Stuff.

There are boocoos (as my momaw would say) of things swirling through my head, and rather than write a book, I'm going to do the minimalist thing and make a list. Hooray for laziness!

1. I've gotten back into drawing and painting and such. It's a pretty good stress reliever, plus it helps cover up holes on the walls in my room. Bonus! I've also tried to teach myself some new songs on piano, mostly Adele songs because, I mean, once you go Adele, you never go back.

2. I get a new phone in October, which is incredible news for those of you who have seen my phone. It has a will of it's own, calling and texting people in other states who I've never spoken to. Or better, texting people I know to inform them that they "probably have cancer." Oh, and calling the cops while I'm at work. Thanks for that, LG.

3. It's UNBELIEVABLY hot. The sun has taken some issue with Tennessee and is now trying to destroy it by drying out the ground in hopes the whole state will just spontaneously combust. Unfortunately, it's so humid here that the air replenishes the earth's water supply as quickly as it's evaporating. If only we were so lucky to spontaneously combust...

4. College classes are starting again in a couple weeks. That's not as thrilling as it sounds, and it didn't sound very thrilling to begin with. I loathe being confined to that campus all day, walking around in the beams of death falling from the sun or, in winter, having to ice skate to class. I managed to squeeze all the credit hours I needed into two days this semester with the occasional Monday lab. That's tolerable, right? Actually, "sufferable" is a better word.

5. Chick-fil-A is getting on my nerves. I know I should be thankful I have a job in these hard times, unemployment is skyrocketing, the apocalypse is nigh, etc. etc. It's kind of depressing when you make 1.2 billion chicken sandwiches in an hour and you look up and realize they've all been sold and you need more. Or better, when you get a complaint from a customer that the cores of her tomato slices "were not properly removed." Really? Bite me.

6. My friend, Maddy B, dropped off the face of the earth for a few months and has emerged a professional photographer! You want to click here and check out her stuff. You also want to subscribe, so you can get album after album of awe-inspiring photographed goodness right to your email. Do it.


Welp, that's all I got. If I left anything out, I'll add it later. Probably not actually.
   

Spicy.

I don't really feel like blogging, but this was kinda funny, so I'll share.

One of my friends at work, who I'm convinced is a nine-year-old trapped in a thirty-year-old's body, was headed out, so he made one last run through the kitchen to see that everything was in order.

As he left though, he grabbed a couple of our sandwich stickers that had fallen onto the counter, and instead of throwing them away, he proceeded to very cautiously place them on the back of our unsuspecting coworker's butt. One on each side.

The sticker looks like this...

Unfortunately, the victim felt him when he came back and tried to add a "2 for $3" to the mix. There's really nothing more hilarious than the inappropriate use of stickers.

   

Mother of the Year.

So, as much as I hate writing two blogs in a row about my job, it's happening.

Work is usually fast-paced around noon since that's when everyone is breaking for lunch, but occasionally, we get a few minutes of down time to clean up and restock. Today, we had one of those breaks and quickly took advantage of it, but our break was cut short by a very vocal customer.

You see, we have an overhead speaker that allows our kitchen crew to get a jump start on whatever is being ordered in the drive-thru. The speaker works exceptionally well. At times, it works too well. This was one of those times:

Drive-Thru Attendant:  "It's a great day at Chick-fil-A! How may I serve you?"

Vocal Customer:  (over the loud speaker) "Hi! Yes, I would like...WOULD YOU TWO SHUTUP?!?"

Attendant:  "Ma'am?"

Customer:  "I'm sorry. Yes, I would like two #3 combos and a #1 with no pickle."

Attendant:  "Alright, is there anything else I can get you?"

Customer:  "Um...I think we'll also get a...YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU'LL GET NOTHING!"

Attendant:  (stifling a laugh)

Customer:  "SIT YOUR BUTT DOWN!"


I didn't get the rest of the conversation. I was laughing too hard.

Eat Mor Chikin.

So, I got a job at Chick-fil-A. Hooray for employment! I think...

It's actually pretty hard work, definitely not for the faint of heart. I never imagined how much work could go into making chicken, but takes a great deal of manpower. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. It's, as my dad calls it, controlled chaos, which is awesome for a guy like me who's so OCD he wants to alphabetize the letters in OCD to read CDO. It keeps me on edge, but focused.

Not to mention, I have an amazing support system working with me every step of the way. I've made friends with almost all of the guys back in the kitchen with me. I've heard each of their stories, learned about their strengths and weaknesses, and even hung out with a couple of them. They're great guys, great people.

It's amazing how working with someone teaches you so much about who they are.

Granted, there's a couple people that I've run into that slowly detract from that brotherly, family-friendly image we're taught to uphold at Chick-fil-A. I'm sure I'd probably get fired for complaining about a coworker normally, but since no one I work with is very tech-savvy and since I don't get paid to care, I'm going to anyway.

For these first couple weeks, we've had trainers vicariously running the restaurant through us and take over when things got too rough. Every one of us "noobs" has shared a heated exchange with at least one of the trainers. Because, occasionally, one or two of their egos would swell to the size of a Goodyear blimp. But overall, we grew to appreciate their tough love. Of course, showing them up and pointing out whenever they screwed something up was just icing on the cake.

However, a few of my coworkers and I noticed a particular team member of ours was adapting all to well and even copying the trainers' style. Not the being amazing at everything part, just the pompous, profanity-inducing, order-barking part. Regardless of how long he'd been working at a station or whether he genuinely even had a clue as to what was going on, he felt it was necessary to give us his opinion of our work. Despite the fact that I assured him we were very, very disinterested in what he had to say, he has yet to accept the fact that he's no more skilled than the rest of us.

We tried tuning him out, but you see, the problem is that this particular coworker's mouth has the ability to project sounds at the decibel level of a bullhorn. Not only that, but when he gives an order, he insists it's completed immediately. If it's not, he repeats himself. Over and over and over again.

Several of my friends got a little hot under the collar and said a few things that would probably make Truett Cathy roll over in his grave. And I may have told him where I intended to shove the next fillet if he didn't shut his mouth...but nevertheless, we got through the day.

This, of course, shouldn't discourage you from coming to Chick-fil-A. The smackdown going on in the kitchen will not interrupt your wait times at all. Think of it as getting dinner AND a free show!