This is a part 2, it would probably be best to read part 1 first.
Was it the Sawmill that used to be over by the Blockbuster?? You know in Oliver square. I feel like a dinosaur asking that. That was were I had my first interview. The chef, I dunno what was wrong with him, about 5 times he said "You cook fast?" not even proper English, then "How fast?" They offered me a job, I said no. I couldn't imagine working there. However up 124 that chain restaurant from GP had a location in Edmonton and they also offered me a job. Simply based on GP experience. It was the owner here that told me GP was the busiest location and I might find this one slow. Instead of 5 or 6 guys working there might be 2 or 3. We didn't have a dishwasher, cooks were expected to do it. Oh and the kicker was this, $6/hour. I was taking +$3 pay cut and now I actually had bills. However I guess these would be my real "Vanderpump" years. So I have blogged about some of these people before and I will use the "names" I did before. I hit it off with Party Girl right away. She was exactly that, a party girl. If you wanted to go drinking, she was in. She got along great with most the customers, she did flirt with them, possibly more with a couple. She was like a big sister to me, while a few guys flirted with her I never felt that and honestly it would have been weird. We did have more like a sibling relationship. For example one night we go out after close with a couple customers. So everything is closed except a Dennys or Smittys or something like that. First they wouldn't let us in the lounge. SO the customers pays them $50 for us to sit in a closed lounge. Then they want ID, I didn't have mine on me and looked 12 so of course they said no! Party says she isn't staying if I can't so the customer puts down $100 and they look the other way. Then he invites the waitress to sit and have a drink for being so nice. Another time I was sleeping in Party Girls bed. We both were fully clothed, nothing was going on, siblings! Anyways I wake up and can hear something, then I see a lighter being flicked on and off beside the bed. I go to sit up and this dude is on top of me. Now Party Girl had a baby daddy and they were on again, off again. He was a big dude, that 6ft 220lbs kinda guy. She starts screaming he realizes its me and we are still clothed so he starts laughing. He knows nothing would be going on between us two so I walk out. Hate to think had it been someone else in that bed not me. Oh then I get to listen to them fuck the rest of the night away. SO that was life with Party. There was also the Skank. This chick was fucked. There was The Hot One, that everyone was hitting on. She was 19 maybe 20 and soon was dating the manager of a bar down the road. We all went to Essies all the time so it was nice to know a manager. Sadly Hot One followed the Skank all around for some reason. Skank was in her 30s and I think just wanted the attention that came with a young hot friend. I am not really sure what happened but there was a falling out between the two and then skank was fired. Can't say anyone missed her. Then we hired Heartache. This was a legit nice religious girl who hit her rebel phase. So she was on what she called the liquor and cigarette diet. Now the fact was she was super friendly, so everyone liked her. It was one of those things where she was nice to everyone so some guys thought she wanted more. Basically we all hit on her. One night she invited me and another girl to her place after the bar. Then gave a fake address to others. We went home and I will simply say that was a close as I ever came to a 3 some. The other girl backed out but Heartache and I had fun. That was my down fall. We hooked up again and I was into her! She was still more into partying and the fact was me hooking up with her strained a relationship in the kitchen for me. Also there was the Strange Guy. He was a waiter, he was really nice but different. Like I can't explain it, he was super wholesome maybe. Like didn't drink, didn't smoke, hell I don't think he even swore. He was just really nice and I guess in the service industry that comes off as weird. Though just from comments both him and Heartache made I think they might have been hooking up to.
I guess I should talk about the kitchen some. There was Red Seal who was a legit red seal cook, I have no idea why he was working in a chain restaurant. He was one of the ones Heartache was nice to and even though she had no interest in him he was mad when we hooked up. There was Shy Guy. He was a super nice guy, super quiet. Had an awesome girl friend, they would invite me over for drinks and they were just fun to hang out with. Hell his family was fun to hangout with, they had an acreage outside Edmonton and used to have couch burning parties. I honestly wish I had stayed in contact with them, from Facebook it looks like they have a happy family life now. There was the Old Man. He was even in the drama.... sort of. He got some sort of insurance settlement and for AWHILE had a butt ton of money. Bought himself a new car, bought drinks every night and started coming out with the young crowd. Now he wasn't really old probably only 10 years older than us but at 20 that seems like a lot. He was also into a waitress out front a few years older than him. I don't think I even mentioned her before, so I will just call her Greezy. She was kind of a nasty old hag. Not sure why he was so into her. Then once he had money she was into him. It was said he even helped her put a down payment on a new car. Then his $$$ ran out and she wasn't into him anymore. There was WWE who legit told me during the war in Afghanistan that they should send the Undertaker as he would scare them. I get he is a big dude but if I had an AK I am sure I wouldn't be too scared. At different points in my life I have drank various amounts. This was possibly the worst for a few years. I had been in college and supposed to only be part time BUT I wasted my loans and needed the cash. So I was working closing shifts, having a couple drinks at work then going home and trying to sleep for a couple hours before school. Clearly I couldn't do that and dropped out. I am going to paint the owner as a villain here, if it was a TV show you need a villain. See he knew I was hurting for cash and dangled closing shifts in front of me knowing I had school. Yes I accepted the hours so in the end it is on me but he got the way better deal. On top of that we did tip out. That means a small % of the waitresses tips go to the kitchen. This asshole would hold our tip out back if food costs got to high. Which is illegal, once it was brought up to him he stopped but ya that's the kind of person he was. Or happy to give an advance on pay, with interests or extra shifts to make it up.... There was also the Programmer. He was a few years younger than most of us. We took him out on his 18th birthday again he was almost too nice to be in service. He moved to Mexico and even that didn't "toughen him up" He came back just as nice. There was also Cowboy and Black, two brothers that I ended up living with, but back to the front of the house
