Chef-Janitor, Chef-HouseKeeper, Chef-Whatever..etc..

[Pastachef]

I do 99% of the dishes too. That's the housekeepers duty in other houses.

[W.DeBord]

Shugie you remind me of my Mother (who's also in food service). I think most of all you need a hug and someone to pat you on the back and say "Hey, your the best! We know you work really hard!". We hear you and sympathize with you, big time!

I'm not your mean housekeeper but I respect and understand how hard you try on your job. I'd bet a little respect from your housekeeper would improve your life greatly.? Maybe a "Oprah" type conversation with her about mutual respect would help? It sounds like your compromising your health trying to be a superwomen...please think that through I'm not sure any job is worth that. SPEAK-UP more, tell the housekeeper what you want and expect from her job, since she's free to do so with you!

My head chef is far from perfect! He's been an *** and deliberately ignored assisting me regardless of the number of covers we have. Amazingly he's the first to wash a dish. He also carries around a tool box and fixes equipment on a regular basis. I don't respect his leadership or his cooking but I do respect the fact that he is not lazy and will do the worst job ALWAYS with-out complaining or hesitation.

[Pastachef]

Thank you for your nice and thoughtful post, WDbord. You finally managed to hit the nail on the head. I now know what is bothering me so much with this woman. It's the respect! I get lots of praise from the girls and the house director AND the workers in other houses. The housekeeper treats me with absolutely no respect. For instance, today, (and every Monday) is the busiest day of the week for the cooks because of the formal sorority dinners. The housekeeper got a bucket ang scrubbing pad and proceeded to make a big deal of scraping up a large white spot created by the salad bar having leaked water on the dining room floor two years ago. I mop that huge dining room and disinfect it regularly, but I don't have time to get on my hands and knees to scrub it. The room is about forty by sixtyand there are a hundred chairs to move. It seemed like a nice thing for her to do, except that I had to listen to insults and cracks about my not having done it before. I couldn't walk away from and continue my work but I couldn't escape her or change the subject because she followed me everywhere and refused to change the subject. Until we got this sweet house director, the dining room was her job. AND in all of the other houses the housekeeper mops and cleans the dining room. My boss once told me that I was hired primarily to cook, and I could clean all I wanted unless it interferred with my cooking responsibilities. I now find myself relying more and more on short cuts and frozen foods to keep up with the cleaning that I shouldn't be doing in the first place! One of our housekeepers famous remarks when we get a new house director is that she has to 'train her from the start.' As it is, I have to argue with her every time I throw away outdated food, or buy foods for special functions that the girls are having. It's none of her business! Did I ever mention that three house directors ago she took home MY printed job description, and after constant reminders for years has still never brought it back. The girls are having a special function on Sunday and asked me if I could work. The housekeeper lectured me and fussed. In other words, if she can't make overtime, I can't. I said I'd do it on a volunteer basis and she still got furious. She doesn't want me with the girls without her being there to snoop. I've caught her snooping before. Whenever a boss comes into the kitchen she will stand on a top floor landing and listen to our conversation, then grill me for hours on what was said. I've tried giving this woman special rewards from the kitchen in foods to take home. I've given her big birthday parties, compliments, extra money from my own pocket to try to turn her into a caring person. I bake cakes for her grandkids birthdays, and feed her elderly uncle. Nothing works. I can't talk to her. She cries and holds grudges.The root of it all is that I love the kids and am so happy at work. I do anything they ask of me. The housekeeper hates her job and grumbles and mumbles under her breath all day. She gets on me for spoiling the kids. My job description says that I am to provide healthy and interesting meals and incorporate the girls ideas into the menus. In getting to know her daughter I've discovered that her daughter has such a difficult time with her that she has to smoke pot to be able to stand spending time with her. Do you believe that when I got a large raise this year I was afraid to tell her, so I said that since my paycheck was direct deposit that I didn't know what my raise was. She insisted that I call my bank to find out. I made more than she did at that point and that's when she stopped helping in the kitchen. Three months later her salary matched mine. The house directors have all remarked that the cooks are supposed to make more than the housekeepers, but she's not having it. After ten years of near adoration from these kids I am going to have to leave there because of a bossy, ulcer inducing housekeeper who won't mind her own business. THEN they will can her. She still insists that if a food was not safe to serve you would smeel the rot! She never reads, and doesn't believe in the internet. I've had long heart to heart talks with my bosses over her. They always agree with me, but still keep her. Maybe it's because she's a big woman and it takes big people to handle that kind of work that she does. The buckets and mops are still in my kitchen sink in spite of the fact that I remove them every day and disinfect the sinks. She insults me in front of the girls, makes fun of my cooking because I'm up to date and love to try new things. The girls love the food, but she insults me in front of them. Of course, I tell her I wasn't hired to cook for her, but she does it anyway. The honest to God real reason she hates me is because i love my job. She punishes me for that by not doing her part and trying to make me as bitter as she is. I KNOW it, because I know HER.

