I work as a breakfast cook for a higher up retirement home. Im only 27 but Ive been cooking for about 9 years at this point.

I dont mean to toot my own horn, but I am really good at my job. Despite catering to the richest elderly people in my area, no one ever complains about my food, and I do everything I can to bend over backwards for these residents so theyre happy and well fed. If you've ever worked in a retirement home, you know that making the residents happy in the morning is the most important job. If their day starts off badly, the whole place falls apart by lunchtime. More on this later.

The way the shift scheduling works at my job is as follows:

• Breakfast cook gets in at 6am to open the kitchen and get Breakfast started
• Morning server arrives at 7 when the dining room opens
• Culinary Manager arrives around 9 (if hes even coming in that day)
• Evening crew and additional servers start between 10:30- 11:30

The Breakfast cook is the one in charge of both Breakfast and lunch services and is expected to also do the prep for themselves for the next day plus all the clean up from your current day (we have no designated dishwasher, everyone does their own clean up)

The night crew is required to cook dinner and shut down the Kitchen after while also doing prep and clean up for themselves.

By now, youve probably noticed that I said Night crew, not night cook. Because theres usually 2 or 3 people on the night shift for dinner while only one person does both breakfast and lunch. Usually this means at night, two people can do prep (both cooking for the current day and preparing items for the next day) until service starts then one person mans the line and another does the clean up and shut down.

But in the morning, service starts an hour after my shift starts then I get a 2 hour inbetween period before the lunch service starts, and my shift ends right after that. For anyone who doesnt work in kitchens regularly, that is practically zero time to do anything. Especially if you remember that Im legally required to have an hours worth of break time during my shift, that leaves me with 2 hours to cook, clean, prep and open the kitchen per day.

By nothing short of a miracle, I get it done. Im one of the original staff members at this location so Ive been here since opening day. At first, it wasnt that hard to keep up since we had maybe 5 residents to feed. But now, 7 months later, we have nearly 50 residents plus any guests they bring in. Naturally its getting harder to keep up.

When we hit 30 residents, I began telling management that I needed assistance in the morning. The night shift was relaxed and easy (I know because Ive had to work it a few times when people are sick) while the morning shift is high pressure and high stress. I sat down and outlined for them everything I do and what areas I need help in, but I was pretty much told to suck it up, they cant afford more help. I then asked them to move one of the evening people to start earlier to at least take some pressure off of me, and the culinary manager told me that a "9-5 slot doesnt exist and Im not going to create one"

Fine, whatever. I just started buckling down, made sure I took my adhd meds in the morning and worked even harder.

Then we got up to 40 residents. I spoke up again because even with me working my butt off and skipping my breaks, I was starting to fall behind as the week went on.

I got the same response.

I buckled down even harder and began asking the evening crew to help me.

Then, in July (on my birthday) the culinary manager called me into his office after my shift. The conversation went something like this:

CM: Hey Anon, I noticed youre struggling to get prep done for the next day and as a result, Erica (the night person that opens on my days off) has mentioned that she comes in to nothing being ready for her in the mornings.

Me: yeah, like Ive mentioned I need help in the mornings its becoming too much work for me to do by myself.

CM: well heres what Ive been thinking. How about we try you out on an evening shift to see how you do there

Me: Sure thats fine, I dont mind doing an evening here or there.

CM: Perfect

The very next day (on Wednesday) he released the schedule and I was completely replaced on mornings. For the next two weeks (we get our shifts 2 weeks at a time) I was scheduled to close and never open. Instead, Erica was scheduled to take over my opening shifts.

Since this was obviously not what I agreed to, I expressed to the CM that I could not work the released schedule. Not only do I have another job outside of my main job (I drive for skip the dishes to make ends meet and I help out at my Church), but my wife is in the early stages of her first pregnancy and the morning sickness was more like all day sickness. I needed to be there to cook and take care of her after we both finish work for the day because she was incapable of taking care of herself after being drained from her equally stressful job. I agreed to one or two shifts a week max, not all closing shifts.

Once again, I was told to deal with it. The schedule was released and he was leaving for a week long vacation the next day so he couldnt care less.

Fine. I buckled down once more with the intention of fighting him on this when he got back from vacation. I also sat down with HR and explained my situation. They said there was nothing that could be done at the moment but I was encouraged to have another conversation with the CM after he was back.

