new job

Hey all.

I got a job at a fancy restaurant called The Beer Bistro.

http://www.beerbistro.com/

Check out the food menu and beer menu if you are so inclined. All the food is made in house, IE we make our own bread, dressings, we even make our freaking ketchup. That's fucked up. For my BEER friendly friends, check out the beer menu under the 'menu' section. 20 beers on tap, and over 100 seasonal bottles. The menu is for Oct Nov Dec. Everything changes (including most of the beers) every three months.


I just got back from my first shift and made a few notes for you my friends.

1. I am full time, but the shifts are 9 and a half hours long. What is that about? So I worked 12-930 today. No break. No meal. Lets just say the first shift was a little rough. *I am normally supposed to receive half hour break, and I do automatically pay 3.25 every shift for a staff meal, whether I eat one or not.


2. I am WAY out of my league in that kitchen. Lets just say my knife skills and kitchen lingo are not up to par. I'm not exactly Gordon Ramsay here.

3. I am a prep cook. I chop and portion shit all day.

4. The owner/chef and I had an interesting first conversation. I'll let you be the judge.

I am using a small knife to quarter two boxes of button mushrooms, this is the first time I have spoken to this man. He is a 50 year old fancy ass rich ass fat ass dude that runs the show.... you probably get the idea this is not a pleasant story... hehe

Buddy looks at me cutting the mushrooms glares at me and says,

Have you ever USED a knife before?

Umm (I pause. I am stunned.. is that a serious question? Wtf do I say to that?)

Well Yes, I uhh.. have used one before

You do it like this, ok? (leans in, shows me, abruptly)

Roger that, sounds good sir, thank you.

Next time you come to work, please clean yourself up.

(once again, stunned. Clean myself up?? What does that mean? I am wearing the chef jacket they supplied, a sparkling white apron, brand new chef pants I had to buy that cost me 60, a hat as needed, I had just got a hair cut so the hair showing was trimmed and proper, I had shaved the day before, and I had trimmed my little chin beard thing shorter then I've ever had it since I moved out here. I thought I looked gooooooood.)

(I pause and reply) Sorry... ? What do you mean by clean myself up?

If you're going to show up to work, you have to be clean shaven.

Oh, ok, yes sir, sorry about that. Not a problem.

(He walks away without looking at me while I respond.)

...

Ok, so I HAD shaved the day before, so I'm not exactly Zack Galifinakis. So I thought that he was commenting on the facial hair. I looked around after and saw THREE dudes with more facial hair then me, plus the dude the interviewed me for the job, massive goatee. What is this guys problem? What a cock sucker. SUPER rude to me. The first thing he said to me was a fucking childish sarcastic "Have you ever USED a knife before?"

How professional is that? Jesus...

He didn't introduce himself, didn't ask my name, or shake my hand. Not the whole night. Even when we crossed paths, or if he'd walk by me. Nothing. I even gave him a smile and a nod as he came up to me, he walks by and doesn't look at me. Walks by. In my opinion, that was a HUGELY disrespectful.

From an improv or writing point of view, he gave me a very LOW status.

The weird part is he was laughing and kidding around with his other managers and sous chefs, so it's not like he was having a bad day.

The other manager Greg was almost as bad. Super negative towards me, for 100% no reason. I showed up, smiling all the way, and worked hard. Both were dicks to me.

On the bright side, those were the only two that acted that way, and they left by 5 or 6. Everyone else was super nice. The guy that was showing me around and telling me what needed to be done was really nice. A couple of the sous chefs online went OUT of their way to make me feel welcome.


So I guess it's fair to say it was an up and down day.

I won't let people shit on me, so lets hope things work out.

Sorry, i just had to get that out of me....

SECOND CITY TERM 2 has started.

My first stand up 101 class was a smashing great time. We laughed, told jokes and just had a fucking great time. EVERYONE (12 people, including me) in the class is really funny in there own way. I am the youngest in the class :)

My first stand up gig will be on SUNDAY DEC 6th @ Absolute Comedy on Yonge Street. I am counting down the days.

My first improv level B class was on Tuesday, and it also went really well. There are 10 people in the class, 9 returning from my level A class, so its good to see them and continue to make friends. The only negative part is, the 3 or 4 people I was closest friends in the previous class with aren't in this one. And its not like they were replaced by anybody. This class is just 3 or 4 people smaller. Shitty. Oh well.. still cool. I really like my teacher as well. He's a pro Second City guy, he did a bunch of shows on the Main Stage and he really knows what he is doing.

I gotta go. I have to get up and work in the morning. God damned 10 hours shifts are going to get old.