March 5, 2006
Mind Your Own Burger
I am finally productive and earning! After 3 months of painstaking job hunt, I was offered a position at a nearby Jack in the Box. I’m almost three weeks in it already and am finding it suspenseful, knowing how harsh some customers could really get.
Anyway, it’s maddening how comfort-oriented some Americans are. Every meal we prepare is tailored to their whims. They always have a say on how their burgers would end up---well done, no onions, no mayo, no pickles, no tomato, plain bread…I even took an order of a cheeseburger without the bread! Sometimes I wonder why they need to bother us so much when they could take the ingredients out themselves. I mean, it wouldn’t hurt them to dissect their burgers on their own. Or to take out the pickles or scoop out the mayo. But still they won’t do it. We have to do it for them, which is annoying because it’s adding to our already pressure-cooker job. Tsk tsk.
Anyway, it’s maddening how comfort-oriented some Americans are. Every meal we prepare is tailored to their whims. They always have a say on how their burgers would end up---well done, no onions, no mayo, no pickles, no tomato, plain bread…I even took an order of a cheeseburger without the bread! Sometimes I wonder why they need to bother us so much when they could take the ingredients out themselves. I mean, it wouldn’t hurt them to dissect their burgers on their own. Or to take out the pickles or scoop out the mayo. But still they won’t do it. We have to do it for them, which is annoying because it’s adding to our already pressure-cooker job. Tsk tsk.
The Language Barrier
When we first moved into this country, I never thought that language would be a problem for me, fairly because I believe my English is quite okay. But now that I’ve started working, language is one of my greatest struggles. The Spanish language to be precise.
I was never aware of it, but California is indeed a hotspot of Mexicans and other tongues of that sort. Therefore in my workplace, I am the only non-Spanish speaking species. My current dilemma: communicating with them has become an extra challenge for me. Everyday I go to work armed with only a handful of Spanish words that I know---si, no, gracias, and hola so most of the time we act pantomime, like charades without the scoreboard. It’s awful. What should have taken me a few seconds to say, I spend five minutes acting out and it’s driving my workmates crazy.
Imagine yourself in my situation, how would you tell somebody through action that you needed a refill for the coke tank? Or that the fries are already soggy? Do you wiggle your body or draw figures in the air? How? This is way too complex than I thought!
Time to digress. Here's a picture which my brother took of Mai-Mai in her Hershey's Kisses pose. I love it!
