Well, the hot, sweaty days are coming to an end and I can almost taste the beer I’m going to sneak at the tailgates this fall. But the summer isn’t quite over just yet and I am still sitting in my hometown counting down the days until I start my sophomore year, still eating dinners with my dysfunctional family, and yes, still working my summer job. It was my mom’s idea for me to get a job this summer, because if it were up to me I would have been sleeping in until 2 in the afternoon and binge watching One Tree Hill for the second time. But I searched around my town, secretly hoping everyone would turn me down, until unfortunately I was offered a job at a BBQ joint. Now, my mother had always told me that the world has a funny way of working. She said that when I absolutely hated something the world would throw that thing at me, and that thing I hated the most was doing the dishes. Guess what I have been doing all summer? That’s right. Doing the damn dishes. But I can’t complain, because even though I walked in that place whining and cursing under my breath, I came out with new life lessons and a little bit of cash. So I’m going to share a few of the things I learned at my summer job and hope you can relate.
1. You get out what you put in. I found this to be true when I figured out that even though I was scheduled to work 4-9 PM I would be staying at the restaurant far after closing time. I wanted to be an important asset to my new workplace because I strive to be the best that I can be in all aspects of my life (and I really needed a good reference on my resume). When referring to work, especially a summer job, it’s important to give it your all so you can reap the benefits at when it’s all over.
2. Attitude is everything. This one was really hard. I don’t know if any of you have worked at a restaurant before but people are honestly just mean. I deal with rude customers on a daily basis and I’m just the dishwasher. And if it’s not the customers, it’s my co-workers. I won’t even tell you how many times I wanted to sling a crusty pan across the room hoping it would hit one of them. But I learned that it’s so important to have a positive attitude towards everyone and everything at your workplace. If one person is in a good mood it usually spreads to the other workers making for a happy and peaceful night of work.
3. Give people a chance. I usually don’t have a bad habit of judging people. Actually, I’ve been known to do the opposite and give everyone the benefit of the doubt. But there is just something about my hometown and all of the people that choose to stay instead of flee that I just can’t stand. So when I walked into that BBQ joint for my first day of work, I was prepared to keep to myself and count down the days until the summer was over. Now, nearing the end of summer, I have new friends that I have grown to love and we are trying to spend every second we can together before we part ways in a couple of weeks. It’s so important to give people a chance because they deserve it and because you might end up with some new friends.
4. Go with the flow. I didn’t even realize I was learning this until a few days ago. You should be well aware by now that you can’t control everything in your life and “letting go of what you can’t change” has been drilled into your mind since that first middle school break up. It’s so much easier to take life day by day, let the petty drama go, and just go with the flow.
5. Soak up the new knowledge. My summer job has presented me with all kinds of new things to learn, like how to properly bleach a cutting board, for instance. Besides all the dish washing I did, I also learned a ton of new things about life like how to work with and accept the different types of people I met, how to multitask, and how to strategize to get all of the tasks done before closing. So, take advantage of everything your summer job has to offer and learn some new things if you can.
The summer may be coming to a close and my summer job will be over soon, but I’ll never forget the life lessons I learned or the friends that I have made along the way. How could I? My clothes will smell like barbeque forever reminding me of my time spent slaving over dishes this summer.
