#serviceindustry

Shift Manager Energy 🦁😤

POV: You just clocked in and someone tries to test your patience with that "customer is always right" nonsense. Absolutely not today. We are matching energies and keeping it real. Sometimes the best customer service is just standing your ground with a confused lion expression. If you've ever worked a retail or food service shift, you know this exact feeling in your soul. It’s not just a job; it’s a daily battle of wills. Stay strong out there, soldiers of the service industry. 🍟🚫

Stop tipping. Not because people should “get a better job,” but because tipping culture has taken over everything. It keeps workers quiet instead of pushing for real wages.

When I worked at Buffalo Wild Wings, I tried to unionize. Nobody cared. they were making $300 a night and didn’t want to risk it. Tips made them complacent.

Stop feeding a system that keeps workers from fighting back. It has to get worse before it gets better.

Do You Want Fries with That a Service Industry Android Among the most common androids ever made were the fast food variants, many of whom had skin pigmentation in the logo colors of the company that purchased them, although their plastic skin is usually incomplete and most exhibit purposely visible joint seams, servo motor and access panels. Many were made without legs, and instead moved about the front counter at a burger joint or pizza house on a track. They are almost always built to look like teenagers and have the same mannerisms and vocal range of humans aged 14 to 19. Some, 1 in 20, were built in the likeness of a fast-food joint’s mascot, animal character, clown or other corporate persona — which while comical looking, these brightly colored, funny talking and oddly shaped individual units rarely survive long in the brutal post-apocalyptic world of the Mutant Epoch. Hand drawn ink art from page 32, and text from page 36 of The Mutant Epoch RPG Expansion Rules book

Comics you want?

Comics I got!

SERVICE INDUSTRY $10

NOT A PLACE TO VISIT $12

SEA OF TIME $7

3 BAK BOOK BATCH $27

All orders include a copy of the new REMOTE VIEWER mini-comic!

My high school P.E. coach used to tell me that I’d be lucky to get a job flipping burgers.

I’ll start this post off with one simple question:

What’s so wrong with flipping burgers?

For me a burger is sacred. I rarely eat them so when I do it’s one of these special occasions:

“Fuck I’m sad, I’m going to eat a burger.”

“Fuck I’m happy, I’m going to eat a burger.”

“Fuck I’m drunk, I’m going to eat a burger.”

“I’m going to get a salad. Fuck I accidentally ordered a burger.”

Alright so maybe I eat burgers more than I care to admit. The amount of beef and cheese I consume in a week isn’t something that I usually like to brag about. I didn’t mean for this post to be all about my love affair with burgers but once I start talking about them, it’s hard to think about anything else. So let’s get back to the main topic topic which is the pariah we’ve built around service industry jobs (I’ll probably circle back to talking about burgers at some point).

Working in the service industry I’m always met with the same line of questioning.“Ugh, how awful is that? Is it your full time job? What else do you do?.” Although I’ve talked openly about my dislike for working in restaurants, it’s unfair to assume that everyone who works in that environment is unhappy or in a transitional period of their lives.

The service industry is nothing to be ashamed of. Far from it. It’s an actual career that people go to school for, make it their livelihood, and use the money to buy houses and insert themselves into the wheel of society. I feel like too many people look at a fast food employee or a waiter and think “What has gone wrong in that person's life to lead them to this point?” We shouldn’t be questioning why they’re there, but should be grateful for the fact that we have someone serving us our food and putting up with our bullshit. And guess what? Some people like those jobs, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. In a society that built around making money we sure do tend to get shitty towards people trying to make money. 

One mentality that I’ve recently adapted is getting rid of a good portion of my shame. Not all of it though, I keep a little shame on reserve just in case I decide to eat a large bag of Cheetos by myself after my wife has gone to bed.

A new practice I have is not letting people’s judgement get in the way of how I dictate my own life. When people ask what I do for money I now unashamedly admit that I drive for Postmates. I had a friend inquire “I thought you were a writer” to which I responded “I am, but how many writers do you know make money from it?” That shut them up. It baffles people even further to find out that I quit my well paid job during a pandemic to work for Postmates. Again, there’s that judgement around working a job that most view as beneath them. I had normal hours, normal paycheck, everything was as close to normal as it could be during a global crisis. The reason why it didn’t work for me is because normality sits in my stomach like a shot of tequila. I crave the excitement of new projects and challenges. Also I was miserable and my twenty year old employees kept making me cry at work.   

If I’m being completely honest I love working for Postmates. I work 5 hours a day, take 4 hour breaks in between shifts to write, listen to tunes, cruise around, deliver burgers, make people happy. And the money’s not terrible. I make enough to pay rent and bills and have the proper amount of luxuries on the side. Is it what I want to do for the rest of my life? No. Am I proud of myself for getting out everyday and making money while I pursue a more satisfying career? Absolutely. 

So next time you’re in conversation with someone and they talk about their service industry job don’t make hasty decisions about their character and life choices.

Also don’t be a dick, vote for fifteen dollar minimum wages. The person taking your ridiculous coffee order deserves a livable wage.

Also also, I promised I’d circle back to talking about burgers so here are my top three favorite burger places in Portland:

Canard 

Ankeny Tap and Table