Have You Been Employed in the Food Industry?

[SlingLow]

Wait! I did pick strawberries and raspberries when I was a kid. One summer I made enough to buy an AM transistor radio. Yeah, I was pretty slow. When I was probably 12 years old picking strawberries, a buddy of mine and I would cut out at lunchtime and walk over to the railroad tracks to share our lunches with the hobos, then walk home to his house and shoot pool in the basement. Good times! Betcha no one does that these days...

 

[kiwigtx]

My wife and I worked in two pubs in London - 3 months total selling drinks and food. Wife was on kitchen duties and serving until later in the shift when she helped behind the bars.

Here's a bit of proof...... for those who don't believe me....

One of five bars inside the pub - Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese - famous London pub directly opposite the old Barber Shop of Sweeney Todd.

Samuel Johnson who wrote one of the first dictionary's used to sit in this pub a write or socialise with friends. He had his own seat as well.

Survived the great fire of London - well...most of it did. Original floor beams downstairs still bear the scars of the fire.

 

[Coelacanth]

Yep 25 years growing grapes.. Had all kinds helping at harvest time. It was always funny when we picked by hand or machine hearing “workers” say oh when do they pick out the insects sometimes snakes, mice and small birds that ended up in the mechanical harvester… I was like yeah whatever comes out of the de-stemmer the rest will get pressed.

I'll need to remember that next time I'm enjoying the "bouquet" and "legs" of my favorite wine...

 

[SlingLow]

Here's a bit of proof...... for those who don't believe me....

View attachment 1954701

One of five bars inside the pub - Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese - famous London pub directly opposite the old Barber Shop of Sweeney Todd.

Samuel Johnson who wrote one of the first dictionary's used to sit in this pub a write or socialise with friends. He had his own seat as well.

Survived the great fire of London - well...most of it did. Original floor beams downstairs still bear the scars of the fire.

Good lookin' couple. Is that your stunt double?

 

[kiwigtx]

View attachment 1954711
Good lookin' couple. Is that your stunt double?

Yep....I always have my stunt-doubles at hand for any photo-ops.

 

[Dennis H]

I forgot the Cotton Candy Stand at Dorney Park. $1 an hour and $1 a day bonus if you stuck out the season. Girls there too. It was good. Blew my nose Pink for a week.

 

[Coelacanth]

I forgot the Cotton Candy Stand at Dorney Park. $1 an hour and $1 a day bonus if you stuck out the season. Girls there too. It was good. Blew my nose Pink for a week.

Hopefully because of the cotton candy, not the girls...

 

[BB BELLA]

Find your way home

somebody should have told Steve Winwood!

 

[1KoolBee]

Uncle Google says more than 50% of us worked in the food industry at one point in our lives. Maybe you still do even?
At any rate, tell me your story!

Me? I worked as a dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant for under a year in high school. I was the only guy in the kitchen that spoke english other than the owner, so it was fun communicating. They would cook me any meal I wanted for dinner, and then another one to take home at the end of the evening ......which for a teenager was pure heaven. The owner ended up retiring and closing the restaurant, so on the final eve he let all the customers and workers drink all the beer the wine in the place free of charge. It was one big party. I pulled a "Tom Sawyer" at one point and convinced multiple inebriated customers to come back and experience the joy of using the dishwashing equipment while I sat there with a beer watching them. A thus, my food industry employment came to an end. I still like Chinese food!

Ha! me too! My mom makes fun of the fact that my job as a dishwasher and delivery driver convinced me to go to college lol!

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Does mess duty in boot camp count???

 

[Unkle Krusty]

No.
But I recently lit the propane stove for Shirley, so she could warm up dinner, while I drank beer.
I try to help.

 

[Belvedere408]

Does mess duty in boot camp count???

Little bit of KP. What we called it.

 

[64BEL]

Here's a bit of proof...... for those who don't believe me....

View attachment 1954701

One of five bars inside the pub - Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese - famous London pub directly opposite the old Barber Shop of Sweeney Todd.

Samuel Johnson who wrote one of the first dictionary's used to sit in this pub a write or socialise with friends. He had his own seat as well.

Survived the great fire of London - well...most of it did. Original floor beams downstairs still bear the scars of the fire.

Look at our Roger - all bright eyed and bushy tailed. Undoubtedly headed for a promising future as a website moderator!

 

[64BEL]

I applied for a pizza delivery driver job when I was 16. I even did a ride along with a friend of mine who drove for them. They didn't hire me for who knows what reason. Looking back, I think - what the hell were they looking for? It was just delivering pizzas and I had a clean driving record. F 'em!
46 years later and they're out of business, so who got the last laugh?!

Then, I did get a job washing dishes at a restaurant. I was working with 2 "veteran" dish washers (they were probably 18), and I watched in disgust as they ate partially eaten food off of people's plates before they loaded them in the dish machine. They offered some to me, and I said no thanks. I lasted 2 weeks and I was out of there. I went on to get a job pumping gas that evolved into a full time mechanic's job after I graduated high school.

@Kern Dog - My best friend in high school worked at a brand new Booger Fling when it opened up. He was in the first group of hires. He went on to be assistant manager after high school, and they even sent him to Whopper College or University - whatever they called it. After a couple of years he joined the Army and put in 20 years - eventually becoming a drill sergeant.

 

[kiwigtx]

46 years later and they're out of business, so who got the last laugh?!

Payback and Karma don't always happen overnight.

 

[Dennis H]

Also forgot about Conte Tomato Paste in Palm, Pa. I was in charge of the slop. Had my own Tractor and spread it in the field. Every so often a green tomato would hit me in the back of the head. Got lost when the sole headlight burned out. Had a neat Hand-Clutch and it could pop wheelies. Best job ever. Seasonal. 10 plus hour days til all processed.

 

[Photon440]

My wife and I had a Muffin Break restaurant/coffee shop for five years, we got the franchise from the originator of the chain. They're no longer in the area but are still in New Zealand, Australia and the U.K. My wife spent most of the time there, I was still working at the railroad.

Much earlier, my first real job (still in high school) was at a bottling plant - Gray Beverage. We bottled Pepsi, 7-Up, all the Crush flavours, Hires Root Beer, Mountain Dew and Schweppes products. That was a noisy place to work but I loved it.

 

[1STMP]

My encounter with food industry
endeavors involved harvesting
potatoes in sub-freezing temps,
processing turkeys at a Swifts dairy
and poultry plant (Butterball turkeys),
Then on to working at a donut shop
injecting the fillings in different
pastries, a New England Oyster House
shucking oysters doubling as a
dishwasher. The final bout was
attending culinary arts classes and
opening a deli. The straw that broke
this camels' back was waiting on 30
teens at 6:00 am. They didn't order
anything to do with your normal
breakfast menu, instead opting for
burgers and fries. Luck would have it
that both my waitresses called in sick
that morning. Waited tables and
cooked for that busload of kids
on my own.

Gave up on this pursuit and went to
college for a ME degree.

I still love to BBQ....

 

[BB BELLA]

I use to race my gocart and my 69 runner in the campbell soup/continental can factory parking lot before i was old enough to get a license does that count?
never worked in the food industry, my hands were always too dirty!

 

[Hey-O]

First job was cleaning tables, busboy.