For around six months during high school, I worked at a bakery/deli. I will never work food service again, god willing. It's funny, it wasn't the people or the place itself that I hated, because I didn't. I like the people, some I am still friends with, and occasionally I'll go back and say hi to my boss and get a free doughnut.
What made this job bad was the smell.
One would think that working at a place that made cakes and cookies and doughnuts and you-name-it would smell great. Think again. I would come home at night smelling of grease and butter and whatever had gone bad in the freezer that no one wanted to deal with. The grease and the butter were actually worse than the freezer-demon, and if anyone has worked with them they'll know why- the smell was so strong it clogs your nose. I could feel the grease seeping into my body. I'm pretty sure just the atmosphere made my cholesterol go up.
The stench seeped into my clothes, my hair, my skin, everything- I even had to set aside a pair of shoes that were designated "for work only", because they were pretty much ruined. They were the worst. Right after my last day at that job, I tucked my cake-batter-covered, floury, once-black shoes and stuck them on the floor of the back of my car. Somehow in the shuffle, they slid under the passenger side seat and stayed there, until one fateful day.
I was driving my young cousins around, and each had a sippy cup of water. One of them dropped said sippy cup, where it rolled under the passenger seat and leaked water EVERYWHERE. Apparently, that water was some sort of catalyst, because soon my entire car smelled really, really gross. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what had happened- I was convinced something had died in my trunk. Finally, I made my best friend empty the car out with me- we took out the floor mats, we took out the little trash can and all of my school stuff and my art supplies and everything... and we found the shoes. The once-black, then floury-white, now green and yellow, moldly, smelly shoes. I threw them out on the spot.
I blame the smell that still lingers in my car two years later on that job.
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Sam Beck
Benjamin Dorsey
Catamitebastard
hyblaean- Julie
Deven McKay
collegekid
Salon.com
Comments
I wish the smell of chocolate could carry on your clothes well.
I worked at a coffee chain and we'd leave that place smelling layered in the fragrance of espresso - hair, skin, clothes and all. But that wan't the bad part - it was how that pungency mixed with my sweat to create a new "aroma". I was limited in what I could do after work, especially in the summer, because the eau de espresso/body/sweat just wasn't sexy.
One guy we worked with wrapped his winter coat in a trash bag and stored it in the walk-in cooler to prevent the espresso from permeating on to the jacket, because anything you brought into the store left with that smell.
Susan- You'd be surprised. Comparing the crawfish with the mold- at least with the crawfish you could BREATHE. I spent around two months in the middle of winter driving everywhere with my windows down and sunroof open because I'd have suffocated if I didn't.
Shop Femina- Good point, but after a while it ruins food for you. I can't eat dougnuts anymore. Bleah.