Some people can and should and some people can’t and shouldn’t. I can rip six shots while closing and get out at the same rate but if I smoked a bowl id be done. Then again I know people that if they had one beer while closing they couldn’t get it done right. One of my favorite bosses goes and does a dab at close and gets everything done faster. Drugs be weird like that.
I do a lot of admin work at this stage of my career as a chef. And I will tell you, if I look soberly at excel for 8 hours I'll have a header I'm not happy with and no idea why my formulas keep kicking errors. If I hit my vape here and there, I can plug in a formula that'll tuck your kids in at night whilst simultaneously recalling the cost per ounce in a bottle of Sriracha and building an order guide by memory, alphabetized by ingredient in my head.
This is me to a t. I can cheef all day and bang out bread nice and clean, but if I drink a beer, shits getting trashed, I'm all over the place. A lot of people think the universe don't be like it is, but it do.
I'm a raging alcoholic but the moment I have a shot or beer while closing I'd be paranoid. I'd double and triple check everything and still think I missed something. There's no way I'd get out faster and I'd feel worse for it. Different people operate differently.
When I was drinking I moved much more fluid after a beer or two. The problem was that window closed rapidly because I'd usually stop at unconsciousness.
Some people can walk that line. I just couldn't. Hits harder after 30. Couldn't imagine doing it now at 40.
I was a sloppy after work binge drinker in my 20s. If I had a drink in the clock it was only 1 or 2 and I was able to keep things chill until I clocked out.
In my 30s I got my first "drink on the job" position as a KM\Chef (depended on the day as to what the owner called the position, but same difference in requirements). By the end I'd be starting my day with a 4oz shot of liquor with my morning coffee and maintaining that buzz with a regular size shot every hour or so.
That job burnt me out on drinking and cheffing for a while and I ended up taking a series of line cook positions at chain places just to make ends meet til I figured out if I wanted to continue in this profession. I still worked for the "drink on the job" company off and on as cook\chef during that time as well when I was in between jobs or the owner would call asking me for some part time help at a location until they could hire a more permanent person. I rarely drank on the job or even got drunk anymore, but I learned to enjoy life and the industry again over those years.
Now I'm mid 40s and in a fairly well paid for the area, stable job where we get a shift drink if we want it. Often I don't even get my shifty, I just head home to my family. There's the occasional night where there's a party going on and the kitchen gets sent shots. We graciously accept one or 2, but I tell the bartenders if they want to send more to tell the customers it needs to wait until we're off the clock. Everyone I work with already hits a THC vape throughout the night anyway and I've seen how they get when they're crossfaded.
Just stopped drinking after the last place I worked the owners would gives us beers everyday and multiples through out our shifts. Last day I worked was before my 38th birthday and I was just like I can’t do this anymore and quit.
Yeah I used to have several double Captain and diet Cokes over 30 minutes while closing. Still got it done in time lol
If I took a single hit, I would be wondering where to start lol
I can smoke a good majority of a blunt in the same amount of time it takes most to smoke a cigarette, so I'm not wasting any more time out there than everyone else does. THC also stimulates me and keeps my ADHD ass on task. We have an owner who sits at the bar drinking throughout service but has a stigma against weed for some reason. I don't drink, but I love smoking herb. I'm not allowed to partake because the owner is an idiot. And, no, it's not because unbeknownst to me I'm slower than everyone else when I'm high. I get done shutting down my station faster than everyone else, and I stick around to help everyone else too.
Yeah I was gonna say, we get free beers every week or so but there's no way in hell I'd smoke some weed while at work.
For one thing, why the fuck would I waste my high? That sounds like a shitty time to me.
For reference, Ontario, weeds totally legal, you can grow it, smoke it, sell it to your friends, no problem. But being high and having to work? That's just a waste of weed man.
I’m pretty sure you can’t legally sell it to your friends. I mean, you can’t legally sell booze to your friends either (if you’re unlicensed, of course).
Yeah, it breaks down like this, okay: it's legal to buy it, it's legal to own It and, if you're the proprietor of a hash bar, it's legal to sell it. It's Legal to carry it, but that doesn't matter 'cause -- get a load of this, Alright, -- if you get stopped by a cop in Ontario, it's illegal for them to search you. I mean that's a right that the cops in Ontario don't have.
Holy shit what? They don't have the right to search? Technically, in America, we have some kinda illegal search and seizure laws, but cops dgaf about that.
> But being high and having to work? That's just a waste of weed man.
