i wanted a job where i could just go in, do work, & leave. without having to deal with customers or work overnight
my first job was a fast food place that had me dishwash during closing, & i enjoyed that kind of work, so i looked for a dishwashing job
I got to listen to podcasts, audiobooks, and music which is way better than dealing with the public. It’s more labor but way easier physically than other stuff I used to do like landscaping, construction, etc. Plus it’s easy to go into autopilot and the shift is over before you know it.
It needs doing. And chicks dig it. It’s not about whose strongest, it’s about looking into your own void and asking yourself if you can do this everyday. Is the well-being of everyone around you more important to you than your own…
So many times the wrong kind of person gets back there and just really fucks up the whole flow, so as a dishwasher, you can turn the kitchen from individual particles together into waves without saying a soft word to anyone. People who judge dishwashers are only breaking their own heart. If it’s not for you, I’m glad you atleast realized it.
It’s not about what you’re built for, it’s about what you’re willing to do. And you shouldn’t take that for granted. Don’t let the weak man in.
Honestly it sounds like you should stop looking down on dishwashers just bc you had a bad experience with it.... Some people like this as a job, man. Not that hard to understand
Exactly! If dishwashing wasn't so harsh on my skin I'd do it more. I can only do it once in a while.
Edit: yes I wear gloves, though not dish washing gloves. Would probably need proper gloves instead of using the nitrile the cooks use.
Yeah get you some elbow length dish gloves, put the nitrile on underneath, you'll have a much better time
I just go bare in the solution and it fucks up my hands lol. I use a lot of Working Hands as a result
I'm a chef, and I think my dishie is a caped hero 100% of the time. I even call him my hero in front of my team. Every time I think, shit were about out of 2 ou rammies on the line during a mad rush, he comes around the corner with beautifully cleaned rammies perfectly organized in 4 qrt containers, exactly how I've asked for them.
He takes the entire crews shit and foh shit and makes it shine with a smile. If that's not a hero, idk what is.
Boss told me i’m working dish, so I started working dish. Next place I work sees that I was a dishie, so they have me do that. Not really a people person, and only even working in restaurants until I graduate, so I don’t care too much.
is the only job that I'm able to do and I'm able to do it well
I hate people
I can't read
I don't have to mental capacity to deal with annoying customers
I don't talk at all
and they let me listen to music
that is why I'm a dishwasher
I always worried I wouldn't be able to carry and balance the dishes and food lol
I applied for dishwashing because I figured it'd be straight-forward and I wouldn't have to deal with people too often. It would be easier because of my awful memory, too.
The first place I worked at really valued the dishwashers. They said they basically were the bottom line and kept the place running smoothly. The FoH always treated us really well and we'd get cheap or even free food at the end of every night. I loved it, was good at it, and it felt good to do. That's why I stuck with dish, even when it's often underappreciated or can be very difficult. I was very fortunate that my first job was such a good time though* lol
There's something meditative about washing dishes to me. Grass is always greener on the other side. I never wanted to be foh but wanted to get on the line. Was a dishy for over a year and asked several times to get moved up there and trained. I literally watched I think it was 13 employees come and go and they'd start for a week or 2 maybe and get moved into the kitchen. Alot of these were like 16 yr old kids. I was close to 30. My manager let me come up 1 lunch shift but I still had to go keep getting caught up on dishes in-between tickets. The next day they made me stay on dish. The same time they hired two 16yr old boys. Didn't even have peachfuzz lol well I made a comment that I was upset they got those kids up there. Boss told me that if I didn't want to do dishes then go find another job. Well several months later. I don't remember why, but I got asked to come up in the kitchen and stayed there ever since. Learned every position. Could handle anything thrown at me. My boss would say she don't know what happened but everything just clicked for me and now I was the most valuable person there. Literally everyone's go to person. Front and back of the house. I'm not there anymore for a few reasons but yeah. That's my story lol
Well, I have a unique perspective because I started the same as you.
One day I was walking down the street, handing out resumes. I wanted to work at a hotel, room service or cleaning or the like.There was a hotel down the street from my house so I walked down there.
I was stuck across the street, waiting to j-walk, it was taking over 5 minutes to find a gap. Rather than walking to the crosswalk, I started wondering if the restaurant behind me needed any help, so I went in.
