working title

Job Number Four, Potato Peeler

After I went to college, my Mom started working, and my grandmother ended up working with her at the same place. The company made picnic-style salads which were distributed to and sold from local grocery stores. My grandmother worked in the kitchen, helping make the salads and my Mom delivered them to the stores. The owner decided he needed more help in the kitchen, and I was nominated by my family, as I was looking for work on the weekends and over breaks from college. Although I did a few other tasks, like putting labels on containers and mixing salads, most of what I did was peel potatoes. Pounds and pounds and pounds and pounds of potatoes.

The second best thing about this job was the music. We listened to an oldies station in the kitchen, and I loved the music. It was a million times better than listening to mainstream music on the popular radio stations, which I was forced to listen to at most jobs. The absolute best thing about the job was getting to work with my Mom and my grandmother. On occasion when I worked there, and then a few times even after I left, I would go on deliveries with my Mom. It was great to hang out with her every day after I became an adult. We became closer friends even though we were always rather close.

Now for the bad parts of the job (besides the boredom of just peeling potatoes for hours every day) – the boss took advantage of his employees. What boss doesn’t, right? Again, I found myself in another job where we didn’t get breaks. We worked all day long, and I’d get a five minute break to quickly eat a sandwich. There was constant criticism. It’s tough when an owner owns a recipe and knows that the customer expects the recipe to remain consistent, but sometimes it can seem unreasonable for the workers to be constantly told they’re doing it wrong. After I left the job, my mother and grandmother had to constantly ask to be paid and then their requests for raises were met with hostility, although they did a great job and worked there for years without a pay raise. They ended up having to leave just for the conditions they had to work in.

I was only at the job for a short time, but I really enjoyed my time there, because I got to see my family. For me, family has always been (and always will be) more important than my career. That’s why I always enjoy working with family members.