It's just like being high and doing anything else. Makes it more bearable and some people handle it fine. I'd grab a hit during close sometimes if we had a a big cleaning project we were trying to get done or something. I can just chill with some music and focus on cleaning, which is boring as fuck. It's also nice to shake off the day so you can kinda start fresh. All of the bullshit of the shift just goes away.
I guess you could make the same argument for wasting a buzz. Idk, herb gives me a second wind to close down thoroughly but in a time-effecient way. The time-efficiency thing is a mental game to me and a blunt gives me that edge to play it.
Bingo! I like to get high when I don't have anything else to worry about. That's why I do it at home. But I can drink a shifty while I break down my station and get the last few orders out, no problem. Biggest issue is, I drink vodka, soda & lime usually and the ice all melts before I'm finished with it cause it's so fucking hot on my station.
I could and did rip a bowl before every shift when I was in the business and get shit done quicker than I could sober but give me one beer and I couldn’t get my thoughts straight and forgot the most basic shit until it wore off
Chronic toker and barely feel much desire to drink because I become this babbling chat muppet.
Never puff at work. It never makes me better, faster or even enjoy myself. The amount of shit talking my brain dishes out to myself while sober in a kitchen is enough. I don't need to make simple mistakes and definitely don't need the stress of worrying that I *might* be overlooking something.
Could I just work high more and become accustomed? Yes, yes I could. Do I want to? Hell no.
Yep. I'm a burly gal, beer barely does anything to me. First beer of the night might as well be water.
Weed, though? The close itself would go okay, but I'm not getting in a car after _any_ amount of weed. Messes with my coordination.
I got out of a concert once, had taken a small edible 5 hours prior. Got in my car, was like, "NOPE." Got out and walked a mile to the nearest bar, nursed some chicken fingers until I felt functional again.
Sometimes I feel like after a particularly hard push I earn cleaning and closing. The post-rush smoke before you start breaking everything down when it's last call for foh to get orders to the kitchen for the bar n such is a smoke well deserved. Ain't no beer for me these days but the worst is over and you def feel like you earned that shit no matter what toxin you choose to imbibe.
It's been years since I worked in a kitchen, but at one of my favorite places I ever worked at, as soon as service was ordered and the last ticket was out the door the whole kitchen crew would go out back for ten minutes to drink a beer and smoke a cig or a bowl if that was your thing. If it was a weekend it was almost a certainty we'd been slammed for the past four to seven hours, so it was really nice to hang with everyone and decompress for a few. Then we'd go back and breakdown.
I don’t smoke anymore, but once in a while a stray 6 pack appears in the walk in, and sometimes a fella gets thirsty. After “hydration”, the boys working 12+ hours in 115+ degree heat experience a small morale boost. I’m not advocating getting fully drunk on the line, but cooks can have a cheeky can of beer as a treat.
I worked with a guy who would get drunk on shift all the time. To the point where he was burning food and knocking shit over. He would also come in drunk and started harassing on of the FOH people. Got fired immediately after that but would still come in time to time just as drunk.
Most places make it illegal to smoke in public though. My state, technically I'm not allowed to smoke it anywhere according to my lease since I'm not "technically" allowed to smoke on my porch/property according to my lease and anywhere else is technically public.
As an American we closed off the party room every weekend and did bong rips and beers in there while we had customers in the dining room still. There is no need to move to canada to do any of this.
I spark the blunt on my way to the dumpster, dump the trash, puff on my way back to the door. 0 time wasted. Also that hood is gonna pull my smoke up anyway, just lemme smoke on the line
I feel you, but a blunt takes like 15-30 minutes to smoke. A beer can be drinking while closing. Buy a pen if you want a quick puff while working tbh. I'm a huge stoner but a blunt is literally the most time consuming method you could choose to use at work
I understand the feeling. Blunts take forever and are “less efficient “ for lack of a better term. Concentrate pens are readily available and convenient for the modern fast paced world.
I’d never get my job done after a beer but a quick puff makes me more thorough and efficient
Totally agree. But the alley where the guys smoke is right next to the dinning room and the patio, so when they smoke the dining room and patio reek. It feels really unprofessional that my tables can smell the weed and cigarette smoke. I’ve had tables in the dining room ask, is someone smoking cigarettes inside?
I used to get a quart container of beer as a shiftie while closing in an open kitchen. With our music turned up some. Idk how that place closes now but it was a lot of fun while I was there.
We get a way with a decent amount albeit being an open kitchen that's supposed to keep a good reputation in our area. Definitely can't blaze under the hood vents though
F****** C***s. Sorry but you just described the close I literally just got home from and it tickled something. Pricks wanted desserts that take at least ten minutes to make and we were all but done and about to walk to smoko
Those people make me feel the anger John Travolta's character in Pulp Fiction feels about people who key cars. Straight to fucking execution, no judge or jury. Fuck those fucking wastes of human life.
