Trading the 9-5 for a tip jar
Something happened the other day. I was at work, and amongst all the lovely customers I had been serving, I saw a familiar face. A girl I had worked with, in a very limited capacity at my last office job, walked in the shop. I smiled and waved, asked how she was doing, but she wouldn’t even make eye contact with me once she realized who I was. I’m sure she recognized me, and her cold shoulder stung. It felt like I was an embarrassment to her because I traded in my desk chair for an apron and coffee-stained sneakers. I didn’t push it, though. I scooped her cup of gelato, told her to have a nice night, and tried to brush it off.
I can’t quite seem to brush it all away, though. At the shop, we have to sweep the rogue coffee grounds off the counter a lot, but no matter how much we sweep them away, it seems like more just keep appearing. That’s how this felt: the more I tried to let it go, a nagging, shameful thought would slip into my mind. It made me wonder if I should be embarrassed to be making macchiatos for people who don’t know what a macchiato is. (Seriously though, please learn what a macchiato is.) But let me tell ya, when I think about my job at The Tasty Spoon, I think of it being one of the few places in Austin I could rely on to feel like home. So, since I’ll be making my last latte next week before moving back home to the mountains, I want to tell y’all how great the past 11 months here have been.
Last March I found a job listing for help at The Tasty Spoon. I needed a long break from the 9-5. (Which was actually more like a 9-9, seven days a week, and a conduit for suicidal thoughts more than a stable work environment, but that’s another story for another time.) I instantly fell in love with the little shop on S. 1st. The feng shui here is seriously phenomenal. And I could tell immediately that Ashley and I had the same frenetic energy that could either be disastrous or wonderful. It ended up being a beautiful little mix of both. We talked about my previous work experience, which was kind of funny since I’ve worked in two ice cream shops before – I’m clearly cut out for this line of work. I also mentioned my experience in social media marketing and told her I’d be happy to help her out with all of that, too. I got a job offer pretty quickly, and by July, I was the assistant manager. Oh, and our Instagram looks stellar.
I am incredibly proud of the work I’ve put in at The Tasty Spoon. It has been messy – you should see my shoes; there’s gelato and coffee and melted red hots and dirty mop water all over ‘em. It’s been hard – the public can be difficult and competition can be mean and sometimes you might cry in the back because someone said the mango sorbet you just made tasted too mango-y. But I can say I have also served the best people in Austin. I love seeing our regulars come in, and I love when kids bring in something they drew for me, or when a customer compliments our online presence. And the small team I get to work with is just out-of-this-world incredible. I swear I haven’t met kinder folks than the sweet people I get to work with every day. We have become such a family, and that’s a very special thing to have in a workplace.
I wouldn’t trade the hours I’ve spent pouring gallons of milk into a machine for that old desk chair of mine at a company that doesn’t appreciate the hard work their employees put in. And I hate milk. Working in the service industry isn’t a lesser job than one that may be more career-driven. In fact, it has given me some much-needed perspective and experience. I highly recommend spending some time behind a coffee bar or balancing trays of food and learning what it’s like to be in a position where you have to connect, on some level, with people from all walks of life. And never assume your barista or server doesn’t want to be where they are – try to get to know them a little. Your life will become much richer.