When the week was over I approached the CM again as soon as he got into the building and told him that I could not continue like this. I began explaining to him the stress its caused me over the past week and I got maybe half a sentence out before he cut me off and told me to deal with it. The kitchen ran for a week with me out of the position and if it works, he isnt going to change it back.

At this point, I had enough. I told him straight to his face and in front of everyone in the kitchen that if he didnt fix my schedule or at least work with me to find a compromise, I would just find another job and leave.

He wished me good luck.

If I could have afforded to, I would have just quit on the spot. But I couldnt. So I did the next best thing: I sat back and watched the building burn.

Now its worth mentioning that I really respect Erica. Shes a very intelligent woman and probably a better cook than I am. Together, her and I are the powerhouses of the kitchen. At least one of us are in every day and we dominate the shifts we are responsible for.

The main difference between us is that Im more of a people person than she is. I know all the residents by name, their dietary preferences etc. I also know each staff members weaknesses and I help boost morale or do little things to keep everyone in good spirits. I use the knowledge I have and my care for everyone to make my shifts a lot easier and make the whole building run better. Everyone knows that if theres an issue, they can come to me and Ill do everything in my power to help.

Erica, however, is a typical tomboy and shes very disagreeable. She runs the line like a well oiled ship. Either you do your job and do it well, or you get out of her way. It works really well for the evening shift because by then, everything is already moving smoothly and she can come in and nail dinner like a pro. But in the mornings, where theres a lot more care required, its like trying to navigate a bull through a china shop.

With me out of position, everything I helped maintain outside of my job description began to crumble. Residents were rowdy and upset, the event staff were stressed out because they couldnt get their lunch before dealing with the rowdy residents, people were getting hurt more so the nursing team was stretched out even thinner... the place became a mess and everyone in the kitchen became very angry with the CM because not only did he decide to screw me over, he also decided to do an external hire for the sous chef position everyone (except me) was gunning for. He didnt even bother interviewing any current staff he just skipped right over them (despite company policy stating that he must give everyone in house an interview first) it was hell on earth but he didnt care.

In the middle of the second week of this new schedule, Erica went to the CM's office and told him that the morning shift was way too stressful and she didnt want to work it anymore. Over the first week of her working the mornings, I would come in and see her progressively more and more stressed each day. Her normally calm demeanor was gone and she was crumbling under the stress. The CM, who had just released the schedule for the next two weeks, told her to trade some shifts with me to try to alleviate the stress.

Erica and I spoke and we decided that I would take every other shift from her. Even though it meant I would be closing the night before I opened every two consecutive days I was in, I did this so there would be a clear night and day contrast between having me work the mornings vs not work the morings.

It worked like a charm. The days I was in, the whole building ran like a well oiled machine. Everyone was happy and morale was boosted. When I wasnt in, things werent as smooth. It wasnt as bad as the first two weeks but it was definitely noticeable.

I simply kept my mouth shut and did my job to the best of my ability and watched as the CM realized he had no choice but to put me back on mornings or lose me entirely and deal with the previous chaos himself.

Today, we have two new cooks starting (strange how they found room in the budget) one is going to be another support for the evening shift because one of our fulltimers is going back to school this week and another is a part time help for the morning shift.

I still want to leave because its clear that my manager has a blatant disrespect for not only me but everyone he manages, but at the same time, I'll be taking Paternity leave in March so I might just suck it up until then.

TL:DR when I asked for help, my boss tried to replace me and quickly learned from his mistake

basically I immigrated to a country on my own and I got a job as a waiter. they knew I had no experience as a waiter but were willing to hire me to help out on weekends and I was grateful and it felt amazing to finally have a job after two years depressed and unemployed i am now three months in to the job and they basically said that in September I will have to show significant improvement or else I will lose the job. Before this conversation happened I always looked forward to going to work; I knew I was not great but every day I got a little better. But now it just feels really horrible because I truly try my hardest but it feels impossible to meet their expectations (even though I know it's not). Case in point from today: all at the same time the kitchen wanted me to bring out four plates for a table; my coworker wanted me to clean and prepare two tables, another coworker wanted me to make some drinks for a table; a customer wanted to order a coffee, another customer had a complaint that they got the wrong dish, and another customer wanted to pay. And like when I have all of these at the same time it's hard to keep track of it all, let alone to know which one I should do first. And like biggest complaint everyone has of me at the restaurant is that I am not fast enough that I am too slow. but I really try my fastest but it is just not automatic like it is for them I still struggle with extreme basic things; I only know how to carry out two plates at a time. and with the serving tray I spill so often, especially when I am handing out drinks, I honestly freak out every time I have to bring out drinks and whenever possible I avoid using it I really really wanna keep this job, I really really wanna be good at this job. I studied the menu at home and memorized it, I even bought a serving tray from amazon I could practice with. I just dont know what I can do, it feels hopeless like I can meet my bosses expectation in time

