Riverside Reflections – Stray Thoughts on My New Job

I recently started working at Denny’s in Aberdeen, Wash.

My primary responsibility is dishwashing, but my job title is service assistant, which means that I’m the go-to guy for whatever comes up on the shift, whether it is cleaning bathrooms, power washing around the dumpsters, or just bussing tables when the waitresses are slammed.

So far I love it. I work the evening shift, and it seems we’re always busy, so it’s the kind of job where you can go bust ass nonstop and the time just flies. The day ends quickly, and if I’ve kept up and even got ahead at any point during the shift, I can leave feeling like I conquered.

I suppose I’m okay with thinking that I conquered. I mean, a pile of dirty dishes is an inanimate object; I’m not really causing harm to vanquish that foe.

Though I question the need to think of things in terms of domination or battle. Perhaps I can shift that sense to one of nurture and care instead. I wonder if I will feel such a sense of satisfaction when I do see it in that way.

What feels great – both in my awareness of it and the act of it – is the role that I’m called on to play here. Being a service assistant is an opportunity to serve those around me. When the waitresses ask me to bus a table, the cooks ask me to wash a utensil they can’t spare for more than a few minutes, or the hostess asks me to clean the shit off the toilet seat in the ladies room, I get to love and support them.

It reminds me of the support for my work that I’ve received here on Steem, support and encouragement that I try to give back through upvotes and resteems. It isn’t a selfless act (it includes self-interest in the same way curating does on Steem): my male ego loves being appreciated by the waitresses, and I am getting paid and securing my job by being so willing to help.

It feels open and purpose-filled, and I’m grateful for a job that gives me the opportunity have that experience in my daily life.

By the Little Hoquiam River, Hoquiam, Wash.