TRAINING DAY

Red Lobster, my first job.
They had an Expeditor, "Expo" for short, on the house side, and on the line we had a "Caller"....he called the ticket to you and you dropped what he called and when it was done you passed it to an assembler, who now had the ticket and would be busy putting the plates together.
For instance, if I was Fryman, the Caller might call "Fry man!"
And I'd holler back "Workin"
" I need two Neptunes, 3 Crab Cakes, 3 Dozen shrimp, 1 Scallop and we're low on Dogs"
And as I'm dropping all that I repeat:
"I got two Neptunes, 3 Crab Cakes, 3 Dozen shrimp, 1 Scallop and we're low on Dogs"
The whole process takes on a rythum, and when you get to rockin', its a blast.
I had 7 Fryers with 2 baskets in each. "Dogs" were Hush Puppies that you cranked out of a big Hopper that hung over one of the fryers. It was where you learned to laugh off a grease spatter on the forearm. I learned to ladle a little grease onto the floor in order to help slide from one fryer to the next. I could push of at one end and slalom down to the other in a split second, shakin' the fry baskets the whole way down.. I learned to smoke a cigarette in less than a minute on break.
I got there by way of my first position as dishwasher. It only took three days; the Fryman called in sick and the Manager came to me and said 'You want out of this dishpit?" It was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me up to that point, and would remain so for another week before two waitresses laid me.
I was hooked.
Hey, you know what you get if you add an S and a T to Expo?

The best part about working as a chef?
Waitresses!