Dishwashing machines load and unload themselves, and return big stacks of the dishes where they belong (which is always up high or down low, on the line surrounded by frantically moving cooks)
In two of the 5 kitchens Iâve worked as a dishwasher, the Spanish-speaking cooks called me chingĂłn
One time I worked at a Red Robin from before it opened. In Alabama during the year all the crops rotted in the state due to the state enforcing immigration stuff at a high level (thereâs news articles about it)
We broke company-wide sales records like 4 weeks in a row. I was working 70-hour weeks. That was the first place they called me chingĂłn, for my hustle and multitasking
I was also prep cook and in charge of the walk-in and accepting deliveries and stocking. Title is just dishwasher
A single 10-hour day as a dishwasher at a Red Robin would have most people spending the rest of the week in bed.
ÂĄChingĂłn!
I got major back problems now at 37
My hip hurts and parts of the bottom of my feet are often numb from solar. Getting better though I think now that Iâm rarely doing it.
In contrast to all this back-breaking dishwashing talk, at my final serving job I could make my monthly rent in a weekend. In cash. That was fine dining which meant both that the tabs were higher and we werenât turning and burning.
I hated dishwashing (one of the only two jobs Iâve ever quit without notice) but mostly loved waiting tables. Immediate friend group of fellow alcoholics and drug addicts!
Yeah thatâs an underrated part of working in restaurants until we get sober
Also need to consider that the dishwashing machine really only cleans glassware, silverware, and plates. All the shit that is used by the kitchen staff is cleaned by hand. You donât put a sautĂ© pan in the dishwasher. You scrub that fucker with steel wool and then dunk it through the 3 bay sink.
Dishwashing is way harder than being a server and itâs not even really close.
If itâs so hard, why are there so many people choosing to be a dishwasher over a server??!!??
Physically speaking, of course. But Micro singling out ârestaurant dishwasherâ as some kind of superhuman job is LOL to people with physically demanding jobsâsome of whom also work outside in the elements.
And dishwashers get all the shitty prep jobs to do in their âdown timeâ. 10 lbs of garlic heads got delivered, give it to Jose to peel before the rush starts. We just poached 100 lbs of lobsters for lobster rolls, Jorge can break them down and get all the meat out after family meal.
I worked at one of the better restaurants in Boston years ago and ALL the pasta was made by 2 dishwashers lol. The chef was known for Italian and French food and guests would be like âomg she just has such a delicate hand for pastaâ and Iâm thinking âBalthazar made the gnocchi during his AM shift and he canât find Italy on a map and Horacio made the tagliatelle after he broke down cardboard from the dry goods orderâ Dishwashers are godâs gift to the kitchen.
I spent 14 years on rooftops working in up to 117 degrees.
Youâre kinda weird
As a lazy person I can attest to both roofing and waiting as hard jobs. As an atheist roofer, I prayed for rain everyday after my first day of the rest of two months I was a roofer. I had nightmares about my station filling up with people and I couldnât get to them for decades after I had been a server. When I waited, there was a dishwasher that complained about his job. He was hired as a âDISHWASHERâ now they have him scrubbing pans. Not fair!
Thatâs me. Big job for a winery, took 3 weeks, was over 100 every day, up to 112.
Yeah but itâs a dry heat
But itâs really funny that chesspain said dishwashing is not out in the elements
Obviously never been near a kitchen in his life
I admit to being somewhat of a privileged sort. My two manual labor jobs were in construction and a warehouse. Both very physically demanding even for a young person
My one restaurant job was at a small Jewish deli where I got hired on the spot as a busboy. Was introduced to the manager who was an immediate prick. Then the first customer I encountered was a disrespectful crotchety bitch. Told her to fuck off and quit on the spot. Didnât even last long enough to see the kitchen
I quit one job the first day. It was in HS. Telemarketing. I would wash dishes on the roof at 117 degrees before I did that again.