[W.DeBord]

Shugie in my experience I'd bet the real truth is she feels bad so she need to hurt you to bring you (and others) to her level. You'll never win with a person like this....she beats on everyone to make her-self feel better. Instead of considering what's wrong in her life she ruins others.

Sometimes you just can't be around people like this...it does hurt you because you do believe a certain amount of the garbage she lays on you. Why else would you put up with this? Even though you love your girls and your job this women has found your personal weaknesses, she is playing them and it would be a shame to let her win. If you walk away from this job do it because you realize how sick she is and you don't want to waste your life being dragged down by her.

If you love your position too much to leave it than start standing your ground. Do your job and only your job. Who ever is the person with the firing capablities doesn't see her as a problem because "hey, the work gets done" they don't care who does it. So stop making her look good by doing her work.

You enable her!!!!!! Stop reacting to her! Stop! Stop! Stop! See the game for what it is, if your going to play it don't do any of it on her terms! Your smarter than her, prove it!

P.S. It's easier for me to see this in your life than my own. I work for a boss that's an idiot and I'm trying to deside if I want to fight it out forever or just go and be happy.

[Pastachef]

Today she was so busy upstairs that she stayed out of the kitchen. I had an extremely busy day, but it was also wonderful. She made an attempt first thing this morning though. She started in about that white spot in the floor wax in the dining room, caused by water leaking from the salad bar. I snapped at her and she dropped it. I CAN handle her by standing up to her. I DO stand up to her every day. But I get so tired of having my kitchen turned into a war zone. It gets exhausting.

[holydiver]

Yes I think it is a fair comparison. The reason we are not respected as professionals is we don"t treat our selves as such.Why do you think this industry has such a black eye people think we are uneducated trash I;m tired of hearing the exuces for peoples drug habits and alcoholism. I'm tired of hearing the cry of poverty when my restaurant makes millions of dollars. How can you talk about a comparison when most of us are making 10 dollars an hour on salary that is stupid if the dishwasher does not show up you better believe yhe owner is gonna be at the machine they are the ones with the mansion for a house.

[Nick.Shu]

i guess that is what is what somewhat disappoints me in regards to my trade.

I have spent (in australian terms) more than enough time in training to atleast justify a "chef de partie" rank at hotel (5 star level).

Unfortunately, the sheer arrogance of the owner, (through zero training, but by virtue of owning a business and living with a chef in his younger years) im pushing excrement up a rather steep hill using only a very small decorative toothpick.

The defining moment is that, i gave myself 5 years to get to the pinnacle of my trade, and that i would be good at it once i got there.

Though i might feel trapped, the current experience will, and shall contribute to my aims and expectations.

Nothing is ever lost, it only seems that way at the time.

