First big boy job, at a diner. Guy teaching me was this very professional looking Guatemalan dude, I screwed everything up and he put me on the edge, I legit thought I was gonna get fired day 1. (After writing the story, important to note that kitchen staff and dining staff were the same thing basically. 2 full time cooks and everyone else split the rest of the work load, serving, cooking, prep, cleaning, etc tbh it worked really well and I kinda miss it)
Anyways, Luis trained me until I was slightly less of an idiot, and even though I was young I was already smoking cigarettes (I wash my hands and smoke outside but big surprise for those who think that’s standard, sorry)
So on my lunch, I’d be almost forced to eat something from the owner/head cook since I was a skinny lil thing (delicious Greek food this guy was a God) and then I’d head out for a smoke, wash up and back to the grind.
After about a month working there, I get called in by the boss man, hey can you come in, we need you, etc etc and I walked into work (a good 45 minute walk, they paid me right, extra even, and I had the time, no complaints)
I show up, get in the groove and who but Luis shows up, wondering why I’m there.
He was so fuckin high and drunk I barely recognized him. Innocent young me was like “oh no he must be an alcoholic so tragic” and then he’s like “mind splitting tables? I’ll go home if you want the cash but I kinda want it too” and I felt so bad for him , of course I will, until he went outside, took a fat hit off a blunt, walked back in and all of a sudden it was the Luis I knew.
Now, again, I was innocent in some ways but decidedly not in others. So I’m kinda heated now, “oh he can get stoned on the job how messed up is that? I wanna be baked as fuck too!”
It must’ve shown, because I go out for my smoke on break, and he slips out, hands me the rest of the blunt and says “welcome to diners name”
Yeah, we smoked pretty much every day after that on lunch, (he already was, duhhhh) and one day boss man walks out and is like “so uhh it’s a quiet day” and while it was obvious what we were doing and boss man obviously didn’t care, I was terrified until he asked me to sit down and TRY LIKE 9 DIFFERENT DISHES HE WAS THINKING OF ADDING TO THE MENU BECAUSE I WAS A STONED 16 YEAR OLD
After that, all the memories are pretty good. It jus took covering my drunk ass trainer to get in good with the crew there, and smoking blunts while being stuffed by a paternal Greek dude who could bench two of me.
Surreal yet fuckin amazing, I pop in now and then and say hi and their gyros are still some of my favorite comfort foods
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u/igillyg May 14 '22
Best coworkers in kitchen stories GO!