8 Things I've Learned Since Working in Food Service

A couple months back, I got a job at the local Chick-Fil-A. Yippee.
I just needed some extra cash, and working at chick-fil-a is apparently my way of earning it. But, here are the 8 things that working there has taught me:

1. Have patience, please.
You may not know it, but when you're sitting in the drive-thru, rattling off your order at 100 mph, this poor kid on the headset is listening to you talk, typing in your order, reading back your order, making the drinks from the order before yours, communicating with other employees, and making change, all at the same time! There is A LOT of multitasking involved, so try and be patient if they ask you to repeat part of your order, or if they take a second to answer when you speak.

2. The cashiers are people too.
One thing I really started noticing was that some guests treat me as though my only purpose in life is to deliver to them their chicken sandwich and waffle fries. I started wondering, do I do that? Do I completely ignore the worker as a person, and if my main focus is "where is my food??" I hope not. I'm very conscious of it now. When a worker asks how are you doing, at least answer them. Don't just rattle off your order, pay them, and walk away.  Tell them you're doing well. Ask them how they're doing. Cashiers have to deal with hundreds of rude and grumpy people everyday. Be one of the nice ones, for a change.

3. We're nicer if you're nicer.
This goes back to number 2.
No, we're not going to do something nasty like spit in your food if you're rude to us, but we will try and get you to leave as soon as possible. If you're kind to me, I'm going to be kind to you. I'll make sure you got the sauces you wanted, and I'll throw a couple extras in there. If we happen to have an extra milkshake sitting there(it happens, I promise!,) I'm gonna give it to you- on the house. I'll triple check everything, to make sure your order is perfect! You be nice to me, I'll be nice to you.

4. We have no control over how fresh your food is.
I once had this rather verbal woman come through the drive-thru, and while ordering, she stopped herself mid-sentence and said, "Oh, and we want our fries FRESHHH." I just ignored her comment. Truth is, people, we have no control over how fresh your fries are! In the front, we don't handle the food. We take orders, make drinks, and hand you your bags. We don't make each sandwich or scoop each box of fries. That's what the kitchen does. And even then, the kitchen is going to give you the fries we already have. They're not going to cook a whole new batch of fries just become some picky lady won't eat the perfectly-fine-fries that have been sitting under a heat lamp for a whole 4 minutes. Nor are we going to deny the 3 already-made sandwiches sitting in the chute just to slow down the kitchen in making an entirely new sandwich because some guys wants "A big, juicy piece of chicken," as opposed to any other chicken we put on the sandwich. It's fast food. Just take your 3 dollar sandwich and move on.

5. I can NOT take your garbage through our drive-thru window. Stop trying to hand it to me.
It's a health code violation. And honestly, I wouldn't take it if I could! That's gross. I don't want to handle your used coffee cups and week-old McDonald's bags. We have a trash can 3 FEET BEFORE YOU REACH THE WINDOW. Just use that. I am not your garbage disposal.

6. We make mistakes too.
We all make mistakes. Especially if you order some big, complicated sandwich where you want extra pickle, no tomato, no bun, lettuce wrapped around it, well done, with fries actually on the sandwich., with a small and a large fruit cup on the side. We are bound to mess that up, and we take full responsibility if we do. We try our best. If you come through and tell us that your sandwich is wrong, we will be delighted to fix it! No charge. But don't shove the bag in our faces and say "YOU MESSED UP." Just calmly tell us what's wrong, and we'll have it fixed in no time. No hassle, no confrontation.

7. I'm not slow. It's just hard to hear you.
Have you ever tried to listen to someone over a drive-thru head set while an ambulance and it's sirens are whizzing by, along with a train blowing it's horn and employees shouting things across a room the size of a closet? It isn't easy. I once asked someone to repeat what they had just said, and in response, she druuuuug oooout heeeer speeeeeeech, aaaaas ifffff, I waaaas sloooooow. And it was an obvious dig at me, not just her trying to speak clearly.  That's just rude. I'm not slow. Just repeat yourself; that's all. You don't have to be a jerk about it.

8. GET OFF YOUR CELL PHONE.
Please, for the love of all things delicious, just stop coming through the drive-thru while yapping on your phone. If you want to finish your conversation before you eat, please wait until you're not trying to order. When you're not paying attention to what you're ordering, you ignore questions that lead to us getting your order wrong. People drive off without their change/food. They take the wrong food, because when we asked them if they had what's in that bag, they just nodded yes, because they weren't even listening. They're too consumed by their cell phones to actually listen when we speak to them. It's even worse when they order half of what they're ordering, and then they say "Hold on just a minute," and return to their phone call. Just order, then talk. It is NOT that hard.