[Pastachef]

Our job is a non profit operation and the bosses are hired to make sure that we get the work done and to deal with any emergency problems that may come up with the girls. All of the bosses sign a three year contract to stay. The last two sets of house directors left after two years. They couldn't take the housekeepers nagging every time she saw them. It got to the point where the poor people avoided coming into the kitchen for food because she hit them with a hundred complaints before they could even get their coffee. I literally can't even get the front door closed before I get a whole run down on what the kids have done overnight and what she has done to clean it up. Friday was an interesting day. The boss had lunch in the dining room with the girls. I think once in awhile she trys to get a feel for what is happening around there. She frequently asks me if everything is going allright. I have to say yes, because I can't be open with her because of the housekeepers snooping and listening. She grilled me again when she heard the boss in the kitchen yesterday, but she got her butt in there and suddenly had a sunny disposition and started flying around that kitchen doing odd little jobs to look busy. It was hilarious to see the obvious attitude change because the boss was around. The bosses are always young and very busy with jobs and classes. They don't want to have to deal with all of this pettiness, and I don't want to come off as a whiner. My biggest mistake with this housekeeper was to make a personal friend out of her. From there, the work situation went downhill more and more. I take a lot of pride in the appearance of my kitchen and dining room. She wouldn't look bad if I let it get dirty. I would. Because the kids don't know who is supposed to do what, and we rarely see the bosses. A small example of the stress I put up with goes like this. On wednesday I went to clean the microwave in the kitchen, but a girl wanted to use it. That happened to be the only few minutes I had to do that job, so I didn't get around to it again that day. I was doing large quantities of scratch recipes. The next day, the housekeeper started cleaning the microwave, loudly griping and slamming things around as she did it. I wanted desperately to yell at her that it was MY kitchen, and that the microwave would get cleaned when I got around to it. That's the best I can do in a situation where the job requires three bodies to do the work but only will hire one. Also, she's hired to help do those things so she has no right to gripe at me. She split the salary with me of the girl they fired who used to help us. The rule was that we would split the work. I don't call dumping crumbs from the toaster or cleaning the microwave legitimate help. Why doesn't she help with some of the heavier stuff? One of the things she is supposed to do, (as all of the housekeepers do at the University) is set up breakfast. That means refilling the cereals and the juice machine, dumping out the old bagels and replacing them with fresh ones. It takes minutes, but all she does is dump the new bagels in an often moldy box! She is supposed to prep the kitchen before I get there. She refuses and brags to the other housekeepers about it. A couple of the other cooks say they would like to get their hands on her for a week. Another thing that I recently found out is that if you work for a house over there another house won't hire you. You kind of get blackballed. I need a new and printed job description! Getting one has been impossible. I want the one back that the housekeeper took home because it explains everything that the fired third person was supposed to do. It shows the jobs that we are supposed to split. She won't bring it back! I'm quitting this job when we close for the summer. Does anyone know what it's like to work in a deli at a grocery store?

[W.DeBord]

I've been in this busniess for a very long while. I feel bad for you Nick.Shu, you should have came and talked to us at Webfoodpros.com before you went to school.

Cooking schools are for profit businesses first, they sell schooling. You should have found-out before you bought the product if it was a neccessary product! Whoever, EVER lead you to think you'd be any where in 5 years?!

Talent? MANY of use have alot! It has nothing to do with your position in a kitchen, never will. Who you know and who you b*** will get you further.

Now having said that you need to re-think your career path before you become my age and have things to loose.

I'm NOT TELLING YOU TO LEAVE THIS INDUSTRY, your blinders are starting to come off, take them totally off and look clearly at your future. Someone sold you a fairy tale...that wasen't real, as long as you know that you can write your own ending.

[banqueteer]

I havn't read all the posts but I'm sure a lot of you feel the way I do. I wash dishes, help set tables, help bus, whatever is needed. And when I need help and get a bit bit behind, I have more help than I need just by asking. You give..You get.

[Nick.Shu]

i understand your point W.DeBord, however, the place which i attend, is a govt funded educational facility with a vested interest in the provision of skilled labour.

By comparison, for what the current course provides for only approx $550.00 AUD (2.5yr course), Le Cordon Bleu charges $7,500.00 AUD for a 18 week course.

Perhaps the promises could be a little remote, however, the Australian system has been setup with pathways with careers in place.