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/mswNjkN74BJzviae/?mibextid=D5vuiz

Im telling you my current situation. I am an indonesian pursuing a diploma in culinary arts in malaysia. I got another 8 months yo graduate and my next sem is my intership, i am going to a 2 michelin star restaurant here. My plan is to work in either singapore or australia. But i dont really know where to start searching for work or when to start( how to get a working visa, how to get a pffer letter before graduation, and etc) . I also dont really know whether it is possible for me to work there with my qualification. Anyone can help me to tell all the detailstow start to work there?Thish issues has been stressing me out because i got only 8 months left to graduate and i dont really know what to do.

Thanks for anyone that reply.

I seen that this community is more brighter than I thought :") it's not bad at all, but I got a story to share and it just might not be the same volume of brightness, so I'm gonna lay it here it can be buried, I just need to get some exposure and relax so I wouldn't be so tense about it.

:)

well everything started when my Boss, Manager, the one who guards my rights in that restaurant so they (service, Partners in the restaurant) wouldn't work us harder than we supposed to, he flew to meet his mother which is the main reason I am trying to keep it (the night shift) quiet and regular without any changes. and we as cooks without the boss know what we supposed to do and do it well, if that's preps, cleaning, making food.

While our manager is the one who's responsible for anything that involves our work.

So now, after the background story, I am working at night and I am sort of the boss only at night service for the rest of the cooks and I don't want to hurt their rights and include more work that nobody pays for basically making us work for them(service) while our (kitchen) job is to get food for the costumer in the bounding of the menu , there's alot of stuff I have no idea how to resolve and I hoping you (the bright mind) will help me, and this post will help clear this fog in my mind :).

just to be clear I PLAN TO LEAVE THIS Restaurant, and it's gonna be the close to the end of this year like I agreed with my manager (just 4 more months)
, so until my manager returns from his vacation is gonna be 3 weeks, it's gonna be hard I have no idea what to do (it been 2nd week), I know I am supposed to make the service run and be fine, and now it's been 2 weeks since the bread slicer broke, and everybody is the kitchen, who's a veteran cook told me to not cut the bread, but the entire service workers are bunch of little girls who's some have more time in the restaurant than me, now I have no idea what to do because one cook whos makes sure the morning service is fine, is trying to help and he's telling me so much like I doing the entire service wrong, but I know the night and I know it's tense and I am trying to be what I my rule is, making sure the service run smooth, and that includes making peace with the current (night shift) restaurant manager and helping them feel comfortable and fine and they return it by making me lists for stuff and getting their waitresses in line and to get the orders with sense and not do bunch of shit, seems legit seems fine like a plan that can't go wrong everybody took their responsible for their rule, and it seems I let loose a bit and it (like the borders or something of my work and their work) got a little mixed, which I was fine, but in some point they order food that is never on the menu, making stuff out of their head, that's a little bit of a head ache.
I never get into a person's plate and choose of eating because I know it's sensitive and a work place needs to be humble and loving, and I want to do everything to make sure It's stays that way,
I hate fighting I don't want to get involved and I managed to keep the lines in between the borders of it (the relationship between service and kitchen) now we cant keep the kitchen clean because instead of cleaning the shift manager give us tasks like cutting the bread, making their food which takes a lot more than getting my missions done.

Now I pretty sure I am supposed to get the stop of it so we can focus on food and not the wishes of the shift manager, and it's pretty sick that I think of that , it's sounds strange but that's how it feels after all this time.

