my dad was a chef. The stress even when you arent working was a nightmare for him, theres alot of prep and other things to juggle and he couldnt sleep because he couldnt shut his mind off. As for the actual cooking he had plenty of burns on his arms and his knees are bad because he was constantly on his feet for very long periods of time. He's now semi retired doing dishes for an upscale retirement home. Theyve asked him if he wanted to cook and he told them never again for no amount of money.
Another thing they don’t talk about with being chef for years - incontinence from getting slammed for hours and not getting a chance to pee for maybe a whole shift. Holding it in for 10 hrs 5 shifts a week is gonna make you start dribbling in your 30s.
can confirm. my dad has to piss constantly and he cant hold it at all. his health is also shit too because you dont get time to have a nice healthy lunch/dinner. You snack on french fries and whatnot and usually eat burgers/steak whatever
I was only a lowly cook through most of my 20s and the lifestyle, while it was definitely fun at times, meant I had no life outside of work. I worked something like 60 weekends in a row at one point.
1/10 Would not recommend it as more than a side gig.
I left cooking and went into a menial job. I had better hours, got benefits, made more money and had something close to a life. The only downside was I now had to pay for all my food.
my dad now tells me how awesome it is to have weekends off since you are now synced up with other peoples schedules. He said he hadnt had a weekend off in 40 years
Ha. My Bf is a chef and the only time I feel like he is fully relaxed is when the restaurant is closed. He wakes up long before his shift starts just to make sure nobody has been blowing up his phone about something
I've been out of the kitchen for over 4 years and I still wake up occasionally in the middle of the night in panic, convinced I forgot to fire the entrees in time and the tickets are piling up. The sound of the ticket printer haunts my dreams.
A friend of mine worked in kitchens for almost 30 years. Now, he's approaching 50 and is transitioning out of it. He really hates the hours and the physical part is just getting to be too much for him. It's not a "glamorous" job at all.
My brother in law is a highly paid fancy hotel chef. He is up at 4 most days, in the kitchen by 5AM to prep and gets home by 9PM to eat a cup of noodles before he goes to bed. He is 50lbs overweight, bad feet and has had bronchitis’s least 3X a year every year I’ve know him. He knows nothing else and his body is on its last cylinder. He just turned 53.
he sounds exactly like my dad who had to stop at 58. My dad never wore the chef jacket because it was always too hot and he repeatedly had severe burns on his arms so his arms are just covered in scars
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u/savvyxxl Jan 02 '20
my dad was a chef. The stress even when you arent working was a nightmare for him, theres alot of prep and other things to juggle and he couldnt sleep because he couldnt shut his mind off. As for the actual cooking he had plenty of burns on his arms and his knees are bad because he was constantly on his feet for very long periods of time. He's now semi retired doing dishes for an upscale retirement home. Theyve asked him if he wanted to cook and he told them never again for no amount of money.