K-Tomatoes
I showed up at K-Tomatoes, right across the street from the Holiday Inn. It was my first day. I'd applied the day before and I'd been interviewed and hired on the spot. Frank the owner didn't like calling the references and checking the arrest record, he'd let anyone have a shot. You had to work one day and if Frank liked you, you got paid for it and you had a job. If things didn't work so well you'd go your way and he'd stay right there, at the place where you didn't work.
I had friends that had worked for him in the past and I thought this policy was bullshit, mostly the not getting paid for your first day if this guy decided you weren't a fit. Now I was so sick of the jop search process that it now seemed a delightful way to do things. I put on my apron got my training and quickly became aware that I was working for a sinking business. I tried to keep busy despite the almost complete lack of customers. I suggested to the boss that he make flyers and when things were slow I could at least stand out front and try to drum up business. He didn't take me on my offer, but we got along well enough. He liked that I kept busy. I would be back the next day.
I was being paid despite the boredom, but there was no wage high enough to cover that. I couldn't do it anymore. I was working nights at Friends of The River and I had no rent to pay so I could afford to put an end to the monotony of doing nothing. About three hours into day two and I told Frank I'd couldn't work for him anymore. I told him not to worry about paying me, the free coffee was great. It made me a little sad as Frank new what I was saying. I had not interest in going down with his ship and it was going down. I hate seeing bussinesses fail. I know that a business is, in most cases, somebodies great idea, their creative spark, and their way out of the goddamn rat race that I was re-entering now.
I made friends with a man who made the best damn chinese food in town in a crummy location. A month after his place went under he was bussing my table at Denny's. What a bunch of shit. A man with so much talent wiping tables at a place that manages to ruin even french fries and onion rings. I mean, how the hell do you screw up french fries?
>>>>Go to next story, Friends of the River revisited >>>>
I had friends that had worked for him in the past and I thought this policy was bullshit, mostly the not getting paid for your first day if this guy decided you weren't a fit. Now I was so sick of the jop search process that it now seemed a delightful way to do things. I put on my apron got my training and quickly became aware that I was working for a sinking business. I tried to keep busy despite the almost complete lack of customers. I suggested to the boss that he make flyers and when things were slow I could at least stand out front and try to drum up business. He didn't take me on my offer, but we got along well enough. He liked that I kept busy. I would be back the next day.
I was being paid despite the boredom, but there was no wage high enough to cover that. I couldn't do it anymore. I was working nights at Friends of The River and I had no rent to pay so I could afford to put an end to the monotony of doing nothing. About three hours into day two and I told Frank I'd couldn't work for him anymore. I told him not to worry about paying me, the free coffee was great. It made me a little sad as Frank new what I was saying. I had not interest in going down with his ship and it was going down. I hate seeing bussinesses fail. I know that a business is, in most cases, somebodies great idea, their creative spark, and their way out of the goddamn rat race that I was re-entering now.
I made friends with a man who made the best damn chinese food in town in a crummy location. A month after his place went under he was bussing my table at Denny's. What a bunch of shit. A man with so much talent wiping tables at a place that manages to ruin even french fries and onion rings. I mean, how the hell do you screw up french fries?
>>>>Go to next story, Friends of the River revisited >>>>
7 Comments:
At 11:45 AM, Mandy said…
You were bored after only a couple of hours the second day? Man, I've had jobs that were boring for weeks on end. I always told myself it was better than being too busy. Besides, boring times are times to invent games: I've practiced lassoing bottles of ketchup with wet kitchen towels, challenged my coworkers to an ice fling using ice scoops to see what we could hit, melted various objects, raced vibrating phones, danced, taken slushie machines apart, practiced layering shots...whathaveyou.
At 11:48 AM, Keith Lowell Jensen said…
Too bad they didn't have the internet back then, I'd have spent all my bored time writing about my previous jobs. :)
At 7:45 PM, Mandy said…
Yeah, now you know how I spend time at my current job when bored.
At 7:04 PM, Mammoth Films said…
How long after leaving K Tomatoes did it go under? Did it go under? Has Frank been successful in another business venture (or have I not read far enough)?
At 7:55 PM, Keith Lowell Jensen said…
It's been awhile, but as far as I can reccollect it only last a few more months. I never heard from Frank (not his real name) again.
At 11:24 PM, WNW said…
"If things didn't work so well you'd go your way and he'd stay right there, at the place where you didn't work."
That line is hilarious.
What was K-Tomatoes? Maybe I missed a line. Was it a bakery?
As for being bored at work. I've been bored at my job for a long time. I make my day better by reading your blog.
At 8:20 AM, Keith Lowell Jensen said…
It was a sort of sandwich shop cafe kind of deal with coffee drinks, soup, sandwiches, salads and some baked goods.
Let me say again how tickled I am that people are reading this at work. I am doing my part to decrease worker productivity. Yay!
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