Have You Been Employed ion the Food Industry?

[#41]

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. An thus, my food industry employment came to an end. I still like Chinese food!

 

[Kern Dog]

In 1982-83, I worked at a Burger King in the Sacramento area.
It was my first payroll job, I was in High School. It helped me earn enough money to buy my first car, a 69 Dart. I met my first "woman" there too.
I gave her the Whopper. She gave me VD.
(Not true about the VD)
There are countless stories associated with the job there.

 

[Mopar Hunter]

I worked as a bagger in a grocery store, if that counts. They did sell fresh sandwiches, soup and salads.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I installed a couple dumbwaiters in restaurants.

 

[RR Fan Dan]

Bag boy/ice cream stocker at Tops Supermarket in Weaverville CA. That was back in the day when we actually bagged the groceries in paper sacks and took them out to your car.

Fry cook at Barton’s Freezette in Knights Landing CA

Ice Cream Scooper at Baskins Robbins in Redding CA.

Dishwasher/bus boy/bell boy/front desk clerk/night auditor /catering sales at Shasta Inn in Redding CA. I gradually worked my way up to those positions.

 

[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.
I was fulltime pulling pints and slowly getting rid of the over-spill from the two dopey Aussie girls who wasted so much beer.

I also have worked 7 years for a small company that manufactures bread crumb from scratch. A nice little business that always treats me right - I fix their machines promptly and they pay on time. I'm still there to this day and a premises move is on the cards for early next year - expansion time.

 

[Kern Dog]

The Burger King I worked at closed at 2:00 AM. We'd get people leaving the bar with drunk munchies.
The routine was to let the stockpile of burgers thin out toward the end of the night to minimize waste. There were guidelines as to how long we could keep food products waiting for customers. The balance was to have enough on hand to meet expected demands while not having too much that would get wasted. One night at 1:45, a guy came through the drive through and ordered a Double Whopper. We had two Whoppers and 2 smaller hamburgers in the bin. The Double Whopper called for 2 patties so one patty was pulled from the other Whopper. The broiler grill had been shut down for the night and the next customer in line ordered a Whopper and a cheeseburger. I put a small patty on the Whopper bun and sent it out. I was a 17 year old kid and didn't see the job as a career...
I used to write graffiti inside the burger boxes....stuff like Congratulations! You won a FREE large fries or Hooray ! You won a FREE trip to Rio Linda, all expenses paid! (Rio Linda is a semi-rural community peppered with trailer homes and yards with multiple broken down cars)
We used to have friends come in that worked at other Fast Food joints....we'd give them free food, they'd return the favor when we went to their places.
For awhile, our parking lot was a HOT spot for cruising. All sorts of cool cars and young people gathered like it was the Drive In on American Graffiti.
Many of us sneaked food during work shifts but then ordered something at break time so the managers didn't think we weren't hungry from cheat-eating.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I also have worked 7 years for a small company that manufactures bread crumb from scratch. A nice little business that always treats me right - I fix their machines promptly and they pay on time. I'm still there to this day and a premises move is on the cards for early next year - expansion time.

Bread crumbs? What on Earth does one use bread crumbs for?

 

[RR Fan Dan]

Bread crumbs? What on Earth does one use bread crumbs for?

Cooking.

 

[69Bee]

I started out bagging groceries at our commissary for tips. During the summer, I would stock shelves, unload the trucks. I did that for a few years. In year 2, I helped our butcher Werner out in the meat market packaging and labeling the meat that Werner cut up. It was difficult getting thru a bin of hamburger as you had to grab a wad and put it in the tray and wrap up. Your hands would be freezing before you could finish. In the last year, I worked in the produce market basically doing the same thing, packaging and wrapping the fresh veggies to put out in the front. I also worked at our "consolidated open mess" as a dishwasher. I also would make pizzas and milkshakes. The last job I did was work at our movie theater popcorn concession. Plus side, free movies, con was missing the first 10-15 minutes. After that I graduated and joined the Army!!! I did KP once in basic, so I guess that counts too...

