Hee-Yaw!

Hooray! I made it through my first week at the bakery...and by the way, I should clarify here that although "bakery" is in the title of the place I work, no actual baking takes place there. No, all the pretty pastry is baked elsewhere and delivered each morning. I didn't know that when I applied and by the time I found out, I figured I might as well go for it anyway since it's not like I had any other job offers.

I'm starting to adjust to the mundanity of the job. Meaning, I've begun to settle down and realize that I only need to work about 1/10th as hard as I've been working in order to keep up with the status quo there. I suppose there's something liberating about knowing that as long as I show up and don't swear at any of the customers, I'm meeting expectations. And I get to sing that They Might Be Giants song, "Minimum Wage," to myself every time I punch the ancient time clock. 

I'm also getting along pretty well with my co-workers. I've learned to tolerate my manager (a.k.a. Woman of Crushed Dreams), the 20-year-old (a.k.a. Still a Teenager), and I actually like the 23-year-old (a.k.a. Still Finding Herself). I think I have a decent rapport with the "cooks" (a.k.a. the Reheaters). They don't speak very much English, but don't seem terribly annoyed when I forget to write down what kind of soup the customer ordered or whether they wanted it for here or to go. 

However, I did come across a new character yesterday: the Socially Awkward College Student, who takes herself and the job a little too seriously for my taste, but I'm hoping we won't work together very often, so that should be okay. 

Still, I have no intention of doing this forever (and by forever, I mean for any longer than 6 months) and I don't think I'll have to, because I have a really exciting lead on a really exciting opportunity in another bakery, where I would actually get to work on the production side of the baked goods vs. putting them on plates. I won't say any more about that yet for fear of jinxing it, but it seems promising. I should know more in the next month.  

Don't get me wrong, though - I don't think it was a mistake to take this job. If nothing else, it makes me even more motivated to find something better. Plus, it allows me to dust off my customer service skills...I haven't yet decided why that's a good thing, but I'm choosing to see it as a positive anyway. And, most importantly, it pays for groceries...and beer. But will it pay for the amount of beer it causes me to drink? Stay tuned to find out.