Sunday, March 13, 2016

Turn the steering wheel.



I'll be finishing my last two shifts behind the bar at the winery in the next couple of weeks, and it's causing me to reflect on my experiences as a tasting room attendant. 

The best (and coincidentally, also worst) part of my job has been the people -- the best, my coworkers, all of whom I enjoy and most of whom I'm friends with outside of work. And the great customers I meet -- people I'd love to invite over for dinner or to my home for the weekend. Honestly, I've met people I'd be honored to call my honorary relatives. Pouring wine allows you to interact with cultured, funny, intelligent and wonderful people who all have one thing in common: they love wine. I've met NASA astrophysicists, POTUS advisors, current and ex-movie stars, you name it. But also just retired couples, newlyweds, "just-turned-21" youngsters (to me) who are anxious to really learn about how to taste wine, and oenophiles of every social class and occupation.

But in my time behind the bar I've also met people who I was less than thrilled to meet, but who I had to smile and serve wine to, nonetheless:  There was The Russian, a repeat customer who constantly asked for re-visits on the wine, complained about the portions he was poured, claimed he was owed discounts and freebies no one promised him, and who treated service staff like serfs. There were the parents who brought their children with them when they went to winery after winery and didn't look after them. There were drunks who broke things, caused scenes, tried to crash weddings going on on-site, or attempted public sex in some pretty public places. 

But thankfully, those bad experiences were very, very much in the minority and were mostly things we could all laugh about once the doors closed and it was just staff and a half-finished bottle of Cabernet going around as we swapped tales of the day.

One of the things about providing great service though is to always ensure your smile is genuine; in other words you should never burn out, and after three years and increasingly busy customer counts, it's time for me to hand over the bottle to someone else before I do, in fact, burn out. It would happen. I've always believed it was a smart person in life who knew when to change lanes or get off the damn freeway completely when it was time to do so, and who turned the steering wheel without fear. Before someone asks you to, or you are desperate to change. Make the change before you hit that point, if you can, I say.

My new office.

My new job has several distinct advantages: I can set my own hours, including during summer when I'll try and be home before the heat sets in. I can take breaks when needed, or just stop and visit with a coworker without fear of neglecting a customer awaiting their next pour of wine. I still get to work in a happy work place with happy coworkers. And I'm outdoors on the best days -- the cool, sunny, breezy ones, and at home with a good book when it rains or when it's 105 degrees.

My shifts will also be a bit shorter, but more often, which will allow me to dovetail my own homesteading activities with work a lot more, which will help around here a lot.

But of course there will be the challenge of growing a beautiful and also a productive garden, meeting the needs of our kitchen staff and chef while also making the garden a place that beckons you to walk around and visit. 

At this point, I'm just turning the wheel and hoping for the best.








8 comments:

  1. I am really excited for you with this new opportunity!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thank you so much! I'm really looking forward to it!

      Delete
  2. I wish you the best with your new "job" at the winery. I know myself and that I would not do well serving the public. I'd be much happier outside in a garden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Denise! It's true, the plants are probably a little easier to get along with at times! Serving the public is interesting because you kind of have to play a role and just decide to do your role well, no matter what you may actually be feeling. Most good servers are doing this, I've found, which I never knew before.

      Delete
  3. I used to work with the public, but was much better suited to being behind the scenes. I think change is a good thing. I cannot imagine having done the same job over my entire career. I was fortunate that I was able to move to different buildings or departments when I began to burn out. I got to experience a wide array of job duties and met a lot of people along the way.

    Good luck with your new job. It sounds ideal!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Molly. You sound like me, knowing when it's time to try something different is a big key to happiness, I think. Some people are able to do the same thing for 40 years, but I'm not one of them! And it is nice that with every new career, you meet new people and make friends. : )

      Delete
  4. It's funny given how much I love and obsessed with food and how much I've worked in service that I've never worked as a server. Well, I have a few times but it's different filling in here or there vs the daily nature of a job. I used to cater, but that's different. People like the Russian would probably push me too far. Couldn't agree more about listening to yourself when you know your time in a job is done. How nice that you'll still be around and comfortable in the tasting room, but let someone else negotiate with the Russian.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you ever want to read an absolutely hilarious blog by a waiter who has been at the job too long (but I hope he never quits because he's so funny) do a google search on The Bitter Waiter. He is a riot.

      Delete