Friday, April 21, 2006

Feets Don't Fail Me Now


Wednesday was pure, unadulterated hell...I was literally on my feet for over 16 hours, and on the way home that night, I thought they were going to fall right the hell off. That would have been a sight, wouldn't it? Wonder if I get extra points from coming to class on my little stumps? Points for dedication? Probably not...Chef would say something about no sacrifice being too great if you truly have the passion for cooking or somesuch other pithy proverb.

Excruciating, yeah Ex-cru-ciating, would be the mildest word I could put to the pain my feet were radiating after I left my first day on the job. It wouldn't have been so bad if I had been standing all day in the class kitchen before going directly to work...a small respite of 8 hours or so would have nice...ah well, I can sleep when I'm dead, can't I?

The Super Suppers gig was nuts. The Owner had invited about 20 or so of her friends for the shakedown cruise, and they seemed to have brought more friends with them (the Etiquette Hell folks would have a field day with that!), and they all wanted to make food. We ran completely out of some of the product items needed to prepare the dishes, and we had to promise to make up these dishes for either pick-up or delivery, because we weren't sure when the truck was coming on Thursday.

No one seemed to mind, and they all seemed to be having a great time and enjoying themselves. The place was an absolute wreck, and I didn't get to leave until almost 11...so much for that "out within an hour after closing" fantasy we'd all had.

Thursday morning, I was back at SS again. This time, it wasn't nearly so bad, because we only had about 6 people scheduled for sessions, so we had time to reorganize the dishes and make up some meals for those people who needed them from the night before. The truck finally showed up, and I got to practice what we'd been preached about in Safety and Sanitation with the receiving. The truck driver was really nice and patient with us as we did our little 3-ring circus act of counting things and opening boxes. I expect he's seen it all before, and was just thankful that we only had a few items come in instead of hundreds.

I have today off from SS, and I have a ton o' crap to do...gotta write up about 6 recipes, do timelines (will the project management never stop?!!) for a couple, and finish my thesis paper for Dining Room...and back to work on Saturday. I'm just hoping me feet don't go on strike and refuse to work like my knee is today. As an unexpected side benefit, I think I've lost weight, which is a good thing as Martha would say.

Oh, one more thing about Wednesday's class...you know you were wondering if ol' Japanime had shown up with her uniform intact, weren't you? Guess who showed up without her hat? ME! Can you freakin' believe it? After all that bitching I did earlier about Japanime not being prepared, who's the goober now? I realized it when I was about 5 miles from school, zooming along, doing a mental checklist of all the crap I had to do--class, work, etc. I was thinking that I needed to make sure my hat didn't get too wadded up in my backpack, when the brain said "Hat? what hat? You mean the hat you pulled out and laid on the dining room table, That Hat?" Ack! I call the Man and ask him to tell me that I hadn't left That Hat on the table, and of course I had. He said he would grab it and head my way (he's a good man, he is!). I called one of my classmates in crime to tell her I would be late, because I forgot my hat, and could she please set up my station. No problem, she says. I've whipped the car around and am headed hellbent for leather back towards the interstate when she calls back and says one of our other inmates has an extra hat that I can borrow. Whew! I am saved!

So, I decide I should probably be a bit more charitable towards Japanime, because surely she will show up with all her gear and be fine, and I am a little abashed at myself for being such a hard ass about her since the hat was on the other head, so to speak. Japanime arrives a little after I do, and as we are getting ready for line-up, we notice that she doesn't have a hairnet or her nametag...both of which she had on Monday when she didn't have anything else! The Mother Hen starts grilling her on where her nametag and hairnet are, and she starts whining about "goblins must've taken them." I think the Mother Hen is about to go all "goblin" on her if she doesn't shut up about that. I give her one of my extra hairnets, and MH tells her to fashion a nametag from a piece of paper, which will at least show she tried. I think the Chef is a bit more understanding about the nametags, because they are always popping off--they need a better design. Anyway, the MH tells her to go see the department admin about getting a new one after class, and Japanime starts giving her attitude again. It is pointed out to her that 1) we did not appreciate losing points because of her, and 2) these details are things that she should have down pat now, since she's been going at least 2 quarters longer than the rest of us. She shut up about that but was a bit sulky for awhile.

During class, she kept wandering about the back of the room while Chef was doing soup demos...he had to call her back several times and kept asking her "if she was part of this class." At the end of class, while he's giving out homework, she leaves before he finishes telling us everything we're supposed to do for Monday. He just shakes his head and tells us to have a good weekend...and, he complimented us on our teamwork, if you can believe it. He said that we were very quick to jump in and help each other out with tasks during class and during cleanup. We had heard earlier in the week that he had walked out on a more advanced class because they couldn't work together, and had refused to come back until they apologized and told him they were ready.

Anyway, I'm really off to do homework now...and laundry...the mountains, hills, and vales of laundry that are piling up in the Basement of Doom.

2 comments:

ninjapoodles said...

I must know...what DO you wear on your feet?

Poodlebugz said...

I'm wearing a combination of orthopedic looking chef shoes and some knock-off Crocs that I got at Goody's for $12. : ) The chef shoes I got from Bragard, and they are black, have toe protection, and velcro closures...something you'd see a grandpa wearing while toddling around town. Amazingly enough, they are fairly light and very comfy, even if they are the ugliest shoes I own. You can see them here at: http://www.bragardusa.com/Black-Balu-Chef-shoes-p/4323-1009.htm.

The Croc-offs are pretty comfy too, but lack the ankle support of the ugly chef shoes. I've got a long narrow foot, with very long toes (as all my friends will attest!) and it's been hard to find some of those that don't rub my toes funny. I've been wearing them to SS and when cooking around the house just for a change. I've found that if you can change shoes sometime during a long day, it really does help your feet...sort of gives them the illusion that they've had some rest. Of course, they figure it out soon enough and return to aching with a vengeance, but at least I had a little respite! : )

Thanks for reading!