Waffle House

Waffle House! Raise your hand if you love Waffle House! If your hand isn't raised, you are lying. We as a society love waffle house. It may be dirty and greasy and run through you like a firecracker [probably the grossest thing I've ever said via blog], but you love it! The plastic menus with their pictures [thanks, I forgot what eggs and bacon looked like!]. The greasy floor that you could easily pull a Risky Business on. The 24 hours of operation, perfect for early morning coffees or late night meals that soak up whatever your consumed that evening. Aw that yellow glowing roof top is like a house of worship for college students, truck drivers, and any other lonely sole in need of a good meal... well, a meal at least. 


I worked at Waffle House. That's right, I wore the uniform, with the black shoes and visor, I ain't got no shame! mama gotta eat, which means mama gotta work. And during my junior year of college, I worked in a waffle house. It was an interesting experience. I got to wash dishes behind the counter, being hit on by truck drivers at 7 in the morning [oh yes, I have never been more attractive than when I'm in my waffle house uniform with a layer of grease covering my face]. It was great. One day, I was taken to the back to learn the joys of food prep. At first, I was a lowly dish washer slash girl who got to pour bleach down the drain in the bathroom when it started to stank. But that day, I was being promoted to food prepper. oh glorious day. 


Food prep was fairly easy. The Waffle House runs on efficiency, meaning that the ingredients for your delicious [ok mediocre] food are prepped in advanced. You can't take the time to slice up a tomato on the line. You need tomatoes that are pre sliced, mayonnaise that is already divided from the jelly packets, eggs in a specific bowl. That's where I came in.  An intricate part of the waffle house team.  


My trainer was a man named Rob. He was a good ole' boy with a thick country accent who was always nice to me. He generally told the creepy truck drivers that I was off limits, which I appreciated. My knight in waffle house apron. He took me to the back [the magical food prep area] to show me what needed to be prepped and where it went. During this riveting explanation process, I was shown how to prep cheese. You took the pre-sliced cheese and peeled it from the block. You then laid a piece like a square. On top of this one, you laid a slice like a diamond. Square. Diamond. Square. Diamond. You did this so there was always an accessible corner, easy to grab and through on some scattered and smothered hash browns. While teaching me this process, I stated that it was kind of monotonous. To this, Rob replied, "well, I don't know about that, but is it like doing the same thing over and over!"


Good point Rob. I think I'll go back to the square diamond pattern. Need to practice...