My Fate This Summer

As some of you know, I have spent the past 4 summers of my life being a hostess at the Olive Garden- "When you're here, you're family"- I personally think that nothing could be farther from the truth, do you really want to be treated like family when you go out to eat! My fate this summer lies in having to work there AGAIN! i did not want to ever go back to Olive Garden, 4 summers was enough for me, but with a horrible economy and really no job experience and no degree, I was having a next to impossible time finding anything else. So here I am, my 5th summer at Olive Garden, and counting down the days until I never have to work there again!

Now it's not all bad, granted- they have great breadsticks, but people, I never get to taste those breadsticks unless i pay for them just like you (and *spoiler alert*- they come out of a box)! There are some perks to the job, and a lot of cons- here's my lists and reasons for my feelings toward Olive Garden
1) the first question out of everyone's mouth when they hear i work at the OG is "you must get tons of free food?" and the answer is a resounding NO! those people are so stingy, maybe that's why they are so profitable, but in exchange you get hungry employees!
2) you meet all kinds of people when you work at a restaurant, everybody's got to eat so you see all kinds! i enjoy the personal study of people that the Olive Garden environment affords, so at least that keeps my mind occupied! other than that, i've never been so bored in my life when i am assigned to greet, which is code for "be a glorified door stop and try not to feel like a robot when you say the same five phrases over and over again-"Hi, how many today, how was everything, thanks for coming in, have a great night"!
3) i do admit, that i get a thrill from the power that i hold as a hostess! this is ridiculous, i know but let me explain the thrill- every summer i start at the bottom of the hostess totempole, because of that people assume that i don't know what i'm doing, within a week they know that i know what's going on and not to mess with me, and then i try my best to work my way to the top of the totempole within the month! the top of the totempole allows me to be "Lead", which means i get to stand around and tell people what to do! i never thought that i would let power go to my head, but somehow it does! there is also a wonderful thrill knowing that you rule the restaurant even if nobody really knows it!
4) the only reasons i find myself going back to Olive Garden is 1) that they let me come back for the summer, 2) i don't have to work Sundays, and 3) i know that i can reasonably handle 4 months of the place before i go insane! i do have some friends there and i do enjoy it some days, but my final resolve is that i will never, after this summer, be going back to Olive Garden, unless it is to sit down and eat like a normal person, or as normal as possible, working in a restaurant ruins you to eating in restuarants because you know the inner workings and you know what's going on and you overanalyze a situation that should be relaxing and worryfree!
There are so many stories i could tell and more i could vent about, but for now, know that I am wasting away my summer days in a commercialized faux-italian restaurant, hungry because while you are coming in to eat, i'm working and so wishing i could have one of your breadsticks!