Lately I’ve been muttering under my breath, “I hate this place”, as I walk through Red Robin. I really don’t hate it…I love it. I’ve been working there for almost seven years and it is comfortable and it feels like mine. But lately it’s been feeling too comfortable. So comfortable that it’s stifling. I’m not growing. I’m not stretching. The list of things that I love about Red Robin could fill this page. I love the food…I never get sick of it. I love the people that I work with- some of them for the entire seven years. I love the culture of Red Robin- one of the only companies that I know of that has values. I love that so much of my life has happened there- I can still remember Brian asking me to “help him take down the flags” so that we could sneak a hug on the patio. I love that it feels like home. I love that still, under table #46 are the words that I wrote years ago, “why are you looking under here?”. The things that I hate are a rather short list and can mostly be summed up by Rachel from FRIENDS, “I’m sick of the lousy tips, sick of being called, “excuse me”"…I hate that when I put on that blue Red Robin polo, my status as a person seems to drop. The people that I serve ignore me, don’t listen to me, are flat-out rude to me when not simply inconsiderate, and assume that because I’m serving, I’m some kind of lower class of human. In return, I smile, and get their orders right, and return to the table 6 times for 6 different ranch requests. In the end, they reward me with a token amount of money that is sometimes ridiculously too large, but often is simply sufficient to satisy the minimum social expectation. I hate being rewarded with money. I hate when my guests joke about my tip. I hate when I am expected to expend more energy and excitment into their loved ones’ birthday than they do. It’s just wearing on me I guess. Seven years is long enough- the problem is, I need the money. It IS comfortable and easy (however demeaning), and I’ve trapped myself into this place where money is paramount- because I owe more than I’ll even make this year. I work and then I work, and after work, I try to sleep to not be so tired the next morning at work. I look forward to the wonderful day when i can walk out of work at 3 in the afternoon, and have the rest of the day to do other things- like paint, like cook, like read, like visit the beach…
My love for Red Robin, at the moment, still outweighs my distaste for the actual job that I do. I hope it stays that way for a little while longer! (There are MANY wonderful guests at Red Robin too!) I will be making an instructional video entitled, “how to dine out”, for the rest of the population who obviously were never taught by their parents how to treat people.

and then I wonder…is it getting worse or has it always been this way? Did I just never notice before because I had Brian’s hugs to fall into?

Life’s better with Brian’s hugs. =)
Laura. =)

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