At some point in someone's life, they have done their time on the fast food chain of life. I did my time for five years at Burger King. It was another part of my life in a whole other time, but I cannot even begin to tell you the adventures and life's lessons learned there. I have many friends I met through there. I even got some of my friends jobs there. Some of them I still talk to, some of them I don't.
I got the job at Burger King because I went to Toms River High School South...and for no other reason at all. The general manager that worked there at the time was called Cathy G. She saw my resume and said "You go to South? Good, I'm tired of these Central Regional kids." So there, the job I had been so desperately needing for three months my junior year of high school was finally mine.
Cathy G. was an intimidating woman. I worked with her for maybe three weeks...then she got hurt and they took the store right out from under her, sent her back to Manahawkin, then brought in Barry. (years later, Cathy G. was sent to our store as an Assistant manager. We were sitting having breakfast one slow morning. I could tell Cathy thought I was an efficient worker. She turned to me and said "You're good Jess, who hired you?" To which I replied "You. You hired me because I went to South." She laughed her ass off and said "Of course I did." After that, she never let anyone forget that anyone good in the company was hired by her.)
I remember when he first showed up bossing me around. I was like "who's this guy and why is he bossing me around." I knew the Regional manager, Mark. He was there the same day and I knew very early you didn't mess with Mark. My nickname for him was Mark the Shark. Eventually I wormed my way into his heart and he started being nice to me, but for like three years, I was terrified of him. Barry, however, I wasn't terrified of at first...I just gave him funny looks.
Barry must have seen some kind of potential in me because of instead of spending my lazy days at the Burger broiler, jumping to see if the burgers were broiling right (I couldn't see high enough into the broiler...you can stop laughing now...), he instantly moved me around the kitchen until eventually I was up front and in the drive thru. Barry's daughter also started there when he started so she got to learn everything with me...and if his daughter failed...I failed. Eventually this morphed into a thing if anything failed at Burger King in Bayville...even if I wasn't there, it was my fault...somehow...
Barry always kept me up front or in drive-thru...unless I was working mornings. If I worked mornings, Barry would put me in the back and Barry worked the front. Barry had a very specific reason for doing this. If you worked in the back, you had to do prep. Prep was slicing tomatoes, throwing lettuce into containers and prepping the fries for the day, stupid stuff like that. Barry couldn't do two things at once, much less one, so he left me to slice my fingers...I mean the tomatoes, on a slicer that couldn't slice ripe tomatoes, but they sure could slice my fingers...
Only a skeleton crew worked mornings. That's just enough people to get the food out before people got pissed off. Barry usually included himself in this skeleton crew. Then bythe afternoon, he'd have enough people to work all stations. So Barry would go do what he did best...lock himself in the office. Barry always had paperwork to do...he had to 'complete the truck order' or bun order for this week. This required him to sit and 'think' in his office for a long time. One time, he even got so sick of us bothering him in his office, he put up black construction paper over his office windows so we couldn't see in. The only thing that got him out of his office was a phone call or visit from his wife. I, in my very classy style, would say to him "It's your honey." And he'd emerge from his cave.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not hatin' on Barry. He was like a second father to me. We had this strange dynamic that worked. I knew how to keep his business running so he was happy and he gave me the hours to keep my bank account full. And while I didn't see it then, he always pushed me to be the best I could be, to reach that potential he saw. It was just really freakin annoying to be yelled at constantly...
Barry: "Why is drive thru backed up?"
Me: "I need food."
Barry: "Where is the food."
Me: "I'm waiting on it."
Barry: "Did you tell them back there you need to food?"
Me: "yes, and I'm still waiting on it."
Barry: "Well what the heck Jessica?"
Me: "well WTF Barry, what am I supposed to do?"
Barry: "You need to get the food to the customers..."
And you all get the picture...somehow, some way, I was supposed to remedy the situation with a magic wand, I was somehow supposed to have. Barry was one person in my life who really just forced me to, I don't know if it is problem solve or just plain deal with a situation. For lack of a better term, he taught me to "suck it up and do just do it, cause no one else was going to do it for you..."
Another story before I poke fun at Barry some more...I eventually worked my way up to Breakfast manager. Breakfast managers just open up the store and once another manager walks in the door, they are just another employee. Not that Barry treated me that way. But I get ahead of myself...Every Wednesday morning, the truck order came in. That's when all the inventory of burgers, fries and other food stuff is replenished. Barry on this day, really insisted on working up front, cause he really needed someone to prep, run the back, AND put the truck order away.
Now in case some of you reading this don't actually know me face to face: I'm four feet, ten inches tall and pretty tiny all around. I had to stack fries to like two feet beyond my height and throw cases of croissants on shelves two feet above my head. At first, I tried to get Barry to do the high stuff for me, such as shelve said croissants. One day...Barry took me into the freezer and pointed to the shelves in there. "You see this?", he said, "Think of this as your jungle gym." From then on, I didn't get one ounce of help from him. I did learn to climb steel shelves, while holding a big bulky box and somehow while laying on my back, facing the ceiling, place cases on the top shelf...don't ask me how I did it...I just did...
When I first started working at Burger King, they were trying to do table service. It was as if they were trying to make Burger King a legitimate restaurant. The program lasted a whole three months...maybe. I was not involved at all in this process...thank god...
Barry would have INSISTED on delivering the one delivery order we got in because he can't trust us 'young people and our driving'...FIVE HOURS LATER, he would have been back with Chinese food he picked up on the way back (sweet and sour chicken with white rice). The drive thru and dining room would be packed with cars and people by now. Barry would have barked at me for whatever chaos was going on because it's always my fault.
Barry: "What's going on here?"
Me: "We're a little busy right now."
Barry: "Well why can't you get the people out of here?"
Me: "Cause I'm working the front, Lori's working the drive thru, Ross is helping expedite (assemble orders), and everyone else is doing what they can in the back..."
Barry: Have you checked the bathrooms lately? (totally random and he's still not going into the back to help).
Me: Um no...been a little busy...
Barry: Well why didn't you go check the bathrooms? (Mind you this whole conversations is going on while I'm taking orders)...
Me: Why don't you go ask Ross these questions...he's the manager on duty.
Barry: I'm not asking Ross, I'm asking you (cause again, he'd rather blame me, than go after 6'4" Ross...)
By then, I would manage to take my last order...then leaving Ross to fill the orders, I would stomp out to the dining room, clean it, refill the coffee machines, check/clean the bathrooms, and then collect dirty trays. By now, people are lining up up front and Barry would be *gasp* taking orders. So I have to rush back in and take over before he has to work anymore. Barry then would go retire to his office to eat the lunch he brought back with him. Things would eventually calm down. Barry wouldn't emerge for another three hours. He'd of course call me before I need to clock out to lecture me on how I need to run a store...I'd go home...exhausted....
Love ya Barry...wherever you are...but anyone that worked with me at BK knows this is true...
I give the delivery program three months...tops...