[Pete]

I can't believe some of the posts I am reading here. There is not a chef in the world who is above washing dishes, or taking out the garbage. As a chef I have done (and do) just about anything that is needed: from taking orders and opening wine to mopping floors and plunging toilets. I agree that you should be well staffed and this should not be part of your daily job (though for cooks it should be), but let's face it, the reality is that almost daily people don't show up for work and things need to get done. A chef's job (his most important job) is to make sure the kitchen runs in an efficent manner, to think that his/her job is loftier than that is to fool yourself. If you think that it is all about the food, try owning a restaurant and see how far you get when the reality of business sets in.
As for being underpaid, that is your own fault. Sure an owner is going to try to get you for as little as possible. Decide what you need to make and stick to it. I am a hard negociator, and if someone doesn't give me the money I think I deserve then I don't take the job. It's that simple. Too many chefs, for too long have felt like many of you do, and now owners think that they can get us for pretty cheap. Stand up for yourself at the negociating table. You'd be amazed at what you can get by "talking the talk". But once you've made that deal the only one you can blame, if you are not making enough money, is yourself.

[W.DeBord]

I'm confused Nick.Shu your working in Appleton WI not Australia? It's a goverment program you attended (in Australia) and they found employement for you (here in the U.S.)? Then you should proceed up the ladder in your job based on your success in their program? How does this tie into WI?

????Weren't there were alot of people in the Soviet Union that got similar programs and promises....From my American background I can't understand these types of programs and how they could posible make any projected promises to their students.

I orginally meant you should have walked into a couple of kitchens and asked some questions. A culinary education is not manitory....many people think it's too expensive of an education for a field that pays so little. It also doesn't let you start your career in a position higher than the bottom rung.


Pete I kind of think you missed Shuggies points???? Your comments are right on, as far as everyone working together in a kitchen and if your not happy about the pay you have options. BUT I thought Shuggie was talking about something more personal...it seemed to me to be about how we "in the business" work together and treat each other. In her case it seems that someone was walking on her.

Maybe I was wrong??? But I never understood that anyone was complaining about doing a hard days work. We all know it comes with the job....but shouldn't respect and acknowledgement also have a place in our work enviroment at least among our-selfs?

[Pastachef]

Thank you, WDeBord! That is the absolute truth. I AM being walked on every single day, and the bosses flee the issue because, let's face it, they will be leaving there soon and it will be another bosses problem. I don't mind doing ANY of these jobs, and do them every day, happily. The point is that it was always a two person kitchen. In order to cut back the bosses asked us if the housekeeper and I would split the third person's salary and the third person's work. Over a period of three years the housekeeper has kept her raise, but at this point I am doing ALL of the work. She definitely is bitter about her job as a housekeeper and is trying to make my job as difficult as she can because she's jealous that I love my job. Our maintenance man said on Friday that she is the most negative person he's ever met! It is NOT that I mind even cleaning the upstairs when the housekeeper is out. It is that she grills me on every moment of my day and every little job that I did while she was out. She is not my boss. The point is, there are many, many special functions going on at these houses and the cooks are so extremely busy feeding people and preparing for the events that we don't have time to come out of the kitchen. Why should I be the only one who has to do it? I go to work sick or well because she won't help me out! If, I am out, (God forbid) she phones me at home several times to ask the stupidest questions that common sense should answer. If I called her at home she would cuss me out. WDeBord is so very right about the respect thing too. I came in one morning and found that the salad bar had somehow been unplugged, (possibly all night.) There was a metal tray of freshly sliced turkey breast in it that was by now room temperature. I dumped it in the trash and the housekeeper had a fit because I was 'wasting food.' When there WERE three people on staff and the extra person helping part time in the kitchen the housekeeper stayed in there as much as possible helping out. Because she's nosey. The dining rooms are also a part of the housekeepers job in ALL of the houses. I want my written job description back from her that she took home so that future bosses couldn't see it. That is a total wrong that she took it home!

[shroomgirl]

Shugie~
this woman is not your friend.
there should be a copy of your contract with the manager, normally there is more than one set of contracts, if not then ask for a new one.
for goodness sakes, make an appt to talk to the boss do it outside your workplace.
turn your phone off when your sick
Nothing is worth poor health.
Talk about hiring that 3rd person again....it may be your saving grace.