Overall, just remember that the people giving you your food are people too. They don't want to be there, taking your orders and making your drinks. But they are there, and they're only getting paid minimum wage. So, be nice to them. Remind them that not every person that comes through line is a rude jerk... Only about half of them.

:)

DIY Campfire Hoodie

Refashion an old sweatshirt.

This is a relatively easy DIY. All you need is a pair of scissors and an old sweatshirt you no longer wear.

I started with an old hoodie from Aeropostale; a hand-me-down I haven't worn in probably 3 years.
Take your hoodie, and cut a deep V into the front. (Mine was about 5-6 inches long.)

After cutting your V, then go and cut a line straight across the top, (if you're using your bed as your work surface, be careful not to cut a hole in your $60 duvet cover! oops.) removing the hood and the seam of the collar in the process. (RED) After that, go and cut off the little corners of your V. (BLUE)

And you're done! Layer it over a tank top, or wear it as it is. It's perfect for a lazy winter day, or a bonfire with some friends. Did this work out for you? Share in the comments!

 

DIY Envelopes

Make your own custom envelopes in about a minute.

A few days ago, I was a genius and posted a status on facebook...

"Like this status, and I will send you a handwritten letter."

Why did I do this? Because I love handwritten sentiments, and in this day and age, they are beyond obsolete. So I wanted to write a letter to those who would take time to read it! I didn't realize though, that my facebook status would get 30+ likes. Great. Can you say carpal tunnel?'

 

Anyway, staying true to my word, I now have 30+ letters to write. But I don't want them to be cookie-cutter copies of each other. I want them to be personal, and nothing says "personal" like custom made. Now, how personal is a plain white envelope that came in a pack of 100? None whatsoever, other than the fact that their address is on it. So, I decided that for each letter, I would make an envelope that I felt the recipient would enjoy. 

This is a very, very quick DIY! I was able to make 5 envelopes in about 5 minutes. And you can do this with any relatively sturdy paper product. I used scrapbook paper for mine, but you could use something else like sheet music, maps, construction paper-- get creative!

So, grab one of the aforementioned boring white envelopes...

 

And then carefully tear it apart.

The now open envelope will act as your template to shape your other envelopes. Lay it down on your paper, trace it with a pencil, and then cut out the shape you just drew.

 

Now, you should have a piece of paper the same size as your template:

Fold it like your original envelope was folded.

Glue it down with a glue stick. Glue that sucker good; you don't want it popping open. For safe measure, after I glued the necessary seams, I put glue over top of all the lines I created.

Let that dry, and then you're done! Put your letter or card inside, glue it shut, slap a label sticker on the front, and that baby is good to go. Did your envelopes turn out well? Share it in the comments!

Hope you enjoyed.

DIY Cutoff T-Shirt

No-Sew!

This DIY requires no sewing, which is always a plus! Use any old (or new) t-shirt, the longer the better, to create this look. I'm using a T-shirt from a mission trip a few years ago! Grab a pair of scissors, and get started!

Cut along the seam of the sleeves. I wanted mine to kind of look more like a tank top, so I took a little extra off. Then, cut along the collar.
 For the bottom, figure out the length you want for your shirt. Cut a straight line in the back side of the shirt. The front side will be your knot-tie bottom. To do this, start from the bottom of the shirt at the center and cut to the length of your shirt at an outwards diagonal. Do both sides, creating two triangles.

Tie it in a knot, and you're done! Enjoy your new shirt! This took me a total of about 5-10 minutes.

DIY Wall Art

Cheap and Easy! (Mostly.)

So, in this picture, it's rather dull looking. But in person, this wall art is really neat! The one on the left has sheet music in the letters, and the one on the right has itty-bitty song lyrics. Here's how to make your own wall art like this!

Supplies:
Canvas (or quark - see below.)
Scissors or exact-o knife
Acrylic paint of your choosing
Paint brush
Glue stick
Mod-podge (optional)
Vinyl lettering (optional)

1. If you have a canvas, you can skip this step.
Get a large quark board. Trace a sheet of printer paper onto it, then saw out your shape. I'm doing two pieces of art, so I cut two pieces.

  2. Print out two sheets of paper: one that will act as the filling to your words, and one with the actual words. (Here, I have sets for each board. I used the font "elephant" at size 96)

3. Glue you background to your board. I would suggest using mod-podge here, but if you're broke like me, a glue stick will suffice. Make sure you coat it well.

4. Now, start carefully cutting out each letter! I broke my exact-o knife, so I'm stuck using scissors, but if you have an exact-o knife, I would highly suggest using it.

