What is a college student's budget?
1. It's what makes me eat cereal for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all three snacks in between.
2. It's the reason I am the dollar store's most devoted customer.
3. It's why I cringe every time my Starbucks drink rings up to $5.
4. It's why "splurging" to me means getting a baked ziti pizza slice instead of a regular one on those special occasions.
5. Lastly, it's why I worked as a take out girl this summer.
While we study hard for whatever it is we aspire to be, most of us are forced to work jobs we don't necessarily love. To bring in that extra cash, we apply for jobs like waiting on tables, working in libraries or wiping smelly sweat off machines at the gym.
These jobs suck. But that doesn't mean we can't learn from them.
Below are the things I've taken away from being a take out girl.
1. When calling a restaurant for a delivery there is actually a human on the other side of the phone.
I don't know why I always assumed people who answer phones at restaurants have the ability to translate speech at 100 words per millisecond. Do not rush through your name, phone number or address when placing an order because your food will not get to you. I repeat: your food will not get to you. It's so easy to hear "214th street" when in reality the customer said "213th street." Trust me, the delivery boy is never a happy camper when he's forced to repeatedly ring a doorbell, only to hear people shouting, "I didn't order anything," through the intercom. And you won't be a happy camper when he comes back to tell you about it.
2. While on the topic of delivery boys, let's discuss lesson number two. Never offer to be a delivery boy, like, ever.
If you have no sense of direction, an inability to drive faster than 10 mph on a highway where the minimum speed is 40 mph and you gag from the smell of take out food, do not do what I did: offer to be a delivery boy. If for some reason you offered and your first day on the job happens to be in a few hours, I have one piece of advice: don't wear mascara. I can't guarantee there won't be tears, makeup and BBQ sauce streaming down your face by the end of the night, when you can't find the elevator in one of the buildings and for some reason the stairs only get you to the garage.
P.S. There are very few air refreshers that can get rid of the smell of take out food - I have yet to find any of them.
3. Although they don't tell you this during your interview, take out is actually in charge of portioning food.
So if you've never chopped up 50 pounds of broccoli with a butcher knife or rolled bags of rice and caramelized onions, brace yourself for the job. You will learn a handful of noodles weighs 9 ounces and you will feel fat when you realize your idea of a serving size was 10 times larger than what a serving size actually is.
4. Most college students have jobs they essentially despise. But no college student is alone with these feelings of angst, fear and annoyance when it comes to living with a college student budget.
Instead of crying about and sulking over your miserable job, learn to laugh about it. Let it be your inspiration to work hard, so in the future you have a solid and well-paying job. This is a learning experience for us all.
To all you take out workers: I feel your pain. Just stick through it and keep smiling when your manager asks you to fold coloring books.
To college students working other miserable jobs: tell me about them. I'd love to hear what lessons you've learned from your really great jobs.
Email: keren.baruch@ubspectrum.com
