Ketchup on Waffles

I'll be writing Part 4 of my Good, Bad, Ugly series soon on my summer season at the Basin Harbor Club. I just wanted to add this first.

I have always seen the forum questions about where the best and worse places to go. Lately, I've seen many taking the vague answers rather seriously. Maybe people always have and I'm just noticing it more.

There are a few responses that are more specific, but in general it's just a like or dislike. It was good, or not so good. What does that mean? It varies tremendously on our background experiences and what we're looking for in doing this kind of work.

Some of us are here for the money, some of us are here just hoping to break even.

Some of us like to be a little understaffed. They bust their butts a little more, but the day seems to go by faster. Some of us would like more staff to make the jobs easier.

Some of us want a comfy place to lay our heads. Some of us just want a place to store some stuff that usually keeps the rain out and hopefully doesn't burn down, and whatever creatures make it in is just "ha, and they told me I couldn't have pets"

Some of us are looking for major socializing. Some of us are looking for places to be alone. Some of us are looking for entertainment. Some of us are the only entertainment.

Some of us our counting on employer offered trips, picnics, parties, whatever. Some of us are "I have seen your face enough at work."

Some of us like what food we like, and don't like what we don't like. Some of us are "I put it in my mouth and it didn't kill me."

Some of us like clearly defined job descriptions. Some of us like keeping it to a simple "Service" and any other words are just limiting our abilities.

We all fall in varying degrees along any of these lines. We all rate these in different priorities. We all come from varying experiences. We all change along the journey.

I have not been at a place that I have really liked that I don't know of people that don't like that same place. I know of places where people have told me they liked that I have looked at and decided that that place is not for me. I have known places where people have really liked a place one season and returned only to find they didn't like it the second time.

I have been taking some time in getting my reviews out the last couple of seasons. My first seasons I wanted to do them fresh. Now, I'm looking for a more stepped-back look. It's part of that changing directions on my journey thing. I am probably not going to give many specifics along the way. Instead if someone wants to ask me, they can ask me.

So where do I fit along these lines. Money--I'm closer to the break even side, but it is growing more important in some decisions. I prefer to be a little understaffed, boredom is the greatest downside I can have at a job. I fall somewhere near the middle of the housing line. I do like getting to know people, especially those with considerable different backgrounds and ages than mine. But I need my me time more than many.

I have been a cook for many years. I know great food, good food, and bad food. The sous chef that I mainly trained with would sometimes feed me crap and I would have to tell him what was wrong and how to prevent or fix it. Many times to get the best answer meant I'd have to eat more than just a bite. OK, there were a few times it was "Just shoot the #$*@% that served me this #$@&?!!" He wished me luck in having only unarmed customers. It wasn't my first experience, I grew up with a father that liked to cook somewhat experimentally. If all I could tell him was I didn't like something, I would get a second portion and a "I didn't tell you that you had to like it, I told you to eat it." So food is a bit complex with me. I could be the worse critic, but I'll probably be the least critic.

I like when job descriptions are a bit fuzzy. I like an occasional sponsored gathering, but most of the time I feel a bit guilty because I know how much effort someone has put into it, and I would just rather not.

Um, OK, the ketchup thing. I have met people that like ketchup on their waffles...and another that will use ketchup if you don't have Sriracha. I think it's a bizarre taste.