Response.

According to the responses I received in my previous post, in the work place there should be no discrimination between older and newer employees.  An idea mentioned that I found most relevant to my work's situation is the concept that new employees must prove themselves in the first couple of weeks of their employment to gain some sort of respect from the other employees.  Just because these new kids may do the "shit jobs," does not mean that myself and the other employees stand around and do absolutely nothing, but there is a slight difference from mopping up some kid's puke and helping work the counter with a line out the door.  Which would you rather do?

 This is where our little system of ranking comes in.

Mop.

Other than myself, there is only one other employee at the shop that has been there the whole year and a half that I have, so you could say that we are on the top of the food chain.  As for the others, most of them have only been working there for about three months.  Many of these kids were hired within days of each other, but you can bet that if you ask them the order in which they were hired they will recite with ease.  Now to them this order is very important for whoever was hired last usually gets to do the "shit" jobs.  These jobs include but not limited to: cleaning up spills, unclogging toilets, helping customers first, taking out the trash, and the worst case scenario, cleaning up a little kid's puke.

This method of seniority reminds me of high school when I played soccer and all the new girls (freshman) were responsible for picking up all the soccer balls after practice which  all of us older girls would conveniently kick as far and scattered as possible when we were finished.  Pretty much the same situation applies at work, we show no mercy.

I find a flaw in this system.  Just because a person was hired after someone else should not automatically put them at the bottom of the totem pole.  The employee food chain should be based off of performance.  Sometimes its difficult to bite my tongue when I see a lazy person tell a not such a sloth employee to do something just because they are "newer."

Is this issue present in most work settings and does it impair the efficiency of the business?

If you're going to work at our store you better step your nose game up.

Moms.

Past the obvious, the people who come in during the day appear to be personalities apart from those that travel through for dinner.  The "lunch bunch" usually are loners, who grab a slice and take up a four person table to themselves for twenty minutes.  While the lunch rush is typically from noon to one it does not make the knees of the weak crumble like those workers on a Friday night who just want to run out of the shop screaming (myself included). There is however, one type of customer, whom I fear the night time workers could not handle: The moms.

Looking at the door the minute a stroller is pulling up makes a day worker not only groan but shake in fear.  Chances are that stroller is packing at least two kids in it and three more are hanging off the sides.  The pizza maker practically throws four more cheese pies in the oven before the group even makes it up to the counter because no doubt, once one stroller comes in, about a billion more are to follow.  This group of ladies has been coined the "mom brigade."  And the only thing worse than a bunch of shouting crazy kids, are the moms they belong to who have bottled up the anger their husbands have given them during the week.

And what better place to dispel their tude than at our shop?  Sassy moms without a doubt are what the day time staff fears the most.  There is a possible theory of a mom conspiracy, maybe they have a secret society or Facebook group, I wonder.  Of course we don't have the slice they want.  The dressing isn't as low fat enough, might as well put water on it misses.  Their kids slice is too hot.  Can we cut three out of their eight slices in pieces?  What is weird is that these moms seem to have it all under control, their hair is perfect, their outfit is cute, and sometimes their kids are even polite, yet, they act like they're going crazy.  Walking into the kids section during this rush is a bad choice.  While the kids gather at the small tables to enjoy their pizza the moms all sit in a circle gossiping away, giving you the up and down as you walk by, doesn't make a girl feel so good when shes wearing jeans splattered in sauce and a t-shirt that smells like you rolled in old food. 

These ladies are like a high school click.

Regulars.

I have helped a countless amount of people at work, from families, single parents, youngsters out on dates, and people who get a bite to eat on their own.  Most of the time the faces of customers blend together and I'm not always sure if I have helped them out before or not.  But there are a hand full of people whose order I have memorized down to if they like a side of ranch to dip their slice in.  I like to call these people "the regulars."  Sir Mark* orders a large cheese pie every Friday, Kmart Boy* gets pepperoni and an order of breadsticks, and Sam* likes a slice of cheese with an extra large drink.  This is just a small list.  There are a ton of people who work in the surrounding stores who get their lunch or dinner at our shop every night.  And while most of them are pleasant and friendly, others act as if they have never seen us before.  In fact a few of these non smiling people act almost freaked out that I spit out their order for them.

There is one man though who outshines all of the regulars: TJ*.  Nearly every night he comes in for dinner by himself, with his iPad and newspaper.  He either gets a salad or his own custom slice which he has dubbed Jennifer Aniston.*  TJ* asks us the most ridiculous questions and orders non menu items, such as a cheese slice without the cheese.  He pulls pranks constantly on the whole staff and always seems to put us in a good mood.  Lastly, he always stands up for us when another customer has something negative to say and its not unusual for him to close out the restaurant.

None the less, all of us at the shop enjoy seeing a familiar face when we're working.  It takes the away the awkwardness of talking about the weather with a random person.  Also when we're running around on a Friday wanting to whack customers with the pizza peel (metal spatula you use to pick up slices) when a regular walks in they keep you grounded, you smile, collect yourself, and remember you're working and you're representing a company.


