For those who don't know, a busser is a person who works in the restaurant and catering business. The main job descriptions are cleaning/setting tables and assisting the waiting staff. It's basically an entry level job that anyone can get after high school, like I did. That's one of the pros of this job: It is easy to do and training is offered. The con? Assisting the waiting staff. No one tells you what that means exactly, which opens the possibility of having people asking you to do things that don't necessary have to do with the job itself. For example? Having to clean after a dog, just because the boss is bothered by something as banal as dogs having to do what those beloved creatures do; I mean, they don't know any better so it's not their fault. Better yet? Having to do the job of someone else because that "someone" else didn't had the decency to do it. The irony of it is that a job is a job, so as much as you feel like a slave, because sometimes you do, you can't really complain that much. Moral judgement does not allow some of us to dance in a pole. So suck it up and keep going.

I may get crucified for writing this article, but ever since Jesus and Rock'n Roll couldn't save my sinful soul, well, I've got nothing left to lose. You should know by now I don't write to please the masses. I do still want to get some emotion out of you, so here I come! Anyway, me working as a busser was not all that pretty, although that goes without saying. Come on, who do you think was asked to clean after the dog? Luckily, a co-worker noticed that I felt unhappy so he or she offered to do it. Eventually, time passed and things got crazier, just like this article will. You all have heard the stereotypical manager that yells at you for no reason? Well, I've had one of those too. Except this one was something else. There was a policy that no one could leave early on weekends, even if you were done with your shift and you never really agreed to do overtime. Then there was Her, the other manager. The one manager that would deliberately interfere with your assignments. If you were ordered to put candles on the tables, she would blow them off and you would have to lit them again. If she would see you struggling with an aspect of the job, she would not help you. She would either get simply mad or ask you to not do it again, otherwise she would send you home and not get paid. Then again, there was no difference given that they would subtract my tips from my paycheck and actually pay me less.

After I left, things got worse, mainly because my Workstudy job didn't need me for the summer. Which meant that I needed another job. What better industry to look into than one where you have experience? You all know where this is going. I found a restaurant inside a hotel. It seemed okay, except for the part where they neglected to tell me that I was going to also do the job of a runner. A runner, as the name suggest, runs food to the costumers. Rephrasing? I was going to do the job of two people and still getting paid as one. After finding out that some restaurants don't even pay minimum wage thanks to tips, I took this one, the lesser of all evils. Besides doing double the work, everything was fine. Then I got new co-workers, and the fun began. They were also bussers. One of them would always contradict me in what to do during a regular day in the regular job. The other one was the exact opposite. He would not do anything. He would avoid doing any work at all cost. That guy made being helpless a talent.

I like to see him as one of the reasons as to why I left the industry. He would take naps and have casual conversation when it was busy as hell. Besides trying to always leave before me, him being useless was one of the reasons as to why I would get executed by management. One of our duties was to pick up the dishes that the hotel guests would leave after they were done with room service. He wouldn't do it, and because of that I would be blamed for it. Last but not least, the final reason. Manager and more managers. Three of them were and are awesome guys. I hope they are doing well. The other two were the most passive aggressive monsters I've ever seen. One of them would bring his girlfriend to the back room, and order food as we were about to close, forcing us to stay longer. He was actually fired because one day it was so busy, it didn't occur to him the restaurant itself needed his help.

I will be honest and admit that I was no peach. I wasn't the fastest. I do like to think I had a positive attitude towards things and that was helping me make progress in the long run. That didn't seem to be enough though for the next and last manager, which I would get to in a second. Nothing I did was good enough for him. He even thought I was lying on my resume. Before I continue, I believe it is important for me to say that he didn't necessary had a great relationship with the other employees. Anyway, this guy was the embodiment of passive aggressiveness in the sense that his actions would be a conflict with our job. Example? Him being constantly late would mean that certain aspects of the restaurants were closed to the costumers. Guess whose fault was it: Mine. He wanted to open ahead of time and not have all stations ready? Done! I was still yelled at for not having them all done. Besides, he supports Trump and there was nothing more confusing then a Mexican-American that supports Trump. After coming to the conclusion that "to each his own" I had to bolt. So one day I told them I got an internship and left. Every now and then I go back for a date. He still is there. But most of the friends I made are not. It's emptier. Sadder. I wonder why that is.