Congratulations on working your way up from dishwasher! and even though you feel exhausted both mentally and physically...welcomed to the world of food service!!! I got a job that on paper was "ASSISTANT PASTRY CHEF" at a very upscale Island , I think it was their Country Club... but it was where all the owners would come ( Think of people like OPRAH WINFRY, she used to own there!!) I was hired as a part-timer, 4 days a week, and I too worked 75 hours or more...I was scheduled in at 8/8:30 am and that was the late shift! and was not allowed to leave til we were done...10 pm to midnight!
Pay was lousy, conditions were worse, the place was a closet with ovens and it was dirty, dirty dirty! and dark and outdated... and we tried to make everything from scratch! The Head Pastry Chef had many ideas, and made us work to do them even if they were impossible...like serving frozen desserts out of doors in a Miami (tropical) July with white chocolate garnishes! the transportation of these items was a logistic nightmare...and she was wasteful...ordering like...1,000 white chocolate garnishes with logos, because she needed maybe 300 unbroken ones..(I'm exagerating, but you get the picture..lol)
for example, one holiday she made a traditional Taiwanese Dessert for a crowd that was more used to Coconut Custard Pie...( which she made with a graham cracker crust, rum flavored whipped topping and sweet coconut ...when I said she was better off sending someone to the local supermarket and picking up what the client wanted...now after there was a HUGE selection of mini pastries he wanted coconut custard pie! lol...EVERYONE hated her dessert, wouldn't touch her coconut pie...this all hurt her feelings...lol)
But you suck it up and think of the payoff....
it was horrible and there was no way to expand since the restaurant was in the Historic CARL FISHER mansion and they couldn't change a thing!!
My advice to you is to try to stick it out for your resume's sake if you can, do you know that now when I decide to "name drop" people are impressed. I don't tell them of course of the HORRIBLE conditions, that's the past.
Just give yourself a goal,a calender and a marker and just keep telling yourself...one more day, one more day.
Do what I used to do, I used to laugh and be happy at work since I knew I was NOT going to be there long and every day that passed took me one day closer to my "quitting" day..lol
Hang in there, this too shall pass!!! Take care, take a big sigh, breath ...and just think..one more day!
__________________ Food may bring us together, but a CAKE makes it a PARTY!! |