

In April of this year, the Kings made me a supervisor which meant that I would be the one shift leading when I was scheduled (later it meant that I was the one who got scolded by customers for various reasons). I continued to work at TR until the end of September this year. During the summers of my Tin-Roof-Life, I really learned to understand the meaning of the words “customer service.”

 I had customers who I called my favorites. These were the regulars for whom I could begin preparing their ice cream creations as I saw them exit their vehicle before they even ordered, because I knew exactly what they would choose. There were customers like Ed who wanted provolone instead of swiss on his bacon-swiss burger. These customers enjoyed conversing with us, they stayed long and tipped well, always handing out compliments of our job well done.

 I also had the inconvenient customers who always seemed to be in the mile-long line. These particular customers would spend at least 20 minutes standing in line until finally, it was their turn at the counter. However, by the time they reached the counter they had to rally their children who were by that time screaming and running around the lobby, knocking over salt shakers and making a game of “who can squirt the ketchup farther?” The parents then would stare at the menu in confusion as if it was written in a foreign language. They’d ask me at least three questions and change their order twice before they reached a final decision. This would usually take about an extra ten minutes of my time because instead of using their time waiting in line to figure out what they and their heathen children wanted, they had to take up our time behind the counter and let the line grow. But of course, they didn’t realize any of this because they only focus on themselves.

I always loved it when I got sarcastic comments or blatantly rude complaints about something that had nothing to do with me. Such complaints would be about prices or products we used. At times, I truly wanted to look at the customer and say, “You understand that you’re scolding me about something that has nothing to do with me right?” or “Would you like to leave a comment in the suggestion box?” In reference to the latter, which we had a lack of, I became the suggestion box. A few times though, I did ask a few particularly nasty customers if they’d like to leave a note for the boss, after which they usually shook their head and walked away and I would think to myself, “Yeah, that’s what I figured.”

Among all the bad customers though, there was usually three good ones to make up for them.

Another aspect of TR that was just so endearing is that we were always out of something. I sometimes had to tell customers that their banana split would be banana-less (not explaining to them that the only bananas I had to offer were black and beginning to mold).

One of my favorite memories from TR was the one night it was storming so hard that our electricity was buzzing in and out. I swear that the only people out and about that night were Cayla and I who were running TR, and the other employees working in town. I remember specifically when I went to the back office to grab something and seeing the water gushing through the top seal of the back door. The water was already an inch deep and spreading to the kitchen. Cayla and I began frantically mopping up the water while calling Joe King and telling him we had a “minor situation.”

Among all the stories and comments I shared here, I know I’ll never forget the experiences I had at the Tin Roof Café. I have a much better intellect of common sense (beyond just the fact that there are three ways to make a chocolate shake) and a little more patience for people.

Point taken, always be cordial to the person behind the counter because you have NO idea what they’ve endured today.

Too busy for my own good

This week was supposed to be relaxing. Two weeks ago, my summer job establishment shut down for the season. I remember thinking how nice it was going to be to be able to relax for two whole weeks before my next job begins on Tuesday the 14^th. As it turns out, this week was filled with activities and obligations. I’m one of those people that always stays busy. If I’ve got free time, I’ll usually fill it. Often times, when I make plans and I schedule out the rest of my week, I get ahead of myself and I don’t realize just how much I’m planning for myself.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were consumed with school, errands, and chores.

Thursday, I got up quite early to meet my boyfriend Jared at our old high school to visit our favorite teacher Mr. Chambers.  After spending about an hour catching up with Chambers, Jared and I got breakfast together before he went off to work. It was a great morning, a nice and slow way to begin our day. After Jared went off to work, I worked on homework until his lunch break. When I picked him up from work at noon, we went over to the Verizon store to get his new phone activated. Then we sat in my car and played with his phone and talked to Siri. When he had to return to work, I then met my good friend Jessi for lunch because it was her birthday. We sat and talked for quite a while. After lunch with Jessi, I went out to help my grandfather bale hay for the last cutting of the season. At about 7, I met up with Jared to go to my cousin’s volleyball game. That was only Thursday.

Friday was a little more laid back, I got to sleep in. I got some work done around the house and did some chores that had been weighing on me. I met some long-time-no-see friends in town for lunch before going to my cousin’s equestrian meet at the fairgrounds. I spent most of my day hanging out with my family there. Then I met up with Jared and we double-dated with our friends Jay and Carrigan to see “Maze-Runner”. It was a great movie, very well made.

Saturday, I traveled with Jared to the holiday art & craft show at SVSU where his grandfather had a booth set up selling his paintings. We walked all around the arena, looking at all the trinkets, clothing, and jewelry there was for sale. After packing up all of his grandfather’s material into the cars, we all went out for dinner.

Today started off by going through some paperwork with my mom. My new job isn’t like anything I’ve done before, I have a position at a bank. The woman from human resources sent me a few documents about 401k plans, and I needed some assistance to understand the lingo. I again did various chores around the house. I then attended a benefit dinner for my friend’s father who was injured in a serious accident. Then Jared and I went to the car show at Northwood University. Now I’m sitting down. Finally relaxing for the first time all weekend. It’s a good thing I like to write. Point taken, don’t plan so much in a day, or even a week, leave some room for some downtime.  

Lack of respect, abundance of nerve

My cousin Shelby invited me to join her for the homecoming game at Bullock Creek High on Friday. I showed up early to watch the homecoming parade. As I watched float upon float drive by, I began to notice the obnoxious qualities of the younger generations. A few times while watching the parade, kids would run by going for candy and when they ran into me, they didn’t have the slightest intention of apologizing. The kids I’m specifically referring to were old enough to know that they should be polite, but it seemed as if the thought never crossed their minds.

Later on during the football game, Shelby and I were sitting in the stands discussing various subjects and cheering on the team. A family was sitting right next to us and their two kids had decided that they were going to come and go out of the bleachers. At first it was fine, I understood that the kids were bored and wanted to go play. However about the 50^th time I had to shift my position so they could get by, fury was building inside me. Shelby and I became quickly irritated. Every time the kids would come talk to the mother or ask for money to buy yet another concession item, I would look over at the mom with a look that said “are you planning to do anything?”  Finally, I concluded that she had no respect for the fact that every single time her kids came in or out, Shelby and I had to move for them. Actually, she never even looked over at us. I might add that every time the kids came through, they never said so much as a simple “excuse me.” At my wits end, I mentioned to Shelby that we should go get some popcorn.

On our way down the stands, several middle-schoolers were running up and down the steps. One very inanely courageous boy as he walked past me said, “I don’t know you but I’d like to,” which was of course followed by an uproar of laughter from his buddies. Shortly after that incident, we were quickly cut off by three boys wearing their middle school football jerseys. I am not the kind of person to stand by and watch stupidity and impoliteness occur in younger kids. The way I was raised, if I were to act the way some of these kids act these days, I would’ve gotten a slap. After getting cut off, I made a comment loud enough for the kids to hear.

When Shelby and I reached the bottom of the stands, more kids came running down. An older man shouted out, “Hey! Quit your runnin’!” One of the more gutsy kids yelled back, “Screw you!” I piped up and said “Excuse me! Do you really think you can talk to an older man like that?” The kid then proceeded to argue with me that he “wasn’t talking to him.” I was appalled at the nerve that kid had. What’s more I’d like to know why that kid thinks it’s okay to talk like that to an authority figure. I blame the parents. Point taken kids these days have no respect.