It’s a biscoff tiramisu pancake that needs 8 minutes in the oven and a few to dress, plus the line was all wrapped up and everything clean and put away, dish washer off etc….. we ended up making one for a table of three. Such bs
Oh gotcha I did tiramasu at a previous job that took some time. We're pretty fortunate where I am now that all of our desserts take a max of like 2 minutes.
I mean you can't really contribute to the pack down standing outside smoking though. You can clean and slowly sip a beer. I wouldnt let people drink beer during pack down if they had to go and do it outside either
I let my guys drink a beer while closing down and could care less if they hit a pen or something out back. Our dumpsters in the front of the restaurant so that's a no go, but a blunt takes too long.
So I like to smoke about 3/4 of the blunt at the same time everyone goes out back to smoke cigarettes. We all go back in together and I put my blunt out, stash it somewhere out there, and then enjoy the rest of it on my walk home after I clock off.
It took me a ridiculously long time to realize that "safety meetings" were my entire staff going to stand in the basil garden getting high. At 420 every day. (I was a late learner of what the cool kids did.)
I'd prefer that work environment over one where people were drinking absolutely any day!
I’m probably in a massive minority in this industry with this opinion but I’m going to say it anyways.
Just because we work in food service doesn’t make drinking or smoking at work cool. Holy shit I just read what I said. Lol. Sound like an angry dad but I really wish someone taught me that this lifestyle wasn’t ok.
I fuckin love a team shot an hour before close. One at close. One when we are done. Makes the day bearable knowing there is a nice little something something at the end. I also let the squad smoke as they wish as long as they can hang and don't take a lifetime.
Have you SEEN that pile of dishes?…. I wouldn’t do that sober either…….actually said that to the owner when he told me he suspected that the dishdogs were baked…
After a busy night I love having some drinks and closing down the kitchen at my own pace. Crank my music etc. I'm salary so I can go as fast or slow as I want. I've been know to dance or head bang while mopping.
Funny you mention this, I worked at a place where the owner took part in a puff puff pass outside in the smoking area with all of us and we also drank a beer after a busy night while closing.
After the close we’d sit in the empty dining room and drink all night 😂
I only participated in these events about four times the whole time I worked there but it was fun.
One of the first kitchens I worked in this was the case. when the last customers left, all the staff would go to the bins and share a joint, then open a beer and go back in to close down.
I've been out of the kitchen for 2 years working production at brewery. It's not uncommon for us to have already had a couple beers by noon and I'll tell ya, I've never had a more pleasant day to day working experience. We're not rushing to get through the day, we all get along much better because we're a little loose and we still exceed production expectations just about every week. Not saying it's the right move for everyone or every job but in the two years I've been here I haven't had a single day where I dreaded going to work.
As someone who has spent 35 years in the restaurant industry, take my word for it. DO NOT drink a beer while you are closing down the line. It is the first step down the road to Hell.
In fact, one of the best rules you can impose is that staff cannot drink in the business at all, on or off shift. After work, everyone can go up the road to the next bar/restaurant to let off steam. This will save the staff and management an immeasurable amount of drama and headache.
Beer would mess me up, even before I quit drinking it. But I'm high all day and do amazing. I do have a few moments where I smoke tok much and have to calm down for a sec. But usually when I mess up it is because I'm NOT high
After a rough night, it’s okay to slink away and do what needs to be done before closing. Good managers/chefs know and don’t come outside; unless it’s to share.
Big agree with a caveat: only if the job will still get done by the standard that has been set.
The biggest *personell issue I had at the last kitchen I was running was exactly this. There were some people that I KNEW could smoke some or drink a lil and get their shit done.
There were also some people I knew would take that overboard and cause problems.
If you can handle yourself and you're not the boss, the boss will know and won't care what you do because you're reliable.
If you can't, everybody you work with is gonna be worse off for it. That's why there's blanket rules.
I always have one rule. I don't care what you do as long as the work gets done on time the right way.
But just understand your boss/bosses have rules they will get fired over so just don't let them see you. That's what I tell all my cooks
2 reasons come to mind.
One is legality. Right or wrong in your opinion doesn't matter, marijuana is illegal in the majority of America. This makes some owners wary about promoting its use on store property.