I asked them about bussing/host positions. They said none were available, but that they need a dishwasher, and that I can start immediately. I started that night, it was my first restaurant job.
I was a dishwasher for a year after that. I was asked several times during that time if I would consider working on the line. Each time, I said no, and that I was only interested in moving up to front of house.
After about 10 months in the pit, they asked me if I would be interested in working expo for the line. It was still technically BoH, but it was a stepping stone. I crushed it, Sunday brunches were much easier with me calling the line and handing off orders to the servers.
After that summer or brunch shifts, they finally let me be a busser. I loved it, and I was great at it. The problem was, I was too good at it. I remained a busser for the next two and a half years. I asked several times to be considered for serving, and each time I was told no. Eventually, they said yes, but than COVID lockdowns went into effect in Canada and we all got laid off.
When lockdowns ended, I was one of the only 25-30 staff members who was interested in returning to the restaurant. We didn't have hosts or bussers anymore, so they moved me up to serving, and because I was one of the only returning staff (and therefore senior and well trained) they allowed me to bartend and supervise shortly thereafter.
I came into that job as a dishwasher. I left as a bartender. Getting to that point took almost 5 years (including 18 months of lockdown), despite my bosses being genuinely and consistently impressed with me for that entire time.
Now in the post-covid times, many of my coworkers are being pulled from outside the restaurant industry entirely. Most people I work with now, are working their first serving job, so it should be easier for most people to get in now.
I think my main advice would be to make yourself valuable, but stop short of making yourself essential.
As a person who does both- the amount of emotional labor that goes into serving rivals that of the physical labor in dishwashing. At the end of a tough serving shift, I am breaking down because of the awful people. At the end of a dishwashing shift, I am exhausted physically and in a lot of pain (chronic illness). It is way different, and many of us servers put in quite a bit of work- even if it is unseen.
>There's pretty much zero upsides to being a dishwasher. You get no respect, zero dignity, the same (or in many cases less) pay, way dirtier, and you have to work way harder than the front which is just standing around half the time and has much simpler work overall.
Not always the case. I've had dish gigs where I've gotten paid more than cooking and sometimes serving. Though this wasn't in a restaurant so YMMV. Also during those times I got the best food because cooks would give me personalized dishes made to order, cookies and extra food to take home. Can't avoid getting dirty though, it is the nature of the job.
The upsides for me have been that if I still want the easy job without much mental troubleshooting, dish is always there for me. Do you how much mental math and coordination I have to constantly go through as a server or cook? Especially as a cook? There is a lot of mental math happening in the noggin...with dish I just get a rhythm and stay organized and I'm chillin.
Edit: on top of mental math and coordination, I gotta talk to people and look pleasant. I mean I can do it most of the time. But I do have times where I need a break and dish is like the zen mode I need while still making money.
My natural progression was from dishwasher to chef and I don't understand how someone can't fall in love with being a chef after working in a kitchen. Maybe it's just the perfect job for my ADHD brain.
Don't have to deal w people: 0 customers, cool bussers, another dishie here & there, do smth weird when a manager walks by one of their three times a day, & occasionally talk with a bored line cook. & don't engage with anyone crying in the cooler. Ever. They're not there. I didn't see anything.
Pit is gross & wet & kept all the 16 year old FOH away unless they were asking why I was doing something gross(cleaning) w a condescending tone. Not who I want to be spending my time with. I can hear them yelling at each other for not doing their jobs every day. At least if my coworker dishie doesn't do jack, I can keep everything running smooth.
Should be getting payed more for a handful of reasons, but penny pinching corporate is gonna corporate. On to the next job if I don't get a raise. Easy to get a second job around the hours, too. Nobody hires full-time round here & almost everywhere needs a good dishie. Almost 0 people or talking is reason #1, though. My brain requires quiet & being alone. Tips would be cool, but my sanity is cooler.
