Damn it, I'm sorry you guys, I lied again. I said there were gonna be more updates but that obviously didn't work out.
Well as of now, my Chipotle career is dead (for now), but it'll be back up and running when I'm working part time in week. I think I'll be cashiering since it seems like it's a trouble spot for them. I'm a sort of utility player (yeah I know, sports geek), and I can do almost everything, besides the grill (although I would like to learn that someday too).
But yeah, I'm in college, it was my 3rd day today, and so far so good. Good as in all my classes but calc...It's been over 2 years, so I'm a little bit more then what you would call rusty.
Hope to get working again though, even if I'm working only about 10 hours a week, hopefully it won't be too painful to get back on the bike. Rusty...just like my calc :)
-Don
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Super Ultra Mega Update
Ok, so it's definitely been a while since I've given you guys a update. Here's what's happened so far:
-An employee almost got fired because of a incident with a manager. Apparently it sparked discussion on what responsibility is for a manager and for an employee. Which is great since some managers apparently think that since they are a manager, they can just slack off, not anymore. Thank goodness.
-I finally got closing and cleaning up down. I can do it in an hour, which was nearly impossible before.
-It was my last day at the Golden Valley location yesterday. I am transferring to the Mankato location since I am going off to college.
It's strange, it feels as if a part of me went away when I clocked out for my last shift. After I got my tip, and left the patio, it just felt strange. I can't really explain the feeling but it made me feeling empty. I spent a couple of months here, and I sure got attached to it. Funny how a few months for hours on end in a place can get you so attached to the environment and people. I'll still visit, and I'll probably still go back there next summer, but my Store Manager who hired me is leaving. He was promoted a few months ago, and quickly got promoted again, to an Area Manager, which oversees ten Chipotle stores; and he's going to North Carolina to help open ten.
You see, Peter and I first when I went to Chipotle and it was his very first night as a low-ranking manager a few years ago. I remember he was working hard and greeted us kindly, and sometime around then, I remember joking with my friends and family that I'll someday work there. Peter made all that possible. I was desperately in need for a summer job, and places like McDonald's wouldn't even return my calls, so I went to Chipotle. I knew my chances were slim, knowing my competition was tough, competing with Mexicans who probably felt it was a right to work there. But I got hired, on the spot. No interview necessary. Peter gave me a chance to prove myself, and hopefully I did do that. I was fresh, and so were the other guys, but I hope I did meet his expectations of me.
So what started as a summer job with an old friend turned into a life experience. I have learned and experienced so many things in the past few months, either technical things, or things I learn about people. Like how people are probably more dirtier then pigs, or farm animals in general. It's ironic that people always look down upon animals, and how we look down on them; I see it the other way around. Some of these people just are plain dirty. They drop food everywhere, pee all over the toilet seat, it's no wonder that not only me, but many other people share the opinion as me.
That's it for now. I'll have a lot more time from now on, so I'll definitely post more often. Toodles.
-An employee almost got fired because of a incident with a manager. Apparently it sparked discussion on what responsibility is for a manager and for an employee. Which is great since some managers apparently think that since they are a manager, they can just slack off, not anymore. Thank goodness.
-I finally got closing and cleaning up down. I can do it in an hour, which was nearly impossible before.
-It was my last day at the Golden Valley location yesterday. I am transferring to the Mankato location since I am going off to college.
It's strange, it feels as if a part of me went away when I clocked out for my last shift. After I got my tip, and left the patio, it just felt strange. I can't really explain the feeling but it made me feeling empty. I spent a couple of months here, and I sure got attached to it. Funny how a few months for hours on end in a place can get you so attached to the environment and people. I'll still visit, and I'll probably still go back there next summer, but my Store Manager who hired me is leaving. He was promoted a few months ago, and quickly got promoted again, to an Area Manager, which oversees ten Chipotle stores; and he's going to North Carolina to help open ten.
