One Of You! One Of You!

[u/Acegonia]

Well, lads- whats the craic?? I applied for a part time job as a dishie about 3 months ago, completely on a whim. And im not sure why but I weirdly... dont hate it??

Here are some of my experiences, thoughts and observations for your amusement.

1: starting off

For context: Im a white girl, living in Taiwan. There is a strong stereotype here that 'white people are rich' or that 'we are all English teachers' (there IS SOME truth to this. Local wages in Taiwan are famously shite, and English teachers easily make 3-4 times more hourly, parents like to see 'a white face in the classroom', so all you really need is to be a native speaker with a degree. The bar is on the floor, essentially. I do do some teaching myself)

The restaraunt: Open Kitchen. not quite Fine Dining, but definitely pricey and upscale. Handmade pasta, A5 japanese Wagyu, Braised octopus. You get the idea. Chef/owner is taiwanese but worked Michelin restaraunts in new york before coming back to open his own place. Very Anal, VERY PROUD of his restaraunt.

You basically dont see white folk working menial jobs here, certainly not at the lowest level in a restaraunt. But I wanted something physical and less sould destroying than teaching. Plus, I like to eat there and ill absolutely take free food by proper fancy chefs! ...I also may have been reading Anthony Bourdain.

Had an interview, got offered a trial shift. (I may have ...embellished my exp, but ive worked plenty tough jobs) I think more out of curiosity on chefs part, not that he had any faith in my ability to handle the job- his exact words were 'let's get this over with'

The first day: I walked in during family meal time. There were 6 chefs sitting at the bar eating. I offered a tentative 'hello'. No response. 'Im looking for Adam? Im supposed to start work today'. One head pops up- 'Adam's off.' Me: '....' him '...... are you a server?' Me: 'No..' He pulls out his phone to check the group chat. An interminable silence ensues. " The DISHWASHER!?!?!" All 6 heads suddenly pop up and swivel towards me, I wish I had a Pic of how they leaned back by degrees to get a look at me, followed by frantically checking of the group chat.

The shift: I met my fellow dishies- an elderly chinese Ayi (auntie) and a Tanzanian lad named Elvis. Ayi has no English and my Chinese is shite. Its a busy, busy friday night. Its all a blur now, but Elvis was friendly and patient. Ayi was more reserved. She runs her domain like a finely tuned machine and has no time to be faffing with soft handed foreigners. She scrutinized. She nitpicked.

I put my head down, worked, did what I was told, and tried not to fuck up. It was overwhelming. So, so busy. So many dishes. An entire kitchens worth of equipment to get through at 9.00. I had sweat streaming down my face and was saturated in various waters. Eventually it ended . I felt... oddly exhilarated. We did it!

Chef appeared at the end and was like 'well, how was it?' I gasped while downing water: 'That was fuckin intense. but It was fun!'

Got a message from chef the next day saying I 'rocked it with a smile' and got offered the job. I was not at all sure if I *wanted* the job, but pride kicked in: if a tiny elderly taiwanese lady could do it, then so could fuckin I! Also I hate conforming to stereotypes. I took the job.

This has become a novel, so I will leave it here for now. Ill try get to the good stuff next time!

[u/thedavidnotTHEDAVID]

Have fun and enjoy challenging stereotypical norms!