The end of this month marks my fourth year of working at the Arby's I currently work at. I started the job the summer before my senior year of high school and I am still there, slinging roast beef sandwiches to anybody who pays for one, or more realistically just anybody who asks for one in an angry enough tone, because Arby's seems to pride itself on giving in to customer outrage almost immediately. While that phenomenon is undoubtedly frustrating to witness, it's just one of many reasons that I discovered that one of the best ways to get through it is to just laugh it off. The picture I've made here is just one example. The haiku is only one in a series of about 15 that I've written and I have yet to decide if I actually want to publish them or not. In all honesty, they're probably the funniest poems I've ever written, all from the perspective of a character that is unnaturally infatuated with the concept of Arby's. I'm still undecided, but once my poetry collection is published I suppose you'll all find out.
I'll be the first to admit that I have a short fuse, especially when it comes to customers. There was a month period where I found a different job in the kitchen at the Alamo Drafthouse, where I wouldn't have to interact with a single customer, and the misanthrope I had become was very excited. Turns out, that job was really really really hard and I hated it, even though most of my co-workers there were hard-working, and great individuals; I had to get out of there.
I made my way back to Arby's and luckily they decided to throw me on the backline for the most part, and there I discovered that I could make fun of the awful customers with my co-workers all I wanted with seemingly zero consequence. Yes, I recognize that this is not the professional way to go about things, but I think there is something very important that everybody should realize:
IT'S AN ARBY'S.
Nothing needs to be that serious.
If I had lost all ability to just joke around with my friends and poke fun at myself, and the inherent nature of working in fast food in general, I don't know if I would even have a job at this point, maybe I would have moved back in with my parents in Seattle. When I decided to live on my own, I was not in a good place, plain and simple. Even though I rag on Arby's constantly, some of the best people I've ever met either work there or used to work there, and I wouldn't trade that or their support for anything. I've also learned a lot about myself, the nature of business, customer service, and this job sparked my newfound love for everything that involves food. So even though it's a stressful fast paced environment where you sometime rarely have time to catch your breath, my Arby's experience has been invaluable to me.
Also, I definitely want to extend my deepest gratitude to April Larsh, one half of the ownership of the Arby's I work at, because she's shown me that it is in fact possible to own a business and genuinely want to take care of the people that dedicate their time to your business. She's truly a shining beacon of hope in this world and I will always wish her the best in all her endeavors.
If you read the whole thing, thanks for sticking around to read this article about a random writer dude who works at Arby's, it means a lot.
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