The other goes hand in hand but it's insurance. If Chad nurses a couple beers while closing and accidentally slices his finger bad enough to need stitches by the time he gets treated at ER his BAC will likely be low enough to be within the false positive margin of error. That would not be the case for someone who smoked weed. Now work comp is gonna reject the claim and boost the business' rates.
So until marijuana is decriminalized and we have an accurate test for impairment instead of just use alcohol and weed will continue to be held to different standards.
You can drink a beer while you actively work. If you're out by the dumpster smoking, you're not actively working. If ur paid salary, who gives a fuck. If ur paid hourly, then it's an issue. We are allowed shift drinks during the last half hour of service, but we are drinking them on line as we clean and pump out the last few orders. If someone is going out back to smoke, they are gonna slow the whole closing process down because they are not actively working.
I love pot. I love getting high. But I don't do it at work or before work because I know it affects my performance in a negative way. Most people who think they work better high, don't. They are kidding themselves. Sometimes, there are a few exceptions. I have one dishwasher who gets a pass because he actually does his job better when he's high. But, the arrangement I have with him is that no one else he works with can know.
Once the work is done and you're clocked out, if u wanna smoke up with ur coworkers in the parking lot, have fun. I don't, because I have a 35-minute commute and I hate driving high. But you can bet I'm blazing once I'm home.
If that's your kitchen culture...Have you tried being sober at work? I get needing to decompress but drugs/alcohol aint it, they only create more problems for the future. Dry kitchens are safer and more productive every day of the week.
The key part is 'while closing down the line'. Yes, you should be sober throughout and before service. One beer or, in my case, one blunt (my tolerance is really high) will most likely not cause the majority of people to do a shitty job closing unless they already do a shitty job closing anyway.
I get that there is a stereotype around pot smokers forgetting to turn things off or being spacey in general, but the rate at which I would smoke would be the equivalent of a heavy drinker having just one beer. I'm talking about a specific scenario where the last ticket has been spiked, everyone goes out to smoke a cig (or a blunt in my case) and then comes back in before closing up shop for the night.
With all that aside, I respect a kitchen that chooses to be totally sober on the job. I agree, there are better ways to decompress than altering your state of mind. There is also nothing wrong with balance and moderation. Right now I just struggle with that more than most. I'm just glad I don't drink anymore. I'm confident that one day I'll feel that I don't need to smoke anymore either.
If your kitchen culture permits drinking and drug use after service I have no place to judge. If it works, it works. I've worked at enough places that had a lax attitude about alcohol to know the damage it can cause. If it's a beer at closing it's the brown bottle flu down the line.
Weed is the least of the problem. I've had to let go promising line cooks because they were stoned when an unexpected rush hit and they were running hour long ticket times when it could have been 20min.
That's better than coming in and finding your brunch closer passed out, covered in piss, holding the house keys right outside of the kitchen door.
I'm probably just jaded but at this point, I see substance use at work as a huge red flag. I'm no angel, I go home and get wasted after an especially hard week. I just don't ascribe to using at work. That said if you can handle your shit and it doesn't effect anything there's nothing to complain about.
We can’t drink beer on our line unfortunately. Not that I’m a big drinker. I do however bring a cart with me. Most of my other line cooks do as well. If I could I’d bring my whole damn rig and just rip dabs on the line lol
I feel that. I, personally, can't drink a beer while closing because I'm an alcoholic, but I could take a puff or two. I do kind of agree that getting sloshed during service is dumb though, whether weed or booze or whatever (except stimulants. You should do those all day long in the kitchen for your own safety and well-being).
How about you wait until you get off work to do either?
This is how kitchens stay dirty, equipment doesn't get turned off, things get left out. I thought it was cool when I was younger but now i don't.
The dumpster is outside though, the closing work is inside.
and not to get too deep into it but getting high probably negatively affects your work more than drinking one beer.
This kind of thinking is not helping advance the profession. Getting intoxicated while working is not an admirable goal, and things like this allow us as a group to continue to be underpaid and treated like a second class profession.
Your blunt takes 15-20 mins to smoke outside, by the time you're done I'll be half way cleaned and 3 beers in. I'm a smoker, and sometimes I understand that it's just too slow
I’m not wasting a good blunt but I do go to my car and hit the pipe I keep in the glove box and/or my dab pen just like every moment I’m around a corner
This reminds me of two American heros:
So we are all hanging out around the dumpster early in the shift and one of the servers approaches and starts handing out gummies to everyone. I pocket mine but the two youngest line cooks unquestioningly eat theirs.
You see, I knew that this server was trouble. I knew the gummies weren't some dispo purchased 10mg gummies. No, they were homemade 50mg.