You see, Peter and I first when I went to Chipotle and it was his very first night as a low-ranking manager a few years ago. I remember he was working hard and greeted us kindly, and sometime around then, I remember joking with my friends and family that I'll someday work there. Peter made all that possible. I was desperately in need for a summer job, and places like McDonald's wouldn't even return my calls, so I went to Chipotle. I knew my chances were slim, knowing my competition was tough, competing with Mexicans who probably felt it was a right to work there. But I got hired, on the spot. No interview necessary. Peter gave me a chance to prove myself, and hopefully I did do that. I was fresh, and so were the other guys, but I hope I did meet his expectations of me.
So what started as a summer job with an old friend turned into a life experience. I have learned and experienced so many things in the past few months, either technical things, or things I learn about people. Like how people are probably more dirtier then pigs, or farm animals in general. It's ironic that people always look down upon animals, and how we look down on them; I see it the other way around. Some of these people just are plain dirty. They drop food everywhere, pee all over the toilet seat, it's no wonder that not only me, but many other people share the opinion as me.
That's it for now. I'll have a lot more time from now on, so I'll definitely post more often. Toodles.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
A few pointers for the first time customers
Hello Chipotle fanatics, come one, come all. For I will enlighten you a little bit of what makes a Chipotle Linemen tick (and tick off especially). So the next time you order you won't obliviously piss a Linemen off. Here's a few pointers (bound to have more and more in the future):
-When you order a burrito, make sure you order what you say. Nothing is worse then ordering a Chicken Fajita but asking for black beans. Honestly people.
-Order things in the line in the fashion you see them. It's lined up rice first, meat second, and so on for a purpose. It's not meant to jump back and forth. I know sometimes people forget, but I've seen multiple offenders doing this on a occasion. Don't order everything then ask for extra rice on the end of the line. It's a pain, it truly is. This is probably a top 3 in things that would drive a Linemen to a shooting spree. Especially in heated, busy rush situations; it's like the whole Visa commercial (I think it was Visa), everyone's paying Visa and one guy pays cash and disrupts the entire flow of the line. Yeah, it's that bad.
-When the cashier asks "what kind of burrito is this?" Don't blow him off (like don't ignore him) or don't say something like "fajita burrito." Chances are he's asking because he needs to know which meat to charge you with, not because he's creepy and wants to know what your going to eat.
-Please please please don't call the sour cream "white sauce" or "white salsa." We'll ask people "sour cream or cheese?" And people will STILL respond with "white sauce please." It's not really a big deal, but it's more of a thing for you customers. It creates a very awkward moment and laughter is usually held in till the customer leaves and is released with huge amounts of giggling and poking fun at the customer. That's if your lucky. If we feel like being mean we'll tease you up front ;)
-Learn to have fun ordering. Don't be a pissy little baby just cause your having a crappy day, taking it out on Chipotle Linemen isn't the answer, chances are we'll be pissy right back at you (as bad as that is...).
That's all I got for now, I'll probably post a 'second edition' later when I get around to it.
-When you order a burrito, make sure you order what you say. Nothing is worse then ordering a Chicken Fajita but asking for black beans. Honestly people.
-Order things in the line in the fashion you see them. It's lined up rice first, meat second, and so on for a purpose. It's not meant to jump back and forth. I know sometimes people forget, but I've seen multiple offenders doing this on a occasion. Don't order everything then ask for extra rice on the end of the line. It's a pain, it truly is. This is probably a top 3 in things that would drive a Linemen to a shooting spree. Especially in heated, busy rush situations; it's like the whole Visa commercial (I think it was Visa), everyone's paying Visa and one guy pays cash and disrupts the entire flow of the line. Yeah, it's that bad.
-When the cashier asks "what kind of burrito is this?" Don't blow him off (like don't ignore him) or don't say something like "fajita burrito." Chances are he's asking because he needs to know which meat to charge you with, not because he's creepy and wants to know what your going to eat.
