New Girl.
Leaving NH was hard - I am sure you get that by now, as I reference it in every post. (I’ll work on not doing that so frequently) One very hard part of leaving Keene, NH was saying goodbye to my waitressing job at Elm City Brewery, we even had a two month long farewell tour. If you have never heard or been, it is the most fantastic and lovable micro-brewery in the whole planet. I began as a busser there when I was 16 years old and became a legitimate family member of this locally-owned-family-run business. Throughout college I came back on summer vacations and on the weekends I ran out of beer money for some quick cash and quality laughs with my co-workers. When I graduated college and found myself where most recent college grads find themselves: unemployed, living with my parents, and facing astronomical student debt, the brewery opened its arms to me and once again allowed me to work full time.
If you have never stepped foot inside the “service industry” you are actually missing out. It is a close-knit, one-of-a-kind, and extremely/surprisingly profitable career choice. I once read a blog (blog on, fellow bloggers!!), (which of course I can no longer locate on the world wide web to share with you) about how the service industry is preventing recent college grads from going out a getting that “big girl/boy job with benefits and vacation and misery.”- Because the cash is so quick and the hours match up so well with binge drinking - not to mention, you are more than likely going to take a pay cut with a salaried/entry level/life sucking/real world job. Although I did not agree with everything in the article, it did bring up legitimate points. 1. I was recently out of college. 2. working under 40 hours a week 3. and making cold-hard cash, and a lot of it. It was actually encouraged to go out and drink on work nights, because heck, you didn’t have to be back to work until 4pm the next day! I love waitressing and do not like the stigma it receives as an illegitimate career path. However, I knew I needed to build a more professional career, mainly due to the money I spent on my college education. (if I knew what I know now, maybe I would have just skipped college)
Anywho, I was very sad to leave the brewery because I did not think I would ever find another restaurant that was so welcoming, fun and family-like. I have always known that serving would be a second-job/part-time gig for me throughout my 20s, because I love the social aspect of waitressing and I enjoy having nice things and paying my bills. After I had been a full-time personal assistant in California for well over a month and realized “yes, I have the time/energy/desire to find an after-work/weekend serving job” I applied to one of my personal favorite spots in town. Rumor had it they were starting up a weekend brunch and were in need of a very part-time server. I jumped at this opportunity and was lucky enough to get an interview. In my heart I felt like I was cheating on the brewery, for most of my life they had been MY spot, my stomping grounds, my people.. how could I ever think about changing that up. But because Deb (owner) refused to franchise in Santa Barbara, my options were limited.
Hilary & Drew interviewed me on the ever-so-lovely-and-super-funky patio at Seven Bar&Kitchen and a few days later I started! I was super nervous and awkward my first few weeks, I could tell this was an awesome spot but for once in my life, I was the NEW GIRL - and not the cute, spunky zooey deschanel new-girl, more like the weird girl nobody wants to sit next to at lunch. I began to think that I would never fit in..
“Who is this extremely odd human working here from New Hampshire, what’s a New Hampshire, is that in NorCal? Why is her voice so high-pitched and minnie mouse like, how has she never used micros (not a thing in NH)?, Why doesn’t she like to hug?” - these are fake questions I imagined my new co-workers were saying when I clocked out and rushed out of work when I was still too shy to stay and have my shifty. Ok, so the minnie mouse one was real, but it came from the nicest place, I swear.
And then it just clicked and I fit-in, I had my own place at 7. Everyone there has their own unique role, so I guess it was almost great that I am actually not like most california people - I created and filled my own niche there and I like to call myself part of the family. My co-workers have become my closest friends in this still-foreign land. 7 is more like the brewery than I ever imagined was possible. I enjoy coming to work, even when I’m tired from already working 8-5 at my other job, simply because they are a bunch of goofballs! My ultimate dream would be to have all my brewery friends and all my seven friends together at one location. However, I don’t think it would be legal and we would probably take over the world.