Who Sold Your Cheese?
Well, things have changed since I last commented on cheese, and I now have a Saturday gig at The Cheese Shop for the duration of the holiday season. It's a lot like this.
Yep, it's just like that. Well, minus the bouzouki music, and the British people, and with, you know, actual cheese available for purchase. I'll be there the remaining Saturdays of 2010, minus Thanksgiving Weekend and xhollydayx's birthday, or Christmas as some people call latter.
Like many of the more interesting jobs in my life, I sort of fell into this. Due to my longstanding patronage of said shop, the asked if I was interested in filling in over the holidays. I said sure, and then there was some pretty consistent failures by their management to contact me, but ultimately it all got worked out and I went in this past Saturday. My duties mostly consist of wrapping cheeses, returning them to the cases, and cleaning, with some customer assistance if things get stacked up and the occasional trip downstairs to get items out of the cold room. It's not too difficult, and so far my colleagues (a mix of both full-time employees and Saturday-only people) have been very helpful and patient, the latter of which is key when you have 5 people moving about with knives in approximately 40 square feet.
The hardest part is identifying cheeses that have been left on the back counter to be re-wrapped so that they can be put back in the correct case. This is made even more difficult when, for instance, you have a chunk of 4-Year Quebec Cheddar and a chunk of 7-Year Quebec Cheddar. Since it's the same cheese with different aging, they look exactly the same, and since both are awesome the problem comes up over and over again. Oh well, I guess I'll cope.
The main downside is that I'm on my feet for 7 hours straight, a situation I have not experienced since I worked fast food back in high school. This wouldn't be a big deal if my right knee wasn't structurally unstable. I was fine for most of the day, but made the mistake of sitting during my lunch break; getting up again was a challenge. Saturday night was a little rough.
A little extra cash in pocket never hurts (for the first time ever I left the Market with more cash than I entered with), although pragmatically it wasn't even two hours worth of overtime at my day job. The plus is more along the lines of "a change is as good as a vacation" and learning more about cheese. We'll see how it plays out. In any event, if you come to the market swing by and say hi.
Click to viewYep, it's just like that. Well, minus the bouzouki music, and the British people, and with, you know, actual cheese available for purchase. I'll be there the remaining Saturdays of 2010, minus Thanksgiving Weekend and xhollydayx's birthday, or Christmas as some people call latter.
Like many of the more interesting jobs in my life, I sort of fell into this. Due to my longstanding patronage of said shop, the asked if I was interested in filling in over the holidays. I said sure, and then there was some pretty consistent failures by their management to contact me, but ultimately it all got worked out and I went in this past Saturday. My duties mostly consist of wrapping cheeses, returning them to the cases, and cleaning, with some customer assistance if things get stacked up and the occasional trip downstairs to get items out of the cold room. It's not too difficult, and so far my colleagues (a mix of both full-time employees and Saturday-only people) have been very helpful and patient, the latter of which is key when you have 5 people moving about with knives in approximately 40 square feet.
The hardest part is identifying cheeses that have been left on the back counter to be re-wrapped so that they can be put back in the correct case. This is made even more difficult when, for instance, you have a chunk of 4-Year Quebec Cheddar and a chunk of 7-Year Quebec Cheddar. Since it's the same cheese with different aging, they look exactly the same, and since both are awesome the problem comes up over and over again. Oh well, I guess I'll cope.
The main downside is that I'm on my feet for 7 hours straight, a situation I have not experienced since I worked fast food back in high school. This wouldn't be a big deal if my right knee wasn't structurally unstable. I was fine for most of the day, but made the mistake of sitting during my lunch break; getting up again was a challenge. Saturday night was a little rough.
A little extra cash in pocket never hurts (for the first time ever I left the Market with more cash than I entered with), although pragmatically it wasn't even two hours worth of overtime at my day job. The plus is more along the lines of "a change is as good as a vacation" and learning more about cheese. We'll see how it plays out. In any event, if you come to the market swing by and say hi.