Changing My Tune

Sorry for my absence, no excuses other than life and laziness. I've been thinking a lot about work and not that I would ever take for granted flexible hours, decent pay, and a paycheck, but recently I've been thinking the work is pretty hard and I'm not as thrilled about doing it. Again, I'm not in a position to whine, I've got a lot to be grateful for, but for the past several weeks work has been a bit of a downer.

First off, the hours are long, though only for one or two days a week, so I shouldn't complain, right? The general feeling at work is sort of grim because the shifts start early and go so late into the evening. On the one hand this means more money, but on the other, it means an extremely long day. When I speak with other people they all share in my discontent, but like me, are slaves to our paychecks. Somebody's got to fund our fabulous lifestyles.

The work atmosphere has changed a bit, as well. Sometimes it seems like we're being pulled in all these different directions, covering multiple events, dealing with the consequences of maybe our employers biting off more than they can chew. I understand the desire to put the guest's wishes first, but maybe saying “no” is just as important. Either way, the past couple of weekends it seems like there's too much going on, and staffing seems a bit down.

Finally, the work has changed. There's a lot more heavy lifting and preparing for the next day. I used to do that for conference services and I completely understand the need to share in the workload, but it's just a drag when you've served guests for 6-8 hours and then, after they leave, you have two more hours of work ahead of you. Somehow, something needs to change. Then again, I guess it has, and this is the end result.

On this note, I have to say that I think it's not as worth it as it used to be. I'm not saying I'm going to quit, not even close, but I think the other catering gigs are looking a little more appealing. I used to think it was more worth it to work at the Inn because the shifts were longer and I could make more money, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's that's still the case. Private catering shifts are about half as long, so you make half as much money. However, you start later and end earlier, so you can salvage some of your weekend nights. It's way more relaxed, and all you do is food - you set up, serve, clear, and you're done. We don't move tables or set up for the next day. Generally speaking I'm out of there by 9:00-10:00PM, versus 12:00-1:00AM for the Inn. The privater catering folks are much cooler, as well, about taking any leftover food.

I'm not sure what will become of this, but I'm guessing something's going to happen. It always does.

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Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Stephen Geraghty for the pic.