Oftentimes I sit and wonder what love is. It's a strange emotion, but truly one of the few wonders of a person's life. I had mixed opinions of love until a Friday night spent out on the town in which I witnessed love in its true form, and I'll admit, it slightly touched me. You're probably wondering what all this love stuff has to do with Adventures at Chic-Fil-A, but I'm here to tell you, love can appear at any time and certainly at any place you could ever imagine. This week's blog will surprisingly be a serious one, although it may make you chuckle at times. You can't joke about love my friends.
Like every other week, I spent a large majority of my Friday night working. It didn't really bother me in the end though, the snow seemed to have it's own plans for me to go home and do absolutely nothing. I got off work around 9:00, and the roads were already painted white. I called my mother, who said I needed to come straight home; but I had other plans. I had been needing a new pair of gloves for a while, and Walmart being near, I decided to make a quick stop before I embarked on the long trek home. I walked into Walmart and immediately went and got a nice and stylish pair of black gloves. As I walked to the check-out isles, excited about my purchase, I turned to look across the store and witnessed a boy and girl who I worked with, walking together. I knew both of these people about as well as coworkers can know one another, and we usually got along pretty well. They seemed to be pushing one another, laughing, obviously having a great time flirting. Previously I had no idea about their relationship, they talked to one another, but we all do that at work. I walked out of Walmart, and being the insightful person I am, I spent a while thinking and evaluating the situation I had just witnessed. What I eventually figured out was pretty inspiring.
Both the boy and the girl from what I could tell come from a relatively low income and rough home life. They are old enough to drive, but neither have a car, and they don't own many nice articles of clothing. These two things alone can make life difficult for a teenager, and I know if this was the case with me, I would rarely be happy. Call me spoiled if you will, but that's not the point I'm trying to make here. When I witnessed them, both of these individuals seemed as if they were having the time of their lives. It could have been because they had just won the lottery, or found $100, but I don't think so. I think it was because they were together, looking into each others eyes, falling foolishly in love, and finding joy in it.
This week changed me, and I find it odd how such a small event could do it. Thinking back on this, a song comes to my mind. They say music can express people's feelings when they themselves cannot. Love can make a person happy when all else fails to. Wondrous, I know. In this case, I say The Beatles said it the best. Love is all you need.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
The Absence
I would like to take the time today to tell you not of a night working at Chic-Fil-A, but rather a night I spent away from it. I apologize if this isn't what you came to this page looking for, but I feel like it's important.
It started at the beginning of the week, Monday I believe, when I first realized I was scheduled to work on the Apollo vs. Daviess County regional basketball game. This was such an unfortunate occurrence that I contemplated sulking in my room for a couple days, but nay, my instincts quickly and bravely sprang into action. I was not to miss going my last Apollo DC basketball game! My eyes scurried across the employee list as I repeatedly called phone numbers and crossed out names. At the time it seemed like every other worker had a personal vendetta against me, and I caught myself seriously thinking about what I had previously done to make so many people angry. I got to the very bottom the line of names, and cringed at the result. There was one to go, but this guy was weird. I tried to recall all the times I had worked with this boy, and if I had ever directed anything mean towards him. I just remembered him as 'the guy who took out the trash and had poor hygiene'. I attempted to call him, but no answer. Several other tries got the same result. The next day I stopped by Chic-Fil-A after school, hoping to catch him working, but I failed. I did end up checking what times everyone worked though, and he was scheduled to work with me on Thursday night. My last chance.
I slowly approached this boy, knowing that on false step could cause him to spook and skitter off, potentially ruining my life. I said "Hey man, I was wondering if you could grab my shift tomorrow night from four till nine? I've got something I have to do and it can't be missed." He looked at me for a couple seconds, and then looked towards the floor, thinking. "I would rather not, my mom said she wanted to watch some movies with me tomorrow night." This idea made me furious. I was going to be forced to come to work and miss an action-packed basketball game just so this fool could go home and watch movies with his mother who he sees every night. Suddenly an idea sparked in my head. I remembered our discussion over "Freakanomics" during this class and how Chaz had talked about the exchange of money at his workplace. "Dude, I'll give you ten dollars if you come in for me, and I'll get one of your shifts next week." I said desperately as he began to walk away. As he turned back around to look at me, I saw a difference in his eyes. "In that case, I guess I will."
I have to say, that may have been the best ten dollars I've ever spent in my entire lifetime. The game was greatness. Yeah, it was a little rough watching him take it from my hand, but after I took some time to reflect later that night, I came up with a justifying conclusion. Money is great, but freedom and senior year memories are much more valuable. And yes, you can quote me on that.