-Please please please don't call the sour cream "white sauce" or "white salsa." We'll ask people "sour cream or cheese?" And people will STILL respond with "white sauce please." It's not really a big deal, but it's more of a thing for you customers. It creates a very awkward moment and laughter is usually held in till the customer leaves and is released with huge amounts of giggling and poking fun at the customer. That's if your lucky. If we feel like being mean we'll tease you up front ;)
-Learn to have fun ordering. Don't be a pissy little baby just cause your having a crappy day, taking it out on Chipotle Linemen isn't the answer, chances are we'll be pissy right back at you (as bad as that is...).
That's all I got for now, I'll probably post a 'second edition' later when I get around to it.
Living the Dream
Well, y'all are probably wondering what I've been up to, I'm sorry but I've been busy as heck. After that one ranting post I felt like not blogging ever again, but I decided against that.
From now on, no more ranting. I think it'll just be healthier for me if I keep that stuff bottled up ;)
Anyways, I've pretty much been working. Although not working line, I've been working tons of cashier. I can probably do that stuff with my eyes closed. Amazing huh? Not really. Especially since if you do something for about 6 hours straight for about 5 days on end, it's usually sad if you can't get that down.
Yep, so I'm serving customers, both angry and polite.
And by angry I mean the ones who ask "I'll have a margarita..." and I'll respond with "sorry sir, we're not serving those right now." Then he'll come back at me with "Why the hell do you have a sign up for margaritas if you don't have any?!?!" Of course I become the target and victim in this whole conversation, and frankly, it's out of my control. Why don't we have margaritas? Because no one is trained to make them. It's that simple.
So yeah, moving on.
Wisdom teeth wounds are healing, and life has been great. Just got a big, fat paycheck even after taking some time off.
Ya know, it's good to know that you earned every penny of that check, it's an awesome feeling, because you simply just earned it.
I work tomorrow, kind of looking forward to it, kind of not. There's always the perks :)
(And by the way, it's been a whole summer and I'm still single! What the hell!)
From now on, no more ranting. I think it'll just be healthier for me if I keep that stuff bottled up ;)
Anyways, I've pretty much been working. Although not working line, I've been working tons of cashier. I can probably do that stuff with my eyes closed. Amazing huh? Not really. Especially since if you do something for about 6 hours straight for about 5 days on end, it's usually sad if you can't get that down.
Yep, so I'm serving customers, both angry and polite.
And by angry I mean the ones who ask "I'll have a margarita..." and I'll respond with "sorry sir, we're not serving those right now." Then he'll come back at me with "Why the hell do you have a sign up for margaritas if you don't have any?!?!" Of course I become the target and victim in this whole conversation, and frankly, it's out of my control. Why don't we have margaritas? Because no one is trained to make them. It's that simple.
So yeah, moving on.
Wisdom teeth wounds are healing, and life has been great. Just got a big, fat paycheck even after taking some time off.
Ya know, it's good to know that you earned every penny of that check, it's an awesome feeling, because you simply just earned it.
I work tomorrow, kind of looking forward to it, kind of not. There's always the perks :)
(And by the way, it's been a whole summer and I'm still single! What the hell!)
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Chipotle Interview Part Uno
Chipotle enthusiast Greg from over at the chipotlog.com blog (www.chipotlog.com) has requested to do an email interview, I agreed and you can see the results of that here:
Chipotlog interview part one
Hola over at Greg over at Chipotlog! :)
***Updated, fixed the link, for some reason it didn't post correctly. Let me know if the problem persists.
Chipotlog interview part one
Hola over at Greg over at Chipotlog! :)
***Updated, fixed the link, for some reason it didn't post correctly. Let me know if the problem persists.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Excuse my lazieness
First off, sorry for not posting. Well, actually, maybe I'm not so sorry. Not that many people probably read this anyways, so...I guess I'm apologizing to no one?
