I've Never Had My Lunch Stolen

Admittedly, my goal in my life has always been to not work in an office. I compare it to a corporate claustrophobia. It was a funny realization I had the other night; I found a post on Imgur.com , a website that I spend an embarrassing amount of time on, about how in offices, people steal each other's lunches.

I had no idea that such a thing was a common issue in modern office life. I asked if this was a widespread thing and I got about 150 responses, short stories on their experiences. Some of my favorites were:

@giantmongoose: Yep, it's ridiculous. A grown ass adult sees your slice of key lime pie and JUST FUCKING EATS IT. But I'm not bitter or anything.

@babymuncher (where do they think of these names???) My dad worked in a car factory and this one guy ate everyone's sandwiches every day. So everyone put motor oil on their sand which one day

@LeSeyne Hi. My name is Louie. Yesterday, I had a delicious ham-and-cheese called "mike".

It's funny, with the exception of a summer stint working at a law firm in Boston, I've never worked in a true office. To give you an idea of the work I've done, I've cut trees, been a bike messenger, worked as a political consultant ("Office" is a loose term on this one...), documentary film maker, photographer, and then the restaurant industry.

I had no idea that Lunch Bandits were one of the many trip-wires in the office world that I have never been a part of. I told my wife this weird factoid, and the result was hilarious.

"Oh my god," she started, "[name redacted] has eaten at least 5 of my lunches. I know it was him. I just could never catch him. Motherf***er." Keep in mind this was about 6-7 years ago. Granted, I still remember every asshole who ever bullied my in elementary school, so I suppose it's not that hard to believe.

It's so funny, these little things that we experience that stick in our memory. In the restaurant industry, because you are serving food, you really don't bring it in to work with you, unless of course you are a health nut in which case you are weird. Some places do family meals at the beginning of the shift, where chef throws together a meal based on what he has in stock and is the least expensive. In fact, that reminds me that I need to ask my Chef about it.

Overall, I'm not sure why I found this little phenomenon so entertaining. I watch The Office, and it's hard for me to believe that half of the hijinks that occur on that show really happen in real life. It's curious, the world that we live in.

For bartenders, it's really Tip Thieves that are the bane of a coworkers existence. Bartenders usually split tips when bartending behind the same bar, but I've caught a few of the people I've worked with pocketing tips from their friends so they don't have to share with their co-workers or tip out to their support staff.

Do you have a great little story about something like Lunch Bandit's that occurs only in your workplace?  Post it in the comment section! I'm curious to hear what a strange world we live in.

Stay thirsty,
Eric

The Big Secret

Change is always a very exciting time.

As many of you may know, I will be opening Driftwood Kitchen on H St. NE - the neighborhood I've called my home since I have moved to Washington DC. It has been hectic and until we get closer to an opening date, I won't be releasing the details that so many of my friends, family, and clients are interested in. That will come later, I promise. I have learned something valuable that I needed to share.

I had a friend of mine who works a 9-5 job tell me, "Well, that must be great. They always say that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life."

That, dear readers, is a lie. Falsehood. Misrepresentation. Myth. Tall tale.

Bullshit.

I love what I do, and I know that I do. It is the type of steel-trap certainty that causes me to take turns doubting it, renouncing it, and coming back to it within a single thought. It's what made me realize a very simple truth:

If you love what you do, you will work every single day of your life.

Sometime since agreeing to open and run Driftwood Kitchen, I found myself answering phone calls and texts 20 hours of the day. I'm in there at 8am and leaving well after 8 to go to meeting with my owners, or to retreat to my couch to do more work on my computer. I don't have days off, I simply have a few hours every day where I can take a breath. There is always something to do. When I go out for dinner, I'm thinking about my dishes. When I'm at another bar, I'm looking for ideas and inspiration. I spend most of my time talking about Driftwood. I spend the rest of my time thinking about it. When it comes to operating a business, there are always a task in each hand and three more in the air that you are juggling.

Don't get it confused; I am not complaining about it. I am exhausted and put my head down and think about the task hand.

I have the fortune to be working with some of the finest businessmen and restauranteurs with the highest standard of motivation, dedication and savvy I have seen. Mo, one of the principal partners, told me when I accepted this position: "Get ready to work harder than you ever have." He was right.

What I have realized in this short amount of time about when you start your own business and really get down to it, you don't stop. Ever. You work every single day. Maybe I'm not in the physical business itself, but my mind always is. And that is the big secret. I have the absolute privilege of busting my ass alongside serious professionals  every single day of the week.

And that is loving what you do.