It’s like Cinderella in reverse, but I’m a guy, and I’m still doing well but just want to experience a more difficult type of work while learning to cook. Okay, it’s nothing like Cinderella.

Working Full-Time with a Part-Time Job

I work at Disney in the afternoon from Sunday to Thursday full-time. My job is not labor intensive and is the best job I’ve ever had and probably will ever have.  It’s awesome cause it pays well, the people are cool, the work is easy (for me), and there’s a lot of perks. My work is completely done on computers so I have very fragile office hands from a lifetime of light work.

With my schedule starting in the afternoon, I’ve found myself with a lot of free time in the mornings that I waste binging on TV shows until it’s time to go to work. I should be more productive, but have become extremely lazy.

Complaining Full-Time

At work, there’s a lot of people who complain about their job or someone they work with.  But that’s because they’re super comfortable at their job.  I’m guilty of this as well, but realized it some time ago.  Any job can become stressful if you let it.  The stress is something you create, because if you jump back to a REALLY difficult job, you’ll start to appreciate everything much more.

Whenever I hear someone at work complain now, I just laugh thinking how insignificant the issue is.  It doesn’t matter if someone forgets to do something, a project is late, a client is mad or if you have to do more work because of someone else’s mistake.  The job is easy, pays well, paid sick days, paid vacation, paid holidays, half days before a holiday and a whole lot of perks and parties.

Getting The Job

I applied for a cook position with Marugame Udon through Craigslist. The application was just emailing them a resume and I heard back from them the next day.  An interview was set up several days later.  I told them I had no prior experience but was ready to learn. Bam! I was hired. Super easy.  People say it’s really hard to find work, it’s not.  It’s really HARD to find EASY work.

Driving To Work In Traffic

Additionally, I spend 1 hour driving from home to the part-time job and then 1 hour driving from my part-time job to my full-time job.  That’s 2 hours of unnecessary driving each time I go to my part-time job.  My full-time job is only 15 minutes from home each way. I got really used to driving for short periods of time. If any time I had to be in traffic, I’d be frustrated if it took longer than 20 minutes since my driving tolerance was low.  Part of my reason for driving through traffic was to further understand some of the struggles people have getting to work.  An hour drive is common for many people.

FYI: One of the chefs at my part-time job drives 3 hours to work in traffic each way.  Without traffic, it’s an hour.

I learned that there are a lot of struggles people have: from finding a job, getting to work, working a hard job and getting along with people at work.  I’m getting better at understanding these struggles.

Working Part-Time

The application was for a cook (I have no cooking experience) but turns out it’s more of a “crew member” which means the job can change depending on the business needs.  You can be a cook, food prep, cashier, dishwasher or busser at any time.  It’s a TOUGH job.  You’re on your feet the whole time and only get a strict 10-minute break every 2 hours. But if you work 4 hours exactly, it’s only one 10-minute break.

The Pay

During the interview, they asked me what I was looking for in pay. The posting said $13/hr plus tips, so I said that.  I didn’t negotiate because I have no cooking experience and I don’t really need the money. Minimum wage in California is currently at $12/hr.

I actually make more money from credit card sign up bonuses and day trading cryptocurrency.  Not enough to make me quit my super awesome job at Disney though…not yet at least.

The Full Story

The series of posts will be called “Memoirs from Marugame: Day x”.  Stay tuned!