No more free bread

I’m sinking into this transition period in my life. I’m about to sign a lease for a beautiful master bedroom in a house with four other girls less than 2 miles from my campus, which is literally on the shore of Narragansett Bay. It’s absolutely beautiful and I’m really excited to move in. Here’s the ad for it: http://providence.craigslist.org/roo/2996350306.html

Today is also slightly melancholy because it was my last day at Panera Bread. I’m actually pretty sad to leave Panera, because it was a great time in my life. This past year has been SO stressful in school, and every time I walked into Panera I could expect a smile and friendly “hello” from nearly every single employee.  Never in my life have I had a job where everyone works as a coherent team, every single day. Believe it or not, going into work was a huge stress reliever, because for that couple of hours I could rely on having fun with coworkers, making customers smile, and a sense of accomplishment when I’d clock out for the day.

I’ve been there since last August, mainly closing bakery, barista, and dining room. Last semester I used to work four days a week, usually closing shifts, where everyone works really hard in that hour after the store closes to clean up and make it shine for when the doors open in the morning. Never in my life have I put that much effort into a job- I used to always get everything done and try to leave before that last hour was up- to the point where I’m running around all sweaty and gross, wiping and cleaning and mopping not only because that’s what I was getting paid to do (it’s an hourly job- why not be lazy about it and take as much time as possible?) but because I actually had an appreciation for a clean store after customers had been there all day. That appreciation comes full circle when I work an opening shift and the store is clean and everything is well stocked.

The employees at Panera truly are like no other. I can attribute my own ability to do my job well to the attentive and careful training of Dania, Donna, Diandra, and Kaitlyn. Mike, too. I wouldn’t have been employee of the month my first full month at Panera if I hadn’t been trained so well. I still remember being completely shocked when I was training how to close dining room (6-9pm) but didn’t end up clocking out until after 11, because Dania wanted to make sure I learned it the right way.

Dania and Donna are two women that really inspire me- nothing like seeing hard work and dedication pay off. When I started, they were trainers, having worked for a while doing what I do and accepting the added responsibility of training others the right way, every single time. Over the months they continued to do a good job, put in the time and hard work, and were eventually promoted to manager positions!

They join a team of four other managers led by Darrell. Darrell is the coolest General Manager I could have ever asked for- with his southern accent, use of the term “gal” multiple times in every conversation, and laid back personality, he set the tone of the store at easy going as long as you’re doing your job the best that you possibly can. Most of the managers have really high standards that seemed like a pain at the time but are justified by the hundreds of customers that come to Panera every single day, especially the regulars.

A lot of the employees really look up to me for continuing my education, but I look up to them for sticking with a job that’s not always pleasant in order to provide for themselves and their families. Also, employees at Panera work SO HARD. It makes no sense to me why all of these people of varying education levels, ages, experience, etc. are forced to work 40+ hours a week at nearly minimum wage (some even have second jobs) when there’s plenty of people that make tons and tons of money that don’t appreciate their job.

Having worked multiple shifts with nearly everyone in the store, I’ve come to appreciate the mosaic of personalities, backgrounds, levels of experience, interests, and effort that comes from every single other employee. Though we’re all different, there’s truly nothing like the teamwork that goes on in that store. Today is a testament to that- both managers were hands on while Ben covered dining room and dish for me, so I could cover cash and barista for Denine, so she could deliver a catering order because the Catering Coordinator was out. It’s a great feeling walking into work knowing that everyone has everyone else’s back. I can’t say that has always been true about other jobs I’ve had.

In closing, I’d just like to say that all of the people I worked with at Panera aren’t just coworkers, the manager assigning me a list of extra cleaning tasks, fellow cashiers, the guy that made my sandwich, etc. They’re friends.