I am supposed to keep the lines for everything ,plan and make sure the service's food runs smooth.

it really tense And I DON'T WANT TO MAKE THE NEW COOKS FEEL LIKE IT'S THEIR RESPOSBILITY because I only make sure the food runs, and they really don't pay me enough but I can get the experience for it and mess up and they can't say shit because it's their shit but still they act like I own the kitchen and everybody works for me, it's wrong I work with my kitchen, I am the only worker that talks with the service, and I want to plan for something that will help me do my job like a long list or something rules or just to keep a plan in motion that sperate our work from their work.

thanks for reading, and a helping clean the fog abit, I think the last paragraph is a plan for what I need to do. at least like a pensiero or schizzo than I'll have my studio plan and I will show them my disegno plan at the end ;)

What are some of your favorite BOH jokes?

I leave corny little jokes on the board for the openers every night, but I’m about tapped out.

Edit: ya’ll the NSFW jokes are great, but my opener is my kitchen manager 😂 I’m not ready to cross that boundary yet. 😳

What do you think

I finnaly decided to go to the 2 michelin star restaurant in Malaysia, and they told me to have a trial by this week for a day, I need some advice or heads up for what to expect during the day and what should I be doing to land for the internship, interviews included.

Thank you in advance for sharing.

What do I need to know ? For example if you re a commis can you live by the salary as a commis. How is the language there? Do all people speak English and anything? You can tell me anything that I need to know before going to work there?

I will be starting in my Michelin starred kitchen in the following mont, please do share your experience in michlein starred kitchen

Thanks anyways for sharing your experience. I'd like to know all your stories.

Customer walks in, using a crutch to walk. I'm in the front talking to the front of house guy. My colleague welcomes him and says, "I see you brought your third leg today", customer replies quickly "That's my fourth leg", big smile.

I quickly come back with, "I was told that the other one was only a foot."

Laughter all around.

I'm gonna lose my shit the next time a sever asks which sauce is honey mustard. Also I've had servers ask what hotsauce is. I mean I'm not the only one, right?

Just moved to a new location of a very high volume chain.

They don’t follow heath code regulations. They are dirty. Everything smells like the mop sink.

I’ve tried to put proper cooling/fifo regulations in place in the 2 months I’ve been here. Been preaching during out weekly manager meetings, leaving notes in our shift logs…. But every week my exec. Tells me to do something else.

This other manager has made my life hell. Her and the gm are best friends and I’m being micro managed.

There’s no integrity in terms of food quality. They LITERALLY MADE CROUTONS IN THE FRYER. no seasoning, no Parmesan… just fried bread.

I’m in a contract for moving out here. I have to pay fucking $4000 to pay the moving truck off. I’m really thinking about asking for a loan because I can’t keep working somewhere that bo one fucking cares about.

All senior citizens. We watched it unfold.

So this was about 10 years ago. Busy, high end Italian place, there was a grill dude, pantry, myself on pasta/saute and then the chef/sous on expo/calling wheel or whatever.

This particular Thursday saw out utterly fucking braindead sous puts a giant stock pot with about 15 little cans of condensed milk and water on the back of the stove just before service to make "dulce de leches".

Not a big deal normally, but he failed to tell either me or grill dude that he'd done so and proceeded to forget about it entirely. It gets super busy, and in the middle of the shit hear a bunch of very loud "POP PoP Poppps" and suddenly can lids are flying like ninja stars and there's a hot caramel like substance EVERYWHERE.... Like on the fairly tall ceilings, hoods, stove. The water had boiled out entirely and heated the cans until pressure was too much. To this day I dunno how nobody was injured. I am not exaggerating when I say they flew like ninja stars.

Yeah I know, my stove I should be aware, but dude slid this shit on a back burner when we were offline before service, and it was a pot big enough you couldn't see over the top. Figured it was stock, and then was just too slammed to remember about shit I didn't personally start.

I have a full time job that pays a pretty decent amount but I have free time after work that I would like to monetize. The tough part is I need it to not interfere with my main job (work hours from 6:30 am to 5pm). I’m happy to do any job in the house so long as they pay me in USD but I would need certain weeks off (for on-call weeks and vacations which will all be scheduled 3+ months in advance), and no weekend shifts. I’m eager, a quick learner, and am willing to get any certs I need to.

Is that possible in a kitchen or am I being entirely unreasonable in my expectations?

Edit: sounds like my schedule wouldn’t be a good fit in a kitchen. That sucks, but the search for paying off student loans with something besides Uber continues I guess.