DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

By Greg Evans

I remember standing behind the counter of the cafe where I once worked for minimum wage, day after day, year after year taking orders making caffeine infused drinks both hot and cold, serving sandwiches and pastries and sharing small talk with whoever was in the mood for a little conversation before heading off to work. My favorite shift used to be the morning which we called the 1st shift. I would arrive about thirty minutes early and begin opening up, making the first couple pots of coffee of the day, putting the soup on and rotating the sandwiches and baking the different treats that required baking. I used to love the smell of the brewing coffee and I would have my usuals come in for their morning coffee and we'd share pleasantries and talk about the news or maybe a new book that was flying off the shelves. There would always be an eclectic montage of customers coming into the cafe. I worked in Chelsea section of Manhattan for a couple of years and there was never a shortage of interesting people. I used to wonder often what the people who came to the counter did for a living, how they lived their lives, what places they looked forward to visiting the next time a vacation rolled around. I wondered if they were in good marriages or if they had a significant other at all?

One thing you learn about working in a cafe is that you can't judge a person by their exterior image. It is often very difficult to pinpoint how a person will be in conversation solely by appearance. There were times when I would expect a person to act one way and they would completely surprise me and be completely the opposite.

The life of minimum wage is a tough one. You are constantly under financial strain, the hours are lousy, you work on holidays, often poor or no benefits, but I think everyone in their life should have to work the crappy minimum wage work because it builds character. You are forced to put yourself out there, take a beating day in and day out with not all that much to show for it and you have a lot riding on your shoulders because you are in the field. You represent the brand of the company and the customers are the real thing. How you treat the customers reflects on the company and I can tell you from personal experience that most of the people working in the minimum wage world don't care all that much about representing the company. They do what they have to do to get the work done so they don't have to listen to some boss bitching at them or worse finding a pink slip on their register, desk, frier or in their locker.

Some days are so bizarre you just feel like you fell down through the rabbit hole and into Wonderland. Even though most days are fairly routine and mundane, you have to look at every customer as a whole new unknown book that is yet to be read. They are full of stories and many are more than willing to share a couple. I once worked with a guy from Belfast, Ireland who claimed that he was a fugitive from the island and hiding out in New York working in a cafe to eek out a living. He said that when he was in Belfast he was involved with an underground organization who disagreed with the Protestants and what they stood for and he said that one night he a a couple of other guys blew up a Protestant building that was supposedly some kind of headquarters. The guy looked as if he would participate in such activities, chain smoked heavily and listened to punk rock music. If anyone complained about their drink he would spit into their drink and was fired not long after such an incident. Another co-corker would take gift cards and somehow put money onto them and then sell them to people in his neighborhood. The police actually arrested him at his building. It was an eye opener working in the minimum wage world and though life was harder during those years, I learned a great deal about business and human nature.