Stick a fork in me - I'm done!

You know, it doesn't see like that long ago I had this strong desire to work in the food service industry. I wanted to work in, or own, a restaurant. As children, most of us talked our parents into letting us run a lemonade stand at one time or the other. Maybe it was that ubiquitous lemonade stand in The Little Rascals that motivated us. Maybe it was that early yearning to be an entrepreneur, make a lot of money at our own business. Maybe it was that innate desire to serve people, provide them an excellent product, and make them happy. In its most basic form, isn't that what the business is all about?

So I asked myself today: At what point did this *business* all turn sour for me? Check that...not just sour...but rancid! And my answer to myself was quick and clear: Nothing has turned anything...except boring. I have simply lost interest in trying to make my way in the service industry. And the reason is simple: It hasn't changed one bit over the 40 years since I first worked in a restaurant. The people are the same, the customers are the same, the owners and managers are the same. Even the food, for the most part, has remained the same. The same rules apply now as they did in 1966 when I worked for McDonald's...I was 16. Serve people, provide them an excellent product, and make them happy. Me, myself, and I are the ones who have changed. Stick a fork in me...I'm done!

Back in '66, I doled out .15 cent burgers, .12 cent French fries, and dime Cokes while working for a guy named Ken (the manager at McDonald's). Customers complained when there wasn't enough ketchup on their burgers, too much ice in the Cokes, or it was taking too long to get their order. On more than one occasion, an irate customer would come back to my window with an empty hamburger bun, "There's no patty. What the hell?" The running joke response at McD's was this never used though often fantasized answer, "Did you look under the pickle?"

I thought that manager Ken, my boss, was a jerk. His only fault being that he was a very dedicated employee. I was a 16 year old punk kid who didn't like being told what to do. In my recent foray (back) into the restaurant business, I didn't think my boss was a jerk, I thought he was simply clueless...for a plethora of different reasons than Ken's "shortcomings". And, yes, my opinion of most of my bosses over the past 40 years has been similar. And, no, I don't think I know everything! I may not always be right, but I'm hardly ever wrong! Therein lies the biggest reason for my malevolent feelings for job-related authority: I detest the ones who think they are right 100% of the time. That's an accurate explanation for "clueless".

The overwhelming positive side to me spending so many years in an industry for which I've come to have such acrimony toward, is that I have learned much about life, people, and myself.
I really do love the service industry, but only in it's purest, most basic form. All the downside, neg-head trappings that go with it don't hold any attraction for me whatsoever any longer. The behind-the-scenes shenanigans, politics, and superfluous stress that come with it are always going to be a part of the package. The restaurant industry in particular (as with most of anything else considered the service sector) has lost touch with the reality of what people are truly looking for. And that is "service".

Home Depot customers want help finding stuff from a friendly "associate". Costco customers would like to not wait in a checkout line so long. Motel customers would love a bath towel bigger than a hand towel. Outback customers would like their steak cooked correctly without a lecture from the server about the difference between Rare and Medium Rare. Best Buy customers would appreciate a truly buyer-friendly warranty on the expensive stuff they purchase there. Safeway customers would enjoy a friendly check out clerk. A.T.T. customers would truly love to understand their bill without having to make 13 different selections from an automated "customer service" line. I would have liked a friendly phone call last year when the local utility company came out and turned off our electricity one day after the bill was due.

A quick side note for future Hospitality majors or culinary school students. If you are not already well aware of what this business is truly about at the store level, ie, "in the trenches"...change your major to Liberal Arts. Be a teacher. You'll make as much money as the restaurant business, there's actually a benefit plan, and it will be much harder to get canned (unless you're already a pedophile).

If I remember correctly, I even had a problem with a couple of my first lemonade stands. One didn't make any sales. Another one...I was robbed at fist-point by a neighborhood bully. Shoulda' known better even back then!