*Name changed

New.

I don't know if it is the slow confused walk to the counter or what seems like a million years for a person to place their order, but you don't have to tell me if it is the first time you have been to our pizza shop.  You would think that the detailed boards telling you each menu item, and the labelled slices would make finding what you want easy.  A typical conversation goes like this..

Me: Hi how are you?! (half real enthusiam)

Customer: Good, this is my first time.

Me: (^ sexual joke in my head) Okay, well I can help you with any questions.

Customer: What's that? (points at labeled slice)

Me: (Reads label)

Customer: What's that? (points at labeled slice)

Me: (Reads label)

Customer: What about that? (points at labeled slice)

Me: (Reads label)

Customer: I'll just have a piece of cheese.

It puzzles me how a person comes into a gourmet pizza shop and settles for a slice of cheese; way to step out of your comfort zone.  Now I realize I'm not one to always try something new, but with delicious fresh ingredients staring me in the face it's hard to pass up trying something a little different.

The absolute best part of having new people stroll into the shop is watching them struggle to find the trash bin at the conclusion of their meal.  We have two trash reciprocals: one by the door and one by the counter.  Did I mentioned that they have a big sign that says "TRASH" on them?  For my own amusement I like to watch them walk up and down the length of the restaurant twice before I point them in the right direction.  Some giggle it off for missing the signs, while others, usually the manly men, try to hide their embarrassment.

Your questions may annoy me you newcomers but you do give me a good laugh.

Welcome.

I find myself talking about pizza more than the average person.  As a 21 year old my job as a pizza maker is the most exciting part of my day, no longer the juicy gossip or sports stats that consumed daily high school conversation.  Three years ago I was constantly on the go: school, soccer practice/games, work, and hanging out with friends.  Now in college, I zombie walk to class only to run to my car afterward to make it to work on time.  My biggest worry went from being on the outside of juvenile rumors to if I ordered enough plum tomatoes to make us through the weekend. 

Working at the pizza shop for over a year there are days where I have no idea what to expect when I walk through the door.  Some afternoons all I can hear is the hum of the oven as the seating area remains empty.  Other days I feel like I have discovered why America is so obese.

It is the people that make going to work worth it.  From the regulars, the "we've never been here", and to the staff, each  group brings some interesting to the table.  Plenty of times I wanted to climb into the oven myself to escape the madness of a line out the door, not to mention the daily use of "I'm totally quitting."  But, I'm still there as much as I want to leave some days.  It's the people that keep me there, because as sad as it seems, pizza makes my life.

Techno.

Technology Narrative

                Welcome was the first word that I ironically wrote.  Found on a picture of a “welcome” mat in a juvenile science experiment book, with the use of a pencil and virtually any paper surface I could find, I scribbled the seven letter word.  Without total knowledge of what I was writing or the proper method to forming the letters, “welcome” can be found on nearly every blank binder of the books I have owned since I was about four.  With the ambition I gained from this one word, I began to use my older brother’s typewriter to type complete nonsense, pretending I was some grand author.  It was not until first grade that someone finally showed me how to correctly form letters and words on triple lined paper.  Equipped with a dotted second line, I was able to calculate just the right height for letters such as “m,” to avoid any disfiguration in my writing.

                Sadly now, nobody really cares if my letters are proportional to my paper lines.  Every “written” assignment is submitted electronically without lead smudges and eraser wounds.  Though the rest of the world may have moved on, I find myself at very rare occasions writing at the computer.  I use programs such as Microsoft Word and Excel only to write papers and construct charts for class.  If I do not have an assignment my laptop stays tucked away under my bed in its carrying case.  Most often I opt to use simple pencil and paper with any other writing that I come across.

                In the instances that I must type a paper for school it is not until the final step of my writing process that I turn towards the computer.  The main writing assignments I have consist of research papers.  Using index cards I jot down quotes and quick notes.  With these labeled according to category I outline my paper on a single sheet of notebook paper, using the numbering system on my index cards to place them appropriately in the paper.  From the outline I write the paper by hand.  Lastly, I type up every paper in Microsoft Word and make revisions before finally printing.

                After some thought and consideration I chose to study accounting.  Initially, I thought that I had found a career that would not require me to be an expert on writing papers.  I assumed that the only computer work I would need to do would involve basic calculations and the write up of financial statements.  It was not until intermediate accounting did it become apparent that the use of the computer would be most important in developing not only numerical based financial statements, but also technical report papers.  Summaries, explanations, and proposals are all part of daily routine as an accountant.  Even though my style of writing may not always include the use of an electronic aid, I have chosen a career where the skills to type and operate a computer are imperative.

                As much as I would like to think that society is going to convert back to the single use of pencil and paper, it is impossible.  With the introduction of iPads and other writing tablets, notebooks are slowly becoming a thing of the past.  I will admit on a positive note that some trees have been saved, but sometimes it is nice to not have the worry of “error” popping up in the middle of scribbling away in a notebook.