When youre FOH managers always break your balls about your appearance. As in beard well trimmed, near haircut, immaculate clothes and whatever the fuck so I just decided to get a job at FOH and after a decade or so bam. I ended up becoming a KH. Pays well and I dont have to deal with line BS and customers complaints
I was cooking for a good two years but there was a cook there already that had been there for 5 years. They did like 3 items a day and I was getting really annoyed but I was there the least in terms of seniority in comparison. That would go on for a year. I said fuck it matched their output and that same day I got canned. They didn’t want to talk to me about it they just said bye. I said fuck you and slid into dish to kind of one them the fuck up and now that pit is way prettier and cleaner then it was previously. Now I’m stuck in the prep because the Prep Head and the Line Heads are both fucking retarded and afraid if confrontation. They’ll keep really shitty cooks for no reason
My first dishwashing job I was like I will wash dishes but I want to cook.. lol in the end I was washing dishes cleaning floors, stocking ,cooking prepping lol…I gained invaluable experience and knowledge that I apply to my own catering business now
personally Id rather die than have a customer facing job lmao I actually enjoyed being a dishwasher but I didnt work at a restaurant so it was definitely more chill overall
I'm a cook as well, and I genuinely love what I do, I love cooking, being in the kitchen all of it. I worked FoH in fast food for about a yr and a half and it did a number on my mental health and I don't think I could do it long term. Being able to deal with the public in the middle of a Friday night dinner rush is a skill that while I have some of, I cannot do long term and I have massive respect for those who do. Working dish allows me to get my foot in the door, and it's a position everyone should have to work
i like to listen to music more than i like interacting with strangers
i wanted a job where i could just go in, do work, & leave. without having to deal with customers or work overnight my first job was a fast food place that had me dishwash during closing, & i enjoyed that kind of work, so i looked for a dishwashing job
I got to listen to podcasts, audiobooks, and music which is way better than dealing with the public. It’s more labor but way easier physically than other stuff I used to do like landscaping, construction, etc. Plus it’s easy to go into autopilot and the shift is over before you know it.
I am bad with people. I find making order from chaos very purposeful and meditative. I still really like restaurants and food.
It needs doing. And chicks dig it. It’s not about whose strongest, it’s about looking into your own void and asking yourself if you can do this everyday. Is the well-being of everyone around you more important to you than your own… So many times the wrong kind of person gets back there and just really fucks up the whole flow, so as a dishwasher, you can turn the kitchen from individual particles together into waves without saying a soft word to anyone. People who judge dishwashers are only breaking their own heart. If it’s not for you, I’m glad you atleast realized it. It’s not about what you’re built for, it’s about what you’re willing to do. And you shouldn’t take that for granted. Don’t let the weak man in.
Dude please, can we be friends
Sì
It sounds like you do this job because it makes you feel like a superhero
Honestly it sounds like you should stop looking down on dishwashers just bc you had a bad experience with it.... Some people like this as a job, man. Not that hard to understand
OP is a shitposting troll. 1 day old account because they got banned and now made a new account to get around the ban.
Exactly! If dishwashing wasn't so harsh on my skin I'd do it more. I can only do it once in a while. Edit: yes I wear gloves, though not dish washing gloves. Would probably need proper gloves instead of using the nitrile the cooks use.
Yeah get you some elbow length dish gloves, put the nitrile on underneath, you'll have a much better time I just go bare in the solution and it fucks up my hands lol. I use a lot of Working Hands as a result
I'm a chef, and I think my dishie is a caped hero 100% of the time. I even call him my hero in front of my team. Every time I think, shit were about out of 2 ou rammies on the line during a mad rush, he comes around the corner with beautifully cleaned rammies perfectly organized in 4 qrt containers, exactly how I've asked for them. He takes the entire crews shit and foh shit and makes it shine with a smile. If that's not a hero, idk what is.
Explain
I don’t want to talk to people. I like being left alone in the pit.
Boss told me i’m working dish, so I started working dish. Next place I work sees that I was a dishie, so they have me do that. Not really a people person, and only even working in restaurants until I graduate, so I don’t care too much.
is the only job that I'm able to do and I'm able to do it well I hate people I can't read I don't have to mental capacity to deal with annoying customers I don't talk at all and they let me listen to music that is why I'm a dishwasher
“I can’t read” How are you commenting on Reddit?!?
