One of my first jobs out of high school was as a dishwasher. I was 17 and knew nothing of the catering industry, but I had a can-do attitude and an acute aversion to kitchen sludge. No stranger to washing dishes at home, I was shocked to learn that catering equipment was far different. Blasting myself with boiling water jet streams and getting industrial soaps under my nails was enough to make me realize that dishwashing was not for the faint of heart, nor did I actually have a grasp on what I was actually doing.
Without guidance, no newbie worker understands what to do for their job title, and when you don’t fully understand a new industry yet, there are nuances that can easily slip through the cracks. When this dishboy was told to scrub an enormous pig roaster until it shone, he followed through with his exact orders, without ever really realizing that he was irrevocably destroying the cooking surface. Lo and behold, a big lesson was learned that day, mostly from management, when the chef saw the kind of scrubbing action taking place in the back kitchen. He wasn’t mad at the dishwasher, of course, because it wasn’t his fault, thus turning his entire fury and rage towards the one man who should have known better.
Author: Kayitsi.com
