Chippy Life Lessons
The reason I stayed on this year was because firstly, I
needed a job. When I finished my University course last year, and moved back
home, I was lazing around doing nothing productive so it filled my time while I
worked out what I wanted to do. Then when I got my second job, behind the bar
at a gastro pub, it didn’t affect my hours there so I stayed. Then as I
auditioned for drama school, and was lucky enough to get onto the reserve list
at my top choice, I knew that if I was offered a place last minute, I would
need to have savings to be able to accept the place, and working at the fish
and chip shop bumped up my income significantly. So it became a waiting game,
and every new day I worked, I told myself that the school would call and offer
me a place for September and the working two jobs, seven days a week, every week
would be worthwhile.
However, I have now decided it is my time to leave.
Now I have loved working there for so many reasons but...
There’s always a ‘but’! Over the past year I have seen my friends travelling the
world and progressing in their preferred career routes, and I can’t help but be
jealous and feel stifled by the small, boring world I see pass me every day. I
have a lot to offer, always feeling like I’m falling short of my potential, and
I have not been academically challenged in this job, to the point where I
started buttering the bread rolls every morning with my left hand, when I am
right handed, to improve my co-ordination and strength where it is naturally
weaker, just so I can feel that I have gained something from everyday. (You may
laugh but I have to say that I have noticed an incredible different in my left
hand abilities since!)
Whilst standing watching the high street go by over the last
10 months, I have had a LOT of time to observe and reflect. I see endless regular
customers, who each have cemented into their routine to collect their fish and
chips on a particular day at a particular time. I watch the same groups of business
men and women on their lunch break every day, and a man, who clearly has OCD,
count his steps as he avoids the cracks on the pavement. And the friendly man
in the Ocado jacket, walking his dog, who has never come in but always smiles
and waves at me like we’re old friends. These are to name just a few.
So as a reflection of the hours I have spent there, I
thought I’d write a few life lessons I have learned over the last 6 years as a
way to say goodbye and bring my time here to a close. (I always joked I’d write a musical based in a
chippy one day… and maybe I will)
1. People
are rude.
As I’m sure anyone who has ever worked in the service
industry has experienced, people can be so rude. From picking apart your
appearance or your mannerisms, to making sexist, and even racist jokes, there
is no end to the conversations I have had at work.
My boss always tells me to calm down as I get annoyed at literally
every customer. Quite frankly, if you don’t have the time or the patience to
even say “please” and “thank you” then I don’t want you to serve you. And it is
so frustrating how many times I’ve had to ask if they wanted their jumbo
sausage “plain or battered?” And they’ve replied “yes”… It was an ‘or’
question, not a yes or no. And don’t get me started on the customers that talk
straight to the fryer and completely ignore that you exist.
It would have been better if I could’ve accepted that the empathetic,
polite and well-spoken population won’t be the target customers for my chippy. If
anything, it allows me to fully appreciate the people I meet who are friendly
and patient and kind, and most importantly, helps me to realise how I come
across, which customers I’d prefer to take after and how I want to be perceived
as a customer to other servers.
2. Hard work is the foundation to everything
Now my mum has always said that we all know that working at
the chippy isn’t going to be my life’s work. And there are many days when I
think about how counteractive a shift at the chippy is in terms of what I
actually want my career to be. I once saw a quote that we have the same 24
hours in the day as all of our idols, and everywhere I would prefer to be is all
out there somewhere whilst I am wearing a paper hat.
On the bright side, the foundation of hard work and having
to do something that you don’t particularly want to be doing is beneficial and
transferable to life in many ways. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that
scooping chips is physically exerting and it won’t necessarily come in handy
that I can make curry sauce to the perfect consistency, but I have the mental
strength and stamina to complete a task to a high standard that is not particularly
desirable to me. And that is a skill that I am proud to possess.
3. Don’t date a guy if he has a girlfriend.
Pretty self-explanatory, but I learned this one the hard
way. And it took me way longer to realise that it was not, and was never going
to be, a healthy relationship. But luckily I did see sense eventually. Not to
make excuses but I was very young, naïve and vulnerable and didn’t know any
better. Do not worry though, NEVER again.
4. There isn’t enough care for the elderly
population
Arguably the most important and upsetting thing I have
noticed from working there regularly is the deterioration of some of our
elderly customers. Many customers can barely stagger out of their mobility
scooters and struggle to walk a meter to the counter. It is not unnatural for
us to walk out to them to serve them at the door if they are too weak and frail
to come to us.
One man used to visit us more than once a week, and he was
so unsteady on his feet that he couldn’t control his bladder whilst in the shop.
It got to the point where we had to ask him not to come anymore because it took
too long to clean up after him. The same man once came out in a rain jacket
that clearly had been tucked away unused in a cupboard for many years, and as I
was taking his payment, a large black spider crawled over his shoulder and another
customer batted it off out the shop for him.
Another regular
customer used to be the doctor of the town, respected and full of pride. But
over the last few months especially, his shirts are worn and creased, the
bottom of his trousers drag on the floor and his hair is uncombed and unkempt.
He has also recently stopped ordering food for his wife too. I know he used to
be her carer, I don’t know if he still is, but I know there should be someone
caring for him.
There’s also a few regulars who have told me that I’m the
first and only person they’ll speak to that day.
These are just a tiny representation of the elderly
population and it has highlighted to me the lack of support there is for them
in today’s society. And they won’t realise when it’s time to reach out for
help. But even if they do, who is there to reach out to?
5.
Being friends with the people you work
with is the best
I originally
got the job through my friend, and actually my best friend started working
there the same time I did. When I started at 14, I did evening shifts with them
both, so going to work was just the opportunity for a gossip, but getting paid
for it!
The fryers
were a bit scary at first as they would joke around with each other quite a
bit, but as I grew up and got to know them, we became friends. Although I don’t
work with the girls anymore, it has truly made me appreciate the years I spent
hanging out with my bestie at work and how much easier it is to pass the time
when you are nattering away, as opposed to standing round the front on your
own. Time flies when you’re having fun, eh?
This list does not include the endless list of song lyrics I
have drilled into my head whist at work by repeating songs over and over, nor
the Shakespeare speeches I have learnt by sneaking them in my shirt pocket and
chancing a look when I forget the next line. I have also learnt an endless
amount about bike riding, range rovers and ice hockey, thanks to the hobbies of
the fryer’s I work with.
Now I didn’t create this blog post to complain about the
chippy at all as I have honestly loved it there and obviously, I would never
spend years somewhere I disliked. Everything must come to an end eventually,
and it’s just that now it is my time to move on. My bosses and the company
itself were such a fantastic place to work for. (And also their fish and chips
are truthfully incredible!)
My boss always said “it’s nice to smile at people every day
as your job” as they walk past, just passing the free happiness out into the
world. A warming thought that I have remembered over the months.
Everyone has a different story, and I’ve had to accept that
the chippy has and will be a large aspect of mine as I pursue the next part of
my life.
So thank you to my chippy, over a quarter of my life spent
with you, but now I have to venture into the big wide world.
Comments
Post a Comment