Crackin' the Whip!!!

The Adventures of the NavySailorgirl:
Crackin' the Whip!!!

Rumor has it..
Already everyone knew about it. It had been talked about for a week now. The old night galley Sup was leaving S-2 and swapping places with a younger First Class. He would become the new Night Galley Sup for S-2 galleys FWD and AFT. It wouldn't be easy getting used to a new "chief in town", but thats the way the cookie crumbles. The Aft galley has already been rotating people (Although, I have the pleasure of working in this delightful place for over 6 months now. That's just wonderful, just wonderful!!! And in case you haven't figured it out yet, I am being sarcastic!!!)

Of course, there were the rumors that go something like:

"Oh, yeah! I heard we're getting a new night Sup for S-2. I heard he was really strict!"

"Aw, Man! I wonder if I can get along with him! He use to work in the CPO Mess. I hope he doesn't try to run the Main Galley like the private messes!"

"I also heard that he was being sent here to set us "night slackers" straight. Darn haters!"

"OOOO! He's a really big dude!"

And that he is. He was like a tall, mocha giant; He had to be at least 6'5. It was a friday that the New Night Galley Sup came for a short tour of the galleys. At first, he seemed a bit intimadating with his arms crossed. He had no emotion in his face. The junior cooks that were around just stared at the tall stranger. Of course, some side comments were followed by the stares.

Our night crew watch captain gave the New Galley Sup the tour. Later on, he told me what happen:

"Oh, yeah! He's different alright. He even looks mean! He said that he wanted this place clean! No more two hour breaks for us."

Yes, that is definitely what night crew needed; a more active and stern Galley Sup. Not to say that my guys are lazy; I have some really good workers on my watch. Its just that the watch was too laid back. There had been some not so good turnovers in the pass, and I didn't like that. Now, I'm sure things were going to change. It was time to "crack the whip!"

the New Night Watch...(No more Night crew Slackers...oh, yeah...ummm...I'm being sarcastic again!!!)

"Hey, put the waffles on sheet pans!"

"Why do I have to do that?"

"Hey, man its coming from CS1. He said do it!"

"Why do I have to do what CS1 says!"

AAAAAHHHHH! And the complaining begins!

It hadn't even been 24hrs yet, and already several of my junior cooks and fsa's are annoyed by the New First Class. Just about everything that My Watch Captain and I put out was questioned. Remember my last blog about big babies? Oh, Man! These big grown babies complained and cried about everything:

"Why we gotta do that? We never did it before?"

"That's just not gonna work. He is trying to run S-2 like S-11. This is a big galley, you can't do that!"

"I want the old Galley Sup back! This man is crazy!"

"WHAT! Are you serious? He wants me to do that...I can't work with this new first class!"

Nothing but whining from my crew...Man!!!

And how do I feel about this New Galley Sup? I honestly don't know...although he seems to always have a smirk on his face. He seemed intimidating to me at first, but he's not that bad. Well, I haven't done anything to get me in trouble yet and I hope I don't. He did tell me that for me to be only a third class, I was doing an impressive job. That meant alot to me especially coming from a first class that seemed to be top notch himself.

Despite the groaning and complaining of some of my galley "children", the galley has been getting cleaner and our watch has been getting out alot more earlier after turnover. Even our brother watch- the day crew- noticed some changes. I was a bit offended by some of the comments made by day crew, but at least they noticed our hard work. I don't know, maybe I shoudn't be so sensitive.

I have been stress free for some time now because I have more support from the New Galley Sup. He is in the galley more. He even serves on the line! But I don't know how long that will last...

I hope things get better with this New Galley Sup and I hope my crew will start to like him or at least get used to him.
With only 61/2 monts left of this Deployment, I am going to need the support of my chain of command. I hope to start smiling more than crying. I want to laugh more and not stress so much. I also want that for the rest of my watch. I hope this new First Class is easy to get along with. I even hope I learn alot from him; he seems to have alot of wisedom. Only time will tell. In the meantime, our new boss will set new rules. He will correct certain discrepancies with the night watch. Our New Galley Sup a.k.a. "Mocha Giant" will be crakin' the whip!

-CS3 Nelson