“The early bird gets the worm”
When I was 18 years old in 2014 I started working at a restaurant called “The Writing Room”on the Upper Eastside of Manhattan. Being the new guy I made a lot of friends and management took a liking to me. My work was always done properly and efficiently. Even though I was stubborn, combative, and always late to work, my skills stood out to him more than my attitude. I would get away with doing my own thing for months because the quality of my work was so high that The Head Chef would turn a blind eye. I started getting into arguments with co-workers and managers who were trying to help me when things got busy, but I thought they were getting in my way. After a while my attitude and tardiness became a bigger concern for my Head Chef and Sous Chefs, so they started having cooks come in for trial shifts. Trial shifts are when cooks come in to work on a station during service one or two days. I thought I would be getting promoted since my work improved everyday, but I did not understand how my behavior was self-sabotage..
The Head Chef and Sous Chefs had a small meeting about my situation and decided to have the Head Chef have a one on one meeting with me. I happened to come in early one day and he pulled me aside to talk to me. I thought it had something to do with me getting another raise, but it was to discuss my attitude and tardiness. He explained to me thatI needed to change the way I acted at work and expressed how important it was to be on time and a “team player”. He also told me that I would not get a raise until I adjusted to his rules. It turns out that the cooks who had been invited for trial shifts were meant to demonstrate that he could replace me. I did not feel insecure about my job at that time because I was confident in my skills. The next couple of weeks I became more open with my coworkers, I changed my attitude, and started coming to work on time. I finally learned discipline, teamwork, and the importance of being punctual, which helped me as I moved forward in my career. Unfortunately, more experienced cooks were hired for “The Writing Room” and got the position that I wanted. Since my attitude had improved so had my relationships with my coworkers, as people came and went from the restaurant, my professional network got bigger. I was able to use these connections to network and find a new job. Eventually, I started working at a restaurant in Harlem named “Cecil/Mintons” The Head Chef, JJ, was a celebrity chef. In the end I realized I fixed my personality and found a better opportunity to start over.
keeping the saying short and sweet, something that can really take you a long way in life, and something i’ve also heard before makes this relatable. Your progress from being tardy and indifferent with coworkers was a good change that you should be proud of. nice job for taking hold of responsibilities like that, and someday, you’ll be the celebrity chef others write about.
Yeah man work smarter not harder is what my sous chef used to tell me. Thanks man it wasn’t easy but anytime something can mess with my money I have no choice but to fix it. You also can’t talk to people anyway u want to or call them out all the time it’s not cool you know. I appreciate that and I had to take responsibility that’s one of the first steps to fixing the situation.Thanks but I don’t want to be a chef anymore I want to be a electrical engineer remember
That quote can be translated into Chinese directly, I totally understand that, is good for you to find your shortage when you were young, by changing your behavior you have got a new job, and it benefits you.
Really I didn’t know that but I’m glad you can relate. Yeah I Know getting older and not changing to better yourself will stunt your growth and stay the same for the rest of your life. Me changing my behavior help me in more ways than just getting me a new job.
Gary: Your story is well told and you write with very good sentence structure. You give a lot of excellent details that set the scene very clearly. A very good story
QUESTION: Is the early bird quote (which is a well known saying) something someone important in your life said to you that has been meaningful and helped you to realize something important or made you change? I agree that learning to get to work on time is an important lesson, but …
GOING FORWARD WITH THIS PIECE OF WRITING: is this a quote from a mentor that has changed your life? Look back at my assignment and the 3 example quotes I gave in the instructions.
In your reply to Raul you mention another quote from your supervisor: ” ‘work smarter not harder’ ” is what my sous chef used to tell me. I wonder if this quote has more meaning to your life.
Think of what someone said to you in your life’s path that has made a big change or changed your outlook on life.
You write in a reply to : “Me changing my behavior help me in more ways than just getting me a new job.” Maybe you can work this story about how you changed your work ethic into something larger. Is there a bigger story? Can you turn this excellent seed of a story into abigger story that represents a big change in your life spurred by a comment that a mentor said to you? That is the instructions for this writing task.
How does this lesson learned in your restaurant work world helped get you to where you are today? on path to change careers, realize your interest and ability in computer engineering fields?
You write: In the end I realized I fixed my personality [more on this?] and found a better opportunity to start over. [can this jump into a bigger story here?]
Good that you gave details of what you realized and how you changed: “The next couple of weeks I became more open with my coworkers, I changed my attitude, and started coming to work on time. I finally learned discipline, teamwork, and the importance of being punctual, which helped me as I moved forward in my career.”
I thought I would be getting promoted since my work improved everyday, but I did not understand how my behavior was self-sabotage [good analysis good word].
Interesting that now you can look back at your earlier self and see that your self-confidence was immaturity and that you were sabatoging yourself — good language. It’s often when we are our humbler selves that we can see we need to change. That’s a good lesson. In your essay can you reflect on that?
PS You must be an awesome cook!
Many times a person would over look their own behavior because that is part of the personality and persona of who the have become. When a person can see and recognize their growth it is also a sign of maturity. That person is taking responsibility for there actions. It’s great that you changed and realized the error in your actions. You where able to build and outlet to network to get a better position. But this is was only by learning a valuable lesson that you will always remember.