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Til the Fall semester starts, I'm a host at the same restaurant where Jake works. I've always managed to escape front-of-the-house restaurant work. For some reason, it always seemed like a nightmare to me. I mean, I know that most people aren't just itching to be a server or a host, but you know...

Turns out it's not as bad as I thought. I use a lot of the skills I used in customer service jobs. The strange thing is the type of people that I now find myself with every day. It's not unpleasant; it's just new. They seem really thick-skinned and unapologetically vulgar... but in a funny way, not a creepy way. It reminds me of my days as a cook at a local pizza and deli place. Lots of laughs, pranks, confrontation, and comments about substance abuse. This one waiter tried to bully me into seating his section more often than the others. I didn't expect to get into a fight in my first week... and I think the fact that I fought back at all scared him off. Pretty sure I give off some kind of "I don't belong here" scent, and it makes me wonder if working in restaurants changes you or if they simply attract a certain personality type.

I feel like I'm coming off kind of snotty or something, but let me just say that a lot of my hesitation for working in restaurants had to do with insecurity. I'm sure I'd make a terrible server admire people who can do that all day. It's extremely physical and seems emotionally tiring as well.

TL;DR: It seems like there can be some culture shock when you change work environments. Have you ever experienced this?

Absolutely.

A different work environment can make or break you. A boss that sucks a dick, too many hours, too few hours, coworkers are incompetent, coworkers are hypocrites, etc..

Unions.

Good god, I worked for a company who was unionized. It felt like child care for adults. I saw EVERYTHING happen there but it was still better than another place where people consented to having sex for "favors" such as better shifts.

My current job though is a step back in terms of salary from my previous job (maybe 8-10% less) but the flexibility and the culture of this work environment more than makes up for it.

When I left a job that I hated and where I worked mostly alone, I spent the first year of my new job not saying much at all, and swearing a lot when I did. It took my a year to start socializing with coworkers at all, and about three years to get my cursing down to a reasonable level.

Gusto said:

When I left a job that I hated and where I worked mostly alone, I spent the first year of my new job not saying much at all, and swearing a lot when I did. It took my a year to start socializing with coworkers at all, and about three years to get my cursing down to a reasonable level.

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I'm ex navy and work on a railroad. It's practically a prerequisite that I swear. It's kinda sad that the conductors say their job is the hardest part an the only reason they say that is because they have to think about what they have to do and remember what they put where. I'm an asshole for saying but it's because they aren't too bright.

I know going from working as a bank teller to working in a casino was a real shock. We had our share of weirdos come into the bank, but they were nothing compared to the dregs of society I dealt with in the casino. If you ever want to lose faith in humanity go work swing or grave shift on the floor of any casino. One night I saw a man have a massive heart attack and die almost instantly at a baccarat table. He was with his wife. She, being the concerned spouse that she was, ignored him and scrambled to scoop up all of the chips that he dropped on the floor when he fell over.
Then there was this robbery that took place shortly after my shift one morning. One of my supervisors was the mastermind behind the whole thing.

O.O Oh my God.

Yeah.... I want to be upset by that article... I really do... but I can't find it in me to even be surprised. Hope the guard made it out okay.

As for culture shock? Yeah.... I went from being the quiet, shy geek to going to Parris Island. After that little personality injection, I then had to acclimate to life in the civilian sector again (reservist, go figure). Like CrimsonSoul, it's pretty much a pre-req that I curse, although I've been told to tone it down somewhat... something about calling citizens "demented coprophilic fuckwits" whilst directing traffic...

Officer_Charon said:

Yeah.... I want to be upset by that article... I really do... but I can't find it in me to even be surprised. Hope the guard made it out okay.

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She did. She was a very tough lady and actually came back to work for a little while, if I remember correctly.

Officer_Charon said:

something about calling citizens "demented coprophilic fuckwits" whilst directing traffic...

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That phrase actually made me laugh out loud, even shared it with my wife.

Our detachment is split into 4 watches of 5 members each. While I might go to another watch member's party or whatever and socialize, each group ends up pretty tightly knit. I'm going to miss my crew.

Is there some sort of talking-loudly-about-being-hung-over/burnt quota that waiters have to meet every day, or am I just working with a bunch of partiers?

Probably more like you're working with a bunch that parties a little, but tries to appear cooler by saying/acting like they do a lot.

The staff of the bar we all frequent are exactly like that too.

Officer_Charon said:

Yeah.... I want to be upset by that article... I really do... but I can't find it in me to even be surprised. Hope the guard made it out okay.

As for culture shock? Yeah.... I went from being the quiet, shy geek to going to Parris Island. After that little personality injection, I then had to acclimate to life in the civilian sector again (reservist, go figure). Like CrimsonSoul, it's pretty much a pre-req that I curse, although I've been told to tone it down somewhat... something about calling citizens "demented coprophilic fuckwits" whilst directing traffic...

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Problem wasn't the cursing, you used a big word they didn't understand instead of just calling them shitheads so they felt inferior. Great phrase! Keep doing it, maybe you can educate a few of them!

Yeah, the review probably says something like, "used 'coprophilic' on duty, what a fucking elitist asshole" or something.