Anyways, moving on. Quick update:
Work is going good, all 4 wisdom teeth is getting pulled this Monday, so that's fun. Work is of course the same ol' bullsh*t. I work as hard as possible, but of course others don't think so. For some reason, they think I just lolly-gag around and just don't try, when I probably try the hardest. They have this view on me as me being lazy and probably stuck up. No idea where the hell that came from.
I give my 110% and I get sh*t back for it. Honestly, give me SOME credit.
Not only that, working at Chipotle probably would give some of you the thought that things will be equal since theres more diversity but that's not even the case. Of course, like my 19 years of living, I'm the odd man out. That's how it's always been. I'm Asian, so what does that mean? No matter where I am, race will ALWAYS play a role. Don't give me that crap speech saying America is equal no matter what sex, ethnicity, or sexuality, because that's a hunk of sh*t. Race DOES play a role in everything, believe it or not, don't like it? Then get out. I don't like it either, but it's something that's got to be accepted, whether I like it or not.
Theres 3 people on the line, 2 Mexicans and me, and a Manager comes in, and looks at all 3 of us, scans us, and chooses ME and tells ME to go clean tables, the patio, and the windows. Why the hell me? This isn't the first time, trust me. I basically will go do whatever the hell you tell me to do, so I don't complain. However, I DO complain if you tell me to do everything over a guy who's standing next to me. They'll leave other Mexican workers alone when they are drinking soda or just standing around, but not me. The instant I stop moving I get bombarded with crap from veterans. Apparently not only in Chipotle or work places, but theres a mentality here in America that people ALWAYS NEED TO BE DOING SOMETHING. This happened during my time in Army ROTC so it's not something I just saw from one perspective. Not only getting picked for cleaning jobs, I always get a hard time from some of the Mexican workers. Nothing physically harsh, it's just mental stuff that break you down. Stuff like "clean up that mess on the line," when I just did...and it was ANOTHER WORKER'S fault. Stuff like that and "Don move faster, you move too slow, you gotta work harder, your not even working that hard." Honestly, I got one thing to say:
F*ck off.
I tried keeping this blog clean and appropriate for all readers, but you know what, I got to vent. Sorry if this offends some of you, but it pisses me off that Mexican workers will band with each other and basically talk smack about the non-Mexican workers. I tried ignoring this, but it's frustrating.
I'm not gonna be a snitch and snitch on them though. It's just no use. Racism in ANY form will always be around. Doesn't matter what anyone says or does, it's always gonna be here, like I said, whether I like it or not.
Well, I don't even know why I bother posting on this blog, no one reads it. I have only 10 views, and no one seems to give a damn. Whatever, people can go die for all I care.
Anyways, moving on. Quick update:
Work is going good, all 4 wisdom teeth is getting pulled this Monday, so that's fun. Work is of course the same ol' bullsh*t. I work as hard as possible, but of course others don't think so. For some reason, they think I just lolly-gag around and just don't try, when I probably try the hardest. They have this view on me as me being lazy and probably stuck up. No idea where the hell that came from.
I give my 110% and I get sh*t back for it. Honestly, give me SOME credit.
Not only that, working at Chipotle probably would give some of you the thought that things will be equal since theres more diversity but that's not even the case. Of course, like my 19 years of living, I'm the odd man out. That's how it's always been. I'm Asian, so what does that mean? No matter where I am, race will ALWAYS play a role. Don't give me that crap speech saying America is equal no matter what sex, ethnicity, or sexuality, because that's a hunk of sh*t. Race DOES play a role in everything, believe it or not, don't like it? Then get out. I don't like it either, but it's something that's got to be accepted, whether I like it or not.