 

[1967coronet]

10 years at a Oscar Mayer plant.
Gutter, Ham d boning , knife shop.

 

[1967coronet]

Bread crumbs? What on Earth does one use bread crumbs for?

Find your way home

 

[Cranky]

I worked as a bagger in a grocery store, if that counts. They did sell fresh sandwiches, soup and salads.

I did too for a very short time. They wanted me to wear a white shirt with a bowtie....white shirt was ok but wasn't about to wear a freakin bowtie lol

 

[copper67sat]

I was a waiter at a coffee house/restaurant in Nagoya Japan the summer after junior year in high school while my dad was there for work. I spoke some basic Japanese but was far from fluent so I had a menu with numbered items that I used to take orders. I worked the afternoon/evening shift so the owner would make me whatever I wanted for dinner. I could also drink all the coffee I wanted but I rarely did because I don't really care for it.

I was a Courtesy Clerk, aka bag boy, at National grocery in St. Louis during my first 2 yrs in college. Later, I worked in the produce warehouse for Schnucks loading trucks for the stores. The warehouse job was from 6pm to 4:30am but paid $7/hr + OT. They brought in college kids to help during the summer and Christmas holiday. Despite the hours, it was a good job and the pay was great for seasonal help. Plus, I worked in a temperature controlled warehouse during hot, sticky summers in St. Louis.

 

[Cranky]

Bread crumbs? What on Earth does one use bread crumbs for?

You never ever cook??

 

[azblackhemi]

I worked for a wholesale grocery warehouse as a truck & trailer mechanic.

 

[68BabyBlue]

My junior year at Penn State, I got a part time job working in the student union building cafeteria, as a dishwasher and busboy. The $1.95 per hour starting pay wasn't a big motivator, but the all you could eat meal for 50 cents was a big deal during a time when I was consuming 5000 calories per day as I gained 30 pounds of muscle weight while lifting weights. If I worked an evening banquet, I got to eat a pound of prime roast beef.

Another perk was working with a couple dozen cute coeds. I was one of only three guys, and I think the other two were gay. In 1974, Penn State's student body had three guys for each girl, and competition was fierce. I dated four of my co-workers there before I graduated. I think they liked the idea of a guy who would do dishes.

 

[Don Frelier]

I've spent the vast majority of my career working in food production factories.
Dairy products of all types, juices, sauces, meat etc.
It's recession proof.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Like Don, I ended up with a 20 year career serving the food production business, transportation side in my case. When my law practice went under, and I ended up back on the truck, I was low man on board, and ended up with a haul none of the senior drivers wanted. I got stuck serving an outpost on a rail siding in Pittsburgh, transferring bulk flour out of rail cars, and hauling it to a local macaroni plant. I had to wade through a sea of rats to reach the rail car the first few weeks, until I finally got all the spills cleaned up. No rodents once I eliminated the food supply.

Still had to work in the elements to do the transfers to the truck, boss told me I wouldn't have to deal with it long, the contract wasn't likely to be renewed. Instead, I figured out how to run three deliveries in a shift, instead of the previous two, and the customer doubled the volume when they renewed the contract a few months later. I ended up making more than my boss, but he was soon promoted, and it wasn't long until I had an office next to his at the corporate headquarters.

 

[Rebelrouser]

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. An thus, my food industry employment came to an end. I still like Chinese food!

I worked at two fast food restaurants and an IGA grocery store in high school and college. I worked at a Dairy Queen in 1972 t0 1974 made 75 cents an hour and one meal. I built my first car with that wage. A 1948 Willys wagon with a 327 chevy and a powerglide. I always had gas and insurance money. Plus the boss always hired the pretty girls, so got to flirt with them as well. I remember my first day and getting instructions on the proper way to count change. I get so frustrated today when I go into a business and the help cannot count change.