Now there was also Mother. She was about my moms age I think and super nice as well. More than once late night she took me to a Dennys bought some food and had a chat with me. One time when I kinda went missing, not really missing.... its a long story she was the one who called my family worried. There was also Normal girl lol. She was Party Girls sober good friend. She didn't come out often, just came did her work and went home. I really liked her, she was a sense of reality. See when your young and working in a restaurant that seems like the world. Like the drama you see on Vanderpump is stupid but I get it. It is how those people feel at 20 something that is going on in their lives matters to the whole world and that 20s are super important. I mean good choices in your 20s helps but it sure wont ruin everything even if it seems like everything is so important. So she was nice to have around a grounding center point. Now things went south for me and I had a falling out with my roommates. I became homeless (Not quite. I was evicted but someone stepped in ad saved the day) and another cook, Cowboy well he let me move in with him. We were evicted (second eviction in a month) a week later when he didn't pay rent. I can't say he didn't I don't know what happened except I gave him a months rent and a few days later we got notice we were kicked out for non payment. So we moved in with his parent and his younger brother Black. I guess some of the drama falls into here to, Black had a girlfriend he brought to the bar with us all one night. She danced with another guy or something stupid so he dumped her. She lived across Edmonton and had no ride home so I said she could stay at our place (Before we had to move out and moved in with their parents) Soon enough she was a booty call, Black didn't say much but he wasn't happy. Of course that doesn't last forever. Black was good about it, the fact was he was hitting on other women within a week. A regular that sat in the lounge every night and talked to Party Girl well he asked me one night to come work in his warehouse. $5/hr raise. Of course I said yes and of course the villain cut me down to 2 shifts in my last 2 weeks. I should have just not shown up but instead I showed up and Party Girl fed me booze all night. Each shift I was a mess at the end. So my time as a cook was ending.... But not really. Over the next year I went back a few times. Part time prep cook on the weekends, picked up a few night shifts. This was when I had the stupid "grind" mentality that people talk about. I thought money would pile up but it never did.
Before I left there was a new female cook, TCM started. Well Black of course had a crush on her and wanted me to be his wing man. I was still wanting Heartache but said sure Ill come out. We all went out one night and when I woke up she was in my room at Blacks parents house. Wow that was a walk of shame. Black really wasn't happy BUT he got over it and TCM and I were together for 9 years. Red Seal however also liked this TCM and when he found out he didn't talk to me for 5 years. That is drama lol. Well after I left and was working in the warehouse I still would come back and visit or pick up TCM. At that point they had a douchebag delivery driver. He would not stop hitting on her, she complained to me about it. Even when she came out to say hi to me and Cowboy and Black he would hit on her. So one night I am getting whiskeyed up. I didn't drink singles back then, everything was double or more. After 4 or 5 cups I was feeling rowdy and told Black I was going to punch the guy. Right then, in the middle of his shift. Black talked me down, saying I wouldn't wanna get banned for life or have TCM fired or something. So pounded a few more in me and he says something else. Maybe it was nothing, looking back I was gunned by this point but from his track record it was probably dumb. So I left walked outside for fresh air and noticed his car. Window down on a hot summer day. So I did what any non-violent drunk would do, took my dick out and started pissing. In the open window, on the door handle cause you have to grab that to get in.... And laughed and laughed. Then I went in and told the others what I did. They laughed but said we should go. They figured soon as he found out he would be raging and I wouldn't be able to not laugh at him and that would go badly. So we left, looking back I feel a tiny bit bad but not overly, the lesson is don't be a dick. In an ironic twist he quit shortly after and I did delivery driving some evenings on a cash basis. I could go into that but I wont. It could be a totally different show. Strip clubs, rub and tugs ordered. Tipped great and got to see and hear some interesting things. Tattoo parlors flashed me their girlfriends tits.... Okay Ill explain that. One night I go to a tattoo studio and the guy is working on a client. His "ole lady" is sitting beside him. I put the pizza on the counter and he asked, cash or she can show ya her tits. I laughed and said sure lets see them. All 3 of them laughed and handed me a good tip, then as I was about to leave the artist nods to his girlfriend and he says for having the balls to ask for tits and she flashes me. The money honestly was great and pure cash. Quick tip for people if you are going to be a regular, tip well. I knew St Petes was always a great tip so they went out first, fresh and hot. There was a house down the road that probably should have always been first it was so close BUT the same order came to $19.80 every second day and I got a $20 every time with "You can have the change" that order always went last. Slowly I stopped doing driving and then I was out of the restaurant business. So really it was only maybe 8 - 9 years in total I was in it but man is it crazy.
SO back to my first thoughts.... Do I miss the fun of being in a kitchen, ya. I do miss the rush then the calm. The pushing yourself and the team work to actually make orders come out properly. HOWEVER thinking about it probably don't miss the "Vanderpump" end of it. Like I said in your 20s everything seems so important! Also people are overly involved in each others lives. Like OMG did you hear what he did!!! Looking back on all of it, its fun and I wouldn't change it but would I wanna live it now, nah I like being on the other side. Taking people out for nice meals. I am sticking to Vanderpump gets its drama from mixing high pressure and peoples 20s and I think I have moved on. Flip side I could be Lisa Vanderpump. Owning a place I could still get behind. Thats really the only way to get ahead though in the service industry. I dont see many people sticking to serving or cooking and making a life. So would I go back to it no. Will I always have fond memories of it, ya. It is a fun lifestyle for awhile.
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