By Jake Hertwig
My early jobs included, cutting grass and babysitting for family friends. I got my first real job as a nursing assistant on an Alzheimer’s wing at a nursing home when I was 16. I did that for three years but it was taking too much of a toll on me. I wanted a change of pace. I took a job at the Win-E-Mac Travel Center, a local gas station. I would be working in the deli, preparing sub sandwiches, pizzas and other fast food.
The first couple weeks weren’t too bad. Most of the time, I worked alongside my supervisor so that I could get a feel for how everything worked. I learned how to make pizzas and sandwiches first. All of the crusts were frozen and had to thawed the night before to be prepared that day. They would stay in the fridge until we would get a call for a pizza order. We would then take the crusts and apply the sauce, cheese, and any other toppings that the costomer ordered. The pizza had to be set on a slow moving rack that would go through an oven for 15 minutes. After a couple day shifts, she had me come in to work the morning shift with her. During that shift, I had to make a lot of food to last throughout the day: doughnuts, cookies, breakfast sandwiches, cold sandwiches, etc. Soon after, I was able to work the shifts by myself. It was good to finally be put in control of the floor. The first couple weeks went really well.
I was a much bigger fan of working the morning shift than the afternoon or evening shift because I was already an early riser and it felt good to be done working a shift and still have the afternoon and evening to do other things. When you work in the afternoon and evening, it’s really hard to motivate yourself to do anything else. The morning shift always had a pretty steady flow of the same group of farmers and truck drivers coming in to get their morning coffee and doughnuts. Another part about working mornings that I enjoyed was the co-owner, Ryan, who worked the register. We would always pull pranks on each other and joke around. One morning we opened together at 5 a.m. when he got me really good. Ryan had told me of the hotel that used to located where the gas station stands, and the hotel had always been rumored to being haunted. During the morning shift, I was in the back of the kitchen stocking the shelves and I heard what sounded like deep breathing and moaning. Since I am easily spooked, I automatically thought it was one of the spirits. I told Ryan about it and he said he didn’t hear anything. I went back to work and soon started to hear it again. This time, however, I saw out of the corner of my eye Ryan speaking into the intercom. He still never lets me forget that.
However, my feelings toward the job soon changed. Every now and then, I would have to deal with some of the nastiest costumers. Some people would be short with me and treat me with no respect. So many times I would be on the phone taking an order and would want to say , “You know what? I’m doing you a favor by making your supper for you! The least you can do is to show me a little bit of respect!” There’s one night that really stands out for me. I answered the phone for a pick up order. The man on the other end was on his cell phone and was cutting in and out really badly, so it was really hard to catch what he was saying. He finally just exploded, “Hey, take the *explicit* out of your ears and listen! How hard is it to take an order for a couple pizzas?” I’ll tell you this much, I gained a much deeper respect for those people who have to deal with that kind of behavior everyday. I just can’t understand what motivates someone to talk to a complete stranger like that.
Another part of the job that really stunk was the cut in pay. When I worked at the nursing home, I was making $10.50 an hour. However, when I started at the gas station, my pay got reduced down to under $7 an hour. To tell you the truth, I felt like I did a whole lot more work at the gas station than at the nursing home. I actually felt like I was making my money’s worth at the nursing home. I think this was mostly due to the fact that one of the biggest parts of being a nurses aid is being a friend to the residents. Residents are usually so open to talking to you, and I get a much bigger instrinsic reward from helping them.
Overall, I really didn’t enjoy working at the gas station. I felt like I was getting paid very little for a lot more work. I am thankful that I had that job, because it helped me discover what I really liked and what I didn’t like about a job.
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