wow, and to think you almost persuaded me to go to Fry's with you.... well that sucks, there goes my Fry's hookup Well, hope you find another job soon, being unemployed REALLY sucks.... these are some great stories to read and hard to face the fact that I have been at my first job for the past 5+ years, hell I was still in high school when I started here....
Well I did load 3 RPS trucks off conveyor belts by myself graveyard shift. Non-stop carrying of stuff up to 100 lbs or so for 4-5 hours straight. You had to memorize the location of every address and its position on the 3 trucks then stock them as the packages started flying by. If you get behind, you hold up a large section of the warehouse because of the backup you created. You want to do cross-training or circuit training for about 4 hours straight - there you go. This is still the toughest job I've ever had (along with the Walmart job below). I remember I used to get home and my mom would ask me what in the hell kind of job I had because my shirt always looked like I had been through a warzone with dirt, rips, tears, etc. I laugh at IT people complaining around me about how stressful their jobs are. Go work loading trucks for RPS, Fed Ex, or UPS... you'll know physical and mental stress. I used to unload those Walmart 18 wheelers onto mechanical rollers by myself graveyard shift, then get on the floor with pallet jacks, move them to the store floor, and help stock afterwards. I think I succeeded in jamming every one of my fingers either assembling the rollers or trying lifting weight sets, barbie's vette, and bbq grills and throwing them onto the rollers. And of course, half of 'em were bent so they didn't roll and you had to go over and lift packages over them. So the next time you see an 18 wheeler from walmart, go ahead and imagine how fun it is to unload 1-2 of those a night manually... So I still ask... what's the deal with washing dishes other than being boring? I honestly don't know. It can't be physical labor can it? Is it the lifting of tons of dishes? I've always felt that waiters/waitresses had some sucky jobs because of the abuse they often get from customers and the, at times, hectic pace, but the dish washing thing I don't get other than it's a sucky job probably. But then so is cleaning sewers I suppose. I've heard some guys I worked with at the RPS warehouse tell me the only tougher job they've had was working docks at the Houston Ship Channel. That I can understand. I guess I need to see the troubles of a dishwasher before I can agree.
DoD, The biggest problem with the job is that you're having tons of dishes and containers coming through into an area you have to keep clear for the next round of dirty dishes and containers. Add to that, the Hobart (that's what we called the dishwasher) is this big lunky thing that spews out scalding water and when you take the rack out of the Hobart, the dishes and containers are extremely hot. So, it's a b**** basically. You're working in a confined space at break-neck speed (on weekend nights at least) and the temperature in the space is sweltering.
Unloading trucks? Pulling stuff out on the sales floor with a pallet jack? Stocking shelves? Plffffft Try washing dishes and bussing tables at a busy restaurant. The pay sucks the work sucks. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I have done the truck thing as well as dishwashing. Believe me, washing dishes wins the worst job award by a mile.
LOL. The only good thing about working that at the Outback was that you got a free meal out of it. I'd volunteer for that reason alone. Not to mention it made the night go by tons faster. As far as bussing, I didn't mind it all that much. We actually made pretty decent money at Outback.
I can understand that. Walmart's warehouses weren't air-conditioned when I worked there - or if they were, I sure as hell didn't feel it. RPS had giant fans that just blew hot humid air around - half of them didn't even work. I worked at Walmart one winter and they had the heater going in the warehouse when it was about 20 degrees outside. Doesn't help much when you're in the body of a truck sitting out in the cold. Ok, well I guess I understand. I'm not trying to get into a "who had the worst job" contest. I'm just saying there are jobs out there way worse than anything any of us have done. Some of the stuff we complain about is so trivial in comparison (me included).
Reminds me of the good times at Mr. Gatti's... I never had dishwashing duty. I mainly made pizzas and cleaned up after everybody. I always worked Mondays which was "kids eat free with parent" night. They were gone by 7:00, but you should have seen the cartoon room after that. They get more pizza on the floor than in their mouths. The work - messy and low-paying, but OK. What I really minded was the jerks that were our supervisors. No one likes being yelled at (especially by someone who's standing around watching the Rockets playoff game when there's no work that really needs to be done, but won't let you do the same). I didn't officially quit, but took a "break" for exams and decided not to ask to be let back into the schedule. I had enough money for the rest of the summer. Finally came back a month later to turn in my stuff, and no one blinked an eye. Some people acted like they had missed me. The jerk supervisors were gone. It actually might have been OK then. On the other hand, I have a job most people envy (supposedly) but I would honestly love to trade it for a dishwashing job right now. Just as long as people didn't do weird things and make decisions for me behind my back. Academia is a strange little place...
Oh, speaking from experience, I think your's sounds worse. Just wanted to educate a little. It's sad...I have nearly 22,500 posts and probably the only time I've educated anyone here is on dishwashing in a restaurant.
I was an "associate" as well (back in college), and I remember unloading some of those trucks. It did suck. I HATED working for Wal-mart, and hating your job can make any job suck worse. I only had to wash dishes when the dishwasher didn't show up. Other times, I was head chef, kitchen manager, bartender, floor manager, waiter, and busboy. You could say I just about did it all. I was never a hostess, but I did seat a few tables. Working in a restaurant can be a lot of fun, so that makes the hard work a bit better. I could never be a dishwasher though. Besides the descriptions above, no one has mentioned that all commerical sinks are built for jockeys. No only are you doing back breaking work, you're doing it with your back bent at a 30 degree angle.
I worked the college salad bar. Damn those yogurt raisins (people would not stop eating them - refill hell). Otherwise the easiest second easiest job on campus. Then I switched to easiest, the media resource center, otherwise known as sitting around doing nothing.
What he said. I washed dishes when I was in college and working in the cafeteria of the same university. I was constantly washing out nasty-ass spit cups and having to dig wet napkins that had more or less turned into paste out from the bottoms of cups and glasses, all while keeping a clean area so more dishes could come flying through. Not to mention the heat....I think I lost 10lbs. within a week or two. I think the biggest gripe I had was that it was a thankless job. Everybody in the kitchen treated the dishwashers like crap, and I think it mostly had to do with me actually being in college and moving on to better things in life vs. being a fry cook on parole. The only plus was all the free food when I was a broke-ass student.
Any other "dishwashers" out there remember all the wasted food? I swear over half the plates that came through used to have 70% of the meal still on them. That garbage disposal sure got a workout
Working in a restaraunt sucks. My first summer job was when I was 14. I did KP (busboy) at a mess hall for Army MP's. Those were about the sickest group of perv's I have ever been around in my life. Boy, did I get an education that summer. When I think about what the one-toothed-bald-headed-redneck-cretin-head-cook threatened to do to me on a daily basis (cue the dueling banjos), I am not too surprised about the goings on in Iraq. The left over food from the mess hall was put into corregated metal trashcans and then put in a refrigerated room. Once a week the pigfarmer came and took the slop. While in the refrigerated room, the grease congealed in the crevices of the trashcans, which then had to be scrubbed out in the hot summer sun. Good times, for $2.35/hour. Working in a restaraunt was my worst job. However, I had another job lifeguarding at a state park in rural Virginia that was a pretty good job with one MAJOR exception: cleaning out the public restrooms. I don't even like to think about it. I have never quit a job but I have been fired. I had an argument with my boss and I walked out of his office. He *ordered* me to come back to his office. I kept walking and they gave me my walking papers that day. Went to work for myself and have never looked back.