I just can't help but to wonder what the kid spent that ten dollars on though. I have no idea and can only guess what his interests are, but maybe, just maybe, he bought some soap. :)
It started at the beginning of the week, Monday I believe, when I first realized I was scheduled to work on the Apollo vs. Daviess County regional basketball game. This was such an unfortunate occurrence that I contemplated sulking in my room for a couple days, but nay, my instincts quickly and bravely sprang into action. I was not to miss going my last Apollo DC basketball game! My eyes scurried across the employee list as I repeatedly called phone numbers and crossed out names. At the time it seemed like every other worker had a personal vendetta against me, and I caught myself seriously thinking about what I had previously done to make so many people angry. I got to the very bottom the line of names, and cringed at the result. There was one to go, but this guy was weird. I tried to recall all the times I had worked with this boy, and if I had ever directed anything mean towards him. I just remembered him as 'the guy who took out the trash and had poor hygiene'. I attempted to call him, but no answer. Several other tries got the same result. The next day I stopped by Chic-Fil-A after school, hoping to catch him working, but I failed. I did end up checking what times everyone worked though, and he was scheduled to work with me on Thursday night. My last chance.
I slowly approached this boy, knowing that on false step could cause him to spook and skitter off, potentially ruining my life. I said "Hey man, I was wondering if you could grab my shift tomorrow night from four till nine? I've got something I have to do and it can't be missed." He looked at me for a couple seconds, and then looked towards the floor, thinking. "I would rather not, my mom said she wanted to watch some movies with me tomorrow night." This idea made me furious. I was going to be forced to come to work and miss an action-packed basketball game just so this fool could go home and watch movies with his mother who he sees every night. Suddenly an idea sparked in my head. I remembered our discussion over "Freakanomics" during this class and how Chaz had talked about the exchange of money at his workplace. "Dude, I'll give you ten dollars if you come in for me, and I'll get one of your shifts next week." I said desperately as he began to walk away. As he turned back around to look at me, I saw a difference in his eyes. "In that case, I guess I will."
I have to say, that may have been the best ten dollars I've ever spent in my entire lifetime. The game was greatness. Yeah, it was a little rough watching him take it from my hand, but after I took some time to reflect later that night, I came up with a justifying conclusion. Money is great, but freedom and senior year memories are much more valuable. And yes, you can quote me on that.
I just can't help but to wonder what the kid spent that ten dollars on though. I have no idea and can only guess what his interests are, but maybe, just maybe, he bought some soap. :)
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Beggining
Before I get started with tonight's tale, I would like to briefly describe my goals and ambitions connected to this blog. As I'm sure most of you already know, I work at Chic-Fil-A as a part-time employee who gets payed slightly over minimum wage no matter what the number of sandwiches I can produce in a minute is. Through this blog I shall try to describe to you what working at a fast-food restaurant entails, and hopefully throw in a little humor and life lessons along the way.
I busted through the door of the Chic-Fil-A kitchen around 4:00 on a Saturday night. As I walked in and back to the break room, I looked to my left and saw four of the worst workers currently employed at the restaurant. It was bad enough I had to be there on a Saturday night, but five hours spent toiling and cooking with these jokes was going to be horrible; and it was. I usually try to spark a conversation amongst the kitchen workers, at least giving me some sort of entertainment and method of wasting time, which most often ends with me getting hit on by a forty year old woman who rides a Harley. Tonight though, I merely minded my own business and did what was asked of me, and chuckled to myself as I watched these slow workers scurry around, drop food, and get multiple orders wrong. To my amazement, one guy even took five smoke breaks.
Saturday night was not an eventful night at Chic-Fil-A, but it did make me realize one thing; I don't want to work at a fast food restaurant forever, and neither do any of you. Stay in school, go to college, work hard and get an educated, high-paying job which brings joy into your life. Chic-Fil-A certainly isn't any of those things.
I busted through the door of the Chic-Fil-A kitchen around 4:00 on a Saturday night. As I walked in and back to the break room, I looked to my left and saw four of the worst workers currently employed at the restaurant. It was bad enough I had to be there on a Saturday night, but five hours spent toiling and cooking with these jokes was going to be horrible; and it was. I usually try to spark a conversation amongst the kitchen workers, at least giving me some sort of entertainment and method of wasting time, which most often ends with me getting hit on by a forty year old woman who rides a Harley. Tonight though, I merely minded my own business and did what was asked of me, and chuckled to myself as I watched these slow workers scurry around, drop food, and get multiple orders wrong. To my amazement, one guy even took five smoke breaks.
Saturday night was not an eventful night at Chic-Fil-A, but it did make me realize one thing; I don't want to work at a fast food restaurant forever, and neither do any of you. Stay in school, go to college, work hard and get an educated, high-paying job which brings joy into your life. Chic-Fil-A certainly isn't any of those things.
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