The Pizza Business

While the life of a poor student never ceases to provide amusement, a steady income can sometimes provide more amusement. So a few weeks ago I walked into a pizza bar anxiously applying for a job (preferably in the kitchen) and was luckily given a chance and hired on the spot. Nothing like a minimum wage cooking job at a typical pizza place! The atmosphere is relaxed, the food ok, and the people friendly and funny. The environment is a 180 from the high stress, perfection driven atmosphere of school. (A nice change of pace, I must admit). The first few days I worked, every server and cook personally introduced her or himself and shook my hand, reminding me of the friendliness to be found in the good ol' Southern USA.

The restaurant recently opened and is still perfecting sauce recipes, dough making techniques, baking temperatures, etc. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to have your pizza recipe perfected before opening a pizza establishment. (This can all be taken care of the day before your Grand Opening). It's a good environment that encourages experimentation and allows time to learn from mistakes.

I'm slowly finding my niche in the kitchen. This includes being small enough to reach over or around, being fast and competent enough to keep up with the unexpected dinner rush on Friday nights, and willing to do almost any job with enthusiasm. Additionally, this is the first job in which I've worked that non-smokers are encouraged to take just as many smoke breaks as smokers.

Overall, working in the kitchen is nice for a number of reasons:
1. You don't have to personally deal with customers.
2. You can wear whatever you want.
3. You can listen to music whenever you want.
4. The servers are nice to you because your quality of work affects their tips and also your mistakes may provide free meals on occasion. Ok...maybe they're just nice.
5. Have you ever worked in a kitchen? Talk about characters, they're all in the back making our food!!
6. Yet another link on the never-ending chain of discovering where our food comes from.

Let's face it, any job that encourages "that's what she said" jokes must be good! Anyway, we all have to start somewhere.

"How do you know you're going to do something until you do it?" - Jerome David Salinger