When I turned 16 years old everyone was starting to get jobs because, well duh, money! At first, I had no idea what I wanted to do because now I had options that weren't either babysitting or "under the table" jobs. I went back and forth between looking at clothing stores (for discounted clothes of course) and waitressing (TIPS) but eventually ended up at Twist Frozen Yogurt in Westwood NJ. I heard about this place through a family friend and thought why not? It's out of my town so I'll meet new people, and who doesn't love froyo?

So I filled out an online application and finally, four months later (they took forever) they called me for an interview. On the day of the interview, I walked in and knew that if I got the job, I would love it. There was a vibe about that place was very comfortable. Three years later I put in my two weeks notice and it was the most bittersweet feeling because I made such great friends and had fun, but college was stressful and I needed a break. But, I always tell people that it was a great experience and I suggest it to everyone I meet that is younger than me. Here are twelve things only a former froyo employee will understand.

1. Friends

Working outside of your town is stressful but even more stressful when the place you work at has 18 other people around your age and they have all been working together for three or more months. I walked in on my first day and was so overwhelmed because I was expecting "hey you're the new girl right?" But instead, I got a hug from one kid and work gossip from another. We all became instant friends. You have to have an outgoing personality and you'll be fine. Working outside my town was the best decision I could've made because you see your school friends all day long, so it's better to get a break from them at night. It did not take long for us to become close enough for half apps after work, or all of us asking for off on the same Friday night so we could have a party. I'm still close with a few of these people and it's been almost four years now. These people made work so much better and I wouldn't have stayed if it were different people.

2. Scheduling

By Thursday night, we had to have in all requests for days off for the upcoming week, but sometimes you find out about plans last minute or after the Thursday deadline. So what the employees soon found out was that the schedule was a mere suggestion and the group chat really made the decisions. Your phone would go off about 80 times throughout a 10 minute period of someone asking for someone to cover their shift and all 15 of you answering at once.

The perk of working for a while and becoming friends is that they are more inclined to take your shifts. We all used to make last-minute changes to the schedule, but when it worked out and someone showed up, the manager could care less. It was funny seeing the schedule change online about 500 times in a three-day span. But I'm sure we all learned this doesn't really work at other jobs.

3. Gossip

As many former froyo workers will understand, work gossip is so much better than school gossip. Outside of work you hang out with these people but not as much as the people you go to school with. So when you learn about something someone you work with did, it makes it that much better. It's like you know them on a different level. But there will always be at work gossip too. At work, there will always be at least one couple, one set of people who used to date, and one guy who every female coworker wants to get with. We had one guy that every girl used to text and he would only answer like two of us. Gossiping about other coworkers is what made double shifts seem to fly by.

4. Weird Co-Worker

We have all had weird co-workers that we had to call out sick whenever our names were next to theirs on the schedule. Those, of course, were the shifts that no one wanted to cover but eventually the manager caught on. Twist had its fair share of weird employees ranging from a girl who thought she was a witch, to a boy whose mommy had to come in and ask for time off for him because he was afraid of the manager, to a girl who was in love with another coworker and since we were friends she stalked me until she found all of his social media. Twist definitely had a good amount of weirdos but we wouldn't have had entertainment without them.

5. The One Pot Dealer

Every job has the one pot dealer, but around froyo, it's a little more common. Besides the one dealer, there was probably a bigger portion of employees who smoked. Twist had your normal amount of employees who would come to work "soooo hungry" with red eyes but I guess the froyo was just that good.

6. Manager

Your manager is your best and worst friend at the same time. There will always be a phone call when you finally get a day off and you ignored the group chat to cover someone's shift but at the same time she has your back when you need a day off. If you're lucky, your manager is like your work mom. She yells at you to clean things, tells you when you're doing stuff wrong, but at the end of the day gives you what you want, free froyo plus next Friday off, OK no Friday off but free froyo.

7. Froyo Fever

After a while of getting free froyo you start to get sick of it, or so you claim. When people ask to go out for froyo you look at them like, "seriously?" But when a new flavor came in at work you jumped on it faster than Katniss said, "I VOLUNTEER."

But there is another aspect that former froyo workers understand, the toppings bar. After seeing who sets it up, you start to realize that these people touched your food. That's why former workers are very selective about going to other places because they understand how things work, other people think the food just appears. But you know the struggle of cutting the fruit, prepping the stuff in the freezer, and making sure all those candies were perfect. You have every right to be sick of it but at the same time, you can't give it up.

8. Shoes

Every former froyo employee has that one pair of shoes that they always wore to work. It gets to a point where people think you only have one pair of shoes because they are actually filthy. But what's the point of cleaning them if you're coming back tomorrow? Filling machines is keyword for spilling liquified froyo all over yourself and your shoes and they have to be filled multiple times throughout the day. My shoes looked like I walked across a mudslide, a dirt road, then hiked up 15 miles. If they don't look like that you're not doing your job.

9. Nails..Or Lack Thereof

If you're a female and worked at any type of place that involved cleaning, you understand the struggle of not being able to get your nails done. You finally have money, but even gel manicures chip when your hands are in a triple sink washing cambros because it's "your turn" even though it's always your turn. Getting a regular manicure was an actual joke because your nails took one look at the sink and were like "OK bye."

Chances are eight out of ten of your nails were chipped after one shift.

10. The Music

The music that played at Twist made you want to jam a plastic spoon in your eye but at the same time, you found yourself singing along. We had a playlist that never changed in the three years I worked there that had the strangest compilation of music known to man. A bunch of us joke about hearing those songs outside of work causes post-traumatic stress.

We had old songs from artists like Blondie, Michael Jackson, and even older 70s bands like the Bee Gees. Then it would change from one of those songs to Drake or a Justin Bieber Christmas song. It was the most annoying thing ever and I know that other froyo places have their own playlist if not this same one. But as annoying as it was, it was oddly comforting.

11. The Customers

"How much will this cost?", "Do you think we should share?," "How many calories are in this?," "Is it weird if I mix ____ and _____ together?" One thing I learned from working at a froyo place is how to deal with stupid people. First of all, you pay by the ounce and I don't know how many ounces are in your cup just by looking. Also, the calories are on the screen and change based on the amount in your cup aka I don't know how many calories are in your cup until it is weighed. Also, I don't care what you mix but I will tell you "No! Omg people do that all the time!" to make you feel better.

I learned the craft of giving answers without sounding sarcastic (something that takes a lot of practice). It's hard to not be sarcastic when someone hands you a $5 when the bill is $4.98 and tells you "keep the change" like they just handed you the cure for cancer and you have to say "thank you!" with a fake plastered smile that is so overdone it starts to look real.

12. Leaving

Leaving was the most bittersweet feeling because I made some great memories there as well as some great friends but it was time to go. All of the people I had grown close to were getting other jobs or quitting for school reasons and it was a new group of people. It was their turn to make memories and have a fun/ easy job.

I always tell people that Twist has a special place in my heart and me and other coworkers still go visit the manager because as previously mentioned, she was our work mother. It really was an end of an era when the last of us quit and it was a complete set of new people but it was a great first job and I know other former froyo workers will agree.