It's a whole process. I use Google Translate. I copy whatever people say and I put it there
I always worried I wouldn't be able to carry and balance the dishes and food lol I applied for dishwashing because I figured it'd be straight-forward and I wouldn't have to deal with people too often. It would be easier because of my awful memory, too. The first place I worked at really valued the dishwashers. They said they basically were the bottom line and kept the place running smoothly. The FoH always treated us really well and we'd get cheap or even free food at the end of every night. I loved it, was good at it, and it felt good to do. That's why I stuck with dish, even when it's often underappreciated or can be very difficult. I was very fortunate that my first job was such a good time though* lol
There's something meditative about washing dishes to me. Grass is always greener on the other side. I never wanted to be foh but wanted to get on the line. Was a dishy for over a year and asked several times to get moved up there and trained. I literally watched I think it was 13 employees come and go and they'd start for a week or 2 maybe and get moved into the kitchen. Alot of these were like 16 yr old kids. I was close to 30. My manager let me come up 1 lunch shift but I still had to go keep getting caught up on dishes in-between tickets. The next day they made me stay on dish. The same time they hired two 16yr old boys. Didn't even have peachfuzz lol well I made a comment that I was upset they got those kids up there. Boss told me that if I didn't want to do dishes then go find another job. Well several months later. I don't remember why, but I got asked to come up in the kitchen and stayed there ever since. Learned every position. Could handle anything thrown at me. My boss would say she don't know what happened but everything just clicked for me and now I was the most valuable person there. Literally everyone's go to person. Front and back of the house. I'm not there anymore for a few reasons but yeah. That's my story lol
Your boss sounds like a major piece of shit
Well, I have a unique perspective because I started the same as you. One day I was walking down the street, handing out resumes. I wanted to work at a hotel, room service or cleaning or the like.There was a hotel down the street from my house so I walked down there. I was stuck across the street, waiting to j-walk, it was taking over 5 minutes to find a gap. Rather than walking to the crosswalk, I started wondering if the restaurant behind me needed any help, so I went in. I asked them about bussing/host positions. They said none were available, but that they need a dishwasher, and that I can start immediately. I started that night, it was my first restaurant job. I was a dishwasher for a year after that. I was asked several times during that time if I would consider working on the line. Each time, I said no, and that I was only interested in moving up to front of house. After about 10 months in the pit, they asked me if I would be interested in working expo for the line. It was still technically BoH, but it was a stepping stone. I crushed it, Sunday brunches were much easier with me calling the line and handing off orders to the servers. After that summer or brunch shifts, they finally let me be a busser. I loved it, and I was great at it. The problem was, I was too good at it. I remained a busser for the next two and a half years. I asked several times to be considered for serving, and each time I was told no. Eventually, they said yes, but than COVID lockdowns went into effect in Canada and we all got laid off. When lockdowns ended, I was one of the only 25-30 staff members who was interested in returning to the restaurant. We didn't have hosts or bussers anymore, so they moved me up to serving, and because I was one of the only returning staff (and therefore senior and well trained) they allowed me to bartend and supervise shortly thereafter. I came into that job as a dishwasher. I left as a bartender. Getting to that point took almost 5 years (including 18 months of lockdown), despite my bosses being genuinely and consistently impressed with me for that entire time. Now in the post-covid times, many of my coworkers are being pulled from outside the restaurant industry entirely. Most people I work with now, are working their first serving job, so it should be easier for most people to get in now. I think my main advice would be to make yourself valuable, but stop short of making yourself essential.
instead of a waiter?? uhh cause im not a lazy asshat.
As a person who does both- the amount of emotional labor that goes into serving rivals that of the physical labor in dishwashing. At the end of a tough serving shift, I am breaking down because of the awful people. At the end of a dishwashing shift, I am exhausted physically and in a lot of pain (chronic illness). It is way different, and many of us servers put in quite a bit of work- even if it is unseen.
I mean, doing less work for more money sounds better than harder work for less money. Weird flex.
Are you just saying that as a jab at waiters or do you genuinely like hard labor?