Theres 3 people on the line, 2 Mexicans and me, and a Manager comes in, and looks at all 3 of us, scans us, and chooses ME and tells ME to go clean tables, the patio, and the windows. Why the hell me? This isn't the first time, trust me. I basically will go do whatever the hell you tell me to do, so I don't complain. However, I DO complain if you tell me to do everything over a guy who's standing next to me. They'll leave other Mexican workers alone when they are drinking soda or just standing around, but not me. The instant I stop moving I get bombarded with crap from veterans. Apparently not only in Chipotle or work places, but theres a mentality here in America that people ALWAYS NEED TO BE DOING SOMETHING. This happened during my time in Army ROTC so it's not something I just saw from one perspective. Not only getting picked for cleaning jobs, I always get a hard time from some of the Mexican workers. Nothing physically harsh, it's just mental stuff that break you down. Stuff like "clean up that mess on the line," when I just did...and it was ANOTHER WORKER'S fault. Stuff like that and "Don move faster, you move too slow, you gotta work harder, your not even working that hard." Honestly, I got one thing to say:
F*ck off.
I tried keeping this blog clean and appropriate for all readers, but you know what, I got to vent. Sorry if this offends some of you, but it pisses me off that Mexican workers will band with each other and basically talk smack about the non-Mexican workers. I tried ignoring this, but it's frustrating.
I'm not gonna be a snitch and snitch on them though. It's just no use. Racism in ANY form will always be around. Doesn't matter what anyone says or does, it's always gonna be here, like I said, whether I like it or not.
Well, I don't even know why I bother posting on this blog, no one reads it. I have only 10 views, and no one seems to give a damn. Whatever, people can go die for all I care.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Happy 4th!
Happy Independence Day everyone! Yes, we Chipotle employees DO rest, I know, sorry to shatter your world :P
Well, I'm definitely taking advantage of this day off (although Weds. is my off day originally, so I lose a day of rest technically), and it's great to finally just get away from it all.
The week so far, of the reduced crew, and less managers around, is definitely a new feeling, but it's strange to say, but it feels a lot smoother. Less people means faster clean up at the end of the day since there are less people clogged in the back.
Speaking of the back room, a hilarious phenomenon happens there after-hours. Usually the music being playing in the front dining room and in the back room differs greatly. For example, they'll have latin-oriented "family" oriented music, but in the back room it's all latin hip-hop mixed with some American hip-hop, and add that with goofy workers and you got yourself a nightclub. Yes, I just did say that after-hours the Chipotle back room is a make shift nightclub. When a song with a good beat comes on, people just drop everything and start dancing for a couple of seconds and then go back to whatever they were doing. It's hilarious to witness, but more hilarious to be a part of, especially when your just trying to get through and it happens when your in the thick of it.
Anyways, I've been working straight since last Tues, so it's great to get a break, but it's weird because I'm almost missing the place...and it hasn't even been a day yet.
Well, toodles from here I guess ;)
-Don
Well, I'm definitely taking advantage of this day off (although Weds. is my off day originally, so I lose a day of rest technically), and it's great to finally just get away from it all.
The week so far, of the reduced crew, and less managers around, is definitely a new feeling, but it's strange to say, but it feels a lot smoother. Less people means faster clean up at the end of the day since there are less people clogged in the back.
Speaking of the back room, a hilarious phenomenon happens there after-hours. Usually the music being playing in the front dining room and in the back room differs greatly. For example, they'll have latin-oriented "family" oriented music, but in the back room it's all latin hip-hop mixed with some American hip-hop, and add that with goofy workers and you got yourself a nightclub. Yes, I just did say that after-hours the Chipotle back room is a make shift nightclub. When a song with a good beat comes on, people just drop everything and start dancing for a couple of seconds and then go back to whatever they were doing. It's hilarious to witness, but more hilarious to be a part of, especially when your just trying to get through and it happens when your in the thick of it.
Anyways, I've been working straight since last Tues, so it's great to get a break, but it's weird because I'm almost missing the place...and it hasn't even been a day yet.
Well, toodles from here I guess ;)
-Don
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