THE NIGHT SHIFT

on the desk...at the ready....

     Most days I was told to stay planted at the register.  To which, I wouldn’t have minded so much, but then I would notice we would need coffee made, or there were coffee grounds on the counter-top that needed to be swept up or the pastry case was in need of “love” and I would stray off of my register planting –and then get yelled at for not greeting a customer as they walked in the door,.  This was done by shouting to the customer as they walked in so as to somehow criticize my sense of obligation for continued progress in display and sanitation, and not looking over my shoulder often enough.

     When I worked evenings, or I was the second helper at closing, I washed dishes.  I washed a lot of dishes.  They started washing dishes at 6pm and didn’t stop until 10.  They washed every part on the espresso machines, syrup bar, cold bar, blenders, add-in containers, ice bin covers, ice scoops, coffee urns, whip creams, creamer carafes, then after washing we ran them through a sterilizer.  But while we were doing all of this—we were still expected to sweep and mop the back area,  sweep the lobby, and mop it, same for the bathroom, same for behind the bar, same for the floor mats.  And we were expected to do this while one person worked as a barista and one person took orders.  Wait! I forgot to add that a 120- box order was typically delivered—and that had to be put away by the shift supervisor, as well.  After a few times at this routine—I knew exactly why Katz smoked.  I was ready to start taking cigarette breaks with her.

     During my marathon dish wash routine,  I found myself singing “Moody River” by Pat Boone.
     A lot. 
     For those of you unfamiliar with the song, It is about his girlfriend committing suicide.  Its funny how the Rolodex of the mind will file through so many  mounds of information and come up with a coping mechanism in the form of applicable lyrics.  I forced myself to believe it came to mind over and over, every day that I would work, because it had a nice melody. 
     It was just a nice melody, right?