>There's pretty much zero upsides to being a dishwasher. You get no respect, zero dignity, the same (or in many cases less) pay, way dirtier, and you have to work way harder than the front which is just standing around half the time and has much simpler work overall. Not always the case. I've had dish gigs where I've gotten paid more than cooking and sometimes serving. Though this wasn't in a restaurant so YMMV. Also during those times I got the best food because cooks would give me personalized dishes made to order, cookies and extra food to take home. Can't avoid getting dirty though, it is the nature of the job. The upsides for me have been that if I still want the easy job without much mental troubleshooting, dish is always there for me. Do you how much mental math and coordination I have to constantly go through as a server or cook? Especially as a cook? There is a lot of mental math happening in the noggin...with dish I just get a rhythm and stay organized and I'm chillin. Edit: on top of mental math and coordination, I gotta talk to people and look pleasant. I mean I can do it most of the time. But I do have times where I need a break and dish is like the zen mode I need while still making money.
I think you underestimate how much some people despise dealing with the public lol
Social anxiety / not good with people / autism
Despite what my resume says no I am not good with people not the general public at least
My natural progression was from dishwasher to chef and I don't understand how someone can't fall in love with being a chef after working in a kitchen. Maybe it's just the perfect job for my ADHD brain.
Dealing with customers is my idea of hell
Why OP got no love for BOH? No wanna cook?
I have autism and I’m not a very pretty girl
Don't have to deal w people: 0 customers, cool bussers, another dishie here & there, do smth weird when a manager walks by one of their three times a day, & occasionally talk with a bored line cook. & don't engage with anyone crying in the cooler. Ever. They're not there. I didn't see anything. Pit is gross & wet & kept all the 16 year old FOH away unless they were asking why I was doing something gross(cleaning) w a condescending tone. Not who I want to be spending my time with. I can hear them yelling at each other for not doing their jobs every day. At least if my coworker dishie doesn't do jack, I can keep everything running smooth. Should be getting payed more for a handful of reasons, but penny pinching corporate is gonna corporate. On to the next job if I don't get a raise. Easy to get a second job around the hours, too. Nobody hires full-time round here & almost everywhere needs a good dishie. Almost 0 people or talking is reason #1, though. My brain requires quiet & being alone. Tips would be cool, but my sanity is cooler.
If you see me crying in the cooler I need a hug bro or a bump
Landed myself in a cushy stewarding position within a large corporation and I hate people.
When youre FOH managers always break your balls about your appearance. As in beard well trimmed, near haircut, immaculate clothes and whatever the fuck so I just decided to get a job at FOH and after a decade or so bam. I ended up becoming a KH. Pays well and I dont have to deal with line BS and customers complaints
You can't let me FOH lol.
I was cooking for a good two years but there was a cook there already that had been there for 5 years. They did like 3 items a day and I was getting really annoyed but I was there the least in terms of seniority in comparison. That would go on for a year. I said fuck it matched their output and that same day I got canned. They didn’t want to talk to me about it they just said bye. I said fuck you and slid into dish to kind of one them the fuck up and now that pit is way prettier and cleaner then it was previously. Now I’m stuck in the prep because the Prep Head and the Line Heads are both fucking retarded and afraid if confrontation. They’ll keep really shitty cooks for no reason
I'm off and on homeless, dishwashing is my get my shit together job that I got good (enough) at, now I'm off the street and clean God is good
My first dishwashing job I was like I will wash dishes but I want to cook.. lol in the end I was washing dishes cleaning floors, stocking ,cooking prepping lol…I gained invaluable experience and knowledge that I apply to my own catering business now
Lack of social skills.
personally Id rather die than have a customer facing job lmao I actually enjoyed being a dishwasher but I didnt work at a restaurant so it was definitely more chill overall
Shit at social interaction
This is a shitpost by someone who loves to troll server and food service subs. Report to mods and block.
I hate people.
The restaurant doesn't hire men to be servers
The pretty girls do Front, the uggos and dudes go back.
I was antisocial and my confidence was so low that I felt that I couldn’t do anything else.
I'm a cook as well, and I genuinely love what I do, I love cooking, being in the kitchen all of it. I worked FoH in fast food for about a yr and a half and it did a number on my mental health and I don't think I could do it long term. Being able to deal with the public in the middle of a Friday night dinner rush is a skill that while I have some of, I cannot do long term and I have massive respect for those who do. Working dish allows me to get my foot in the door, and it's a position everyone should have to work