5. Glue the letters onto your board in the order you want them to be. Don't glue these heavily! Just barely place them there, as you'll be taking them off later. The vinyl letterings you can buy at wal-mart or target would be a good alternative here.

6. Start painting your board. Cover the entire thing, being careful not to get paint underneath the letters you just glued down.

7. While the paint is still drying, ever so CAREFULLY start pulling up those letters.

8. After the paint has dried, flip the board over and place a nail in the top of it, slanting upwards. Then slip a paperclip onto it; this will act as a hook to hang your art.

And you're done! In the end, you should have a final product that looks something like this:

You can try this with so many variations! Magazines, maps, sheet music, book pages as back drops? The possibilities are endless. Make it yours.
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Staying Motivated

Motivation

One of the hardest parts of running for me is the fact that I get bored! There's just something about running that makes my mind wander to how tired I am, and how sore I am, and how nice it would feel to walk. And then I start slacking, and that's not good! So these are tips and tricks to stay motivated while running.

1. Audio Books
I don't know about you, but running with music just does not hold my interest. I'm always stopping to change the song, or I've heard the song too many times and I don't pay attention to it. Anyway, music just doesn't cut it. So, I went to Audible and downloaded some audio books and put them on my iPod! This way, I can stay entertained while I run.

2. Change Your Scenery
If you run the same path every time, it's going to get real old real fast. Try mixing it up!

3. Buddy System
Run with a friend! If you have a friend running with you, you're less likely to stop when you get tired. You're accountable to the other person, so you have to stay running so that they don't slack off either. 

4. Music
If the audio book option doesn't appeal to you, go ahead and get a running playlist! Try songs like:
Falling Down - Atreyu
Everybody Talks - Neon Trees
Blackout - Breathe Carolina
Lights - Ellie Goulding
Drive By - Train
I Can't Stand to Fall - Philmont
How Far We've Come - Matchbox Twenty
Set Fire to the Rain - Adele
Those are just a few that I've used!

I hope this helps you! And also, stay hydrated! It's very important that you get enough liquids in you before/after you run, especially if you're running outside!
Stay strong! :)

Get fit!

It's time for you to get fit.

I'm not one of those girls who can eat whatever she wants and not exercise and still stay a size 4. Not in the slightest. While it is true that I eat enough to feed a small family, I learned the hard way that I need to exercise. Over the course of 1 year, I lost 40 pounds and went from a size 12 to a size 2-4, depending on what I'm wearing. I gained muscles everywhere, especially in my thighs and abs. I toned up. So, you can't tell me that I don't know how hard it is to lose weight or get motivated. I've been there! Now it's your turn. 

Here is a basic workout routine. This is what I do 4 days a week (Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri.) Depending on how fast you run, and how many breaks you take, this can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. It's up to you. Feel free to tweak it to your liking!

1. One-mile run. Do this wherever you please. Normally, I run mine around a soccer field (a little over 5 laps,) but you can do this on the treadmill, at a local Green-way, through your neighborhood... wherever you like! 
2. Sit ups! For me, the best muscle to tone is my abs. My goal is to have a visible six-pack by the end of this season. And sit ups will help with that! Do 3 or 4 reps of 35 sit-ups.  (Collectively, you'll do 105-140 sit ups.)
3. Flutter Kicks. Ah, flutter kicks. I hate these with a passion, but they have to be done. Some of you may not know what flutter kicks are, so let me explain:
   Lay flat on your back, hands under your lower back/butt to avoid discomfort. Raise both legs so that your feet are about 6 inches off the ground. Now raise your right leg up high, pointing you toes, while keeping your left leg 6 inches off the ground. Now bring your left leg up, and your right leg down. Don't let your right leg touch the ground! Keep it at 6 inches. Then bring your right leg back up, and your left leg back down. That's one. Your feet never touch the ground, until you're done. An easy way to count it off is to say "One, two, three, ONE! one, two, three, TWO!" Each "one, two, three" being when you raise your leg. Do 2 reps of 20.
4. Squats. Work that booty. Squats are relatively easy. Place your feet a little more than shoulder-width apart, and squat down until your knees are parallel with your feet. Don't let your knees go past your toes! This is bad for your knees, and can lead to injury. Then go back up. That's one. Do 3 reps of 20.
5. Push ups? This one is kind of subjective. I normally don't do anything to strengthen my arms, but when I do, it's just push ups. Do 3 reps of 10. 

And you're done! That wasn't too bad, right? Do this several times a week, and along with the proper diet, you'll be shedding pounds in no time. Good luck! :)