April 28, 2011

  • 30 day photo challenge, day twenty-five

    A picture of your day.

    I found this to be one of the most interesting entries so far, because it's already evident how much life has changed from when I began this challenge. When I was asked on day four to provide a picture of my night (which in retrospective is essentially identical to today's challenge), I posted a picture of Red Robin, which was my place of employment at the time. Since that time, I was fortunate enough to get an interview and then a full time position in Guitar Center's pro audio department. My commute changed from five minutes to twenty-five minutes, my job went from entirely tip-based to entirely commission-based, and technically I went back to work for the same company who hired me directly out of high school at 17. (Music and Arts is owned by Guitar Center).

    It's been a strange transition. In many ways, I loved working at Red Robin. Despite the frequently rude guests and poor tippers, I worked with a fantastic and diverse group of people who forced me to never judge anyone by how they look or what my first impression may have been. Race, religion, gender; it was all irrelevant. You came in and worked together to make the restaurant run as smoothly as possible. (Obviously it wasn't quite that rosy; not everyone was a team player. But I met some fantastic people). That's not to say Guitar Center doesn't have excellent employees; so far, everyone has been accommodating and friendly. But there's definitely a difference in the mentality and the closeness between employees, and although it's not a bad thing, it's something I miss about the grind of being a server. 

    I really like my new job at Guitar Center, and I'm looking forward to continuing to improve in my knowledge and sales skills. But I miss the people at Red Robin, more than I ever realized I would.