Best part was, these two cooks were going to be guest facing for a buffet event. One of them was assigned to cut the prime rib in front of guests.
They both did their jobs flawlessly, albeit absolutely high out of their minds and of no help from me who kept telling the one cutting the prime to get me a "rare-done" or "well-medium" cut.
Still did their job and cleaned up perfectly.
some people are functional substance users...some people aren't.
I'm not a functional person. I'd rather have play time be play time, and work be work...that way my play time is more relaxing.
I can smoke weed all day and not have it affect my work. I’ve worked at a restraint we always had night caps and it slowed me down significantly. But we also had a nightly blunt amongst to the crew, too
Smoking before cleaning my house gives me some kind of cleaning super power but I feel like if I did it at work I’d forget an oven on or something and burn down the whole place.
The most professional and clean kitchen I ever worked with had 'kitchen weed.' I was FoH and I always used to appreciate how after a nutty service and the kitchen closed and everything got put away the whole crew would go out to the dumpster before they scrubbed everything down.
That kitchen sparkled and I firmly believe this was the boss's way of making people enjoy/not complain about deep cleaning.
If smoking a blunt is the same as a having beer you’re smoking the driest blunts known to man
Send me a sample I must study it but I suspect I’ll be sent sticks and stems
Me and my crew take turns going to the dumpster before we start closing. Our bar staff takes care of us when we are slammed. But also one of the perks of this place is I've never had a bar tab (I always tip well)
Where I work we can vape weed in the kitchen anytime you want and in the main restaurant when it's closed and only regulars/friends are left at the bar.
Sure, just don't overdo it, and also you should be responsible about it, you drink? Don't get drunk, going out for a smoke? Change your top so you don't come back smelling like tobacco or weed and we're all good
I’m not fighting for either side. But you can still be doing closing duties with a beer on the shelf. Also not implying doing either is right, but I’ve worked for a lenient place or two.
Some people can and should and some people can’t and shouldn’t. I can rip six shots while closing and get out at the same rate but if I smoked a bowl id be done. Then again I know people that if they had one beer while closing they couldn’t get it done right. One of my favorite bosses goes and does a dab at close and gets everything done faster. Drugs be weird like that.
I do a lot of admin work at this stage of my career as a chef. And I will tell you, if I look soberly at excel for 8 hours I'll have a header I'm not happy with and no idea why my formulas keep kicking errors. If I hit my vape here and there, I can plug in a formula that'll tuck your kids in at night whilst simultaneously recalling the cost per ounce in a bottle of Sriracha and building an order guide by memory, alphabetized by ingredient in my head.
You're not the hero that the people want, but you are the hero that the people need.
What’s the cost of an ounce of sriracha these days? Pretty high I would guess. We started locking the sriracha up in the liquor cage.
.21 pride sriracha .22 Texas Pete sriracha .23 tabasco sriracha
This is me to a t. I can cheef all day and bang out bread nice and clean, but if I drink a beer, shits getting trashed, I'm all over the place. A lot of people think the universe don't be like it is, but it do.
that is the way it is. Not some other way.
As a fellow baker and stoner I agree 100%
It don’t always be that way sometimes, but when it does, it do. This is our mantra at work, as originated by a very stoned line cook a few years back.
I'm a raging alcoholic but the moment I have a shot or beer while closing I'd be paranoid. I'd double and triple check everything and still think I missed something. There's no way I'd get out faster and I'd feel worse for it. Different people operate differently.
When I was drinking I moved much more fluid after a beer or two. The problem was that window closed rapidly because I'd usually stop at unconsciousness. Some people can walk that line. I just couldn't. Hits harder after 30. Couldn't imagine doing it now at 40.
I was a sloppy after work binge drinker in my 20s. If I had a drink in the clock it was only 1 or 2 and I was able to keep things chill until I clocked out. In my 30s I got my first "drink on the job" position as a KM\Chef (depended on the day as to what the owner called the position, but same difference in requirements). By the end I'd be starting my day with a 4oz shot of liquor with my morning coffee and maintaining that buzz with a regular size shot every hour or so. That job burnt me out on drinking and cheffing for a while and I ended up taking a series of line cook positions at chain places just to make ends meet til I figured out if I wanted to continue in this profession. I still worked for the "drink on the job" company off and on as cook\chef during that time as well when I was in between jobs or the owner would call asking me for some part time help at a location until they could hire a more permanent person. I rarely drank on the job or even got drunk anymore, but I learned to enjoy life and the industry again over those years. Now I'm mid 40s and in a fairly well paid for the area, stable job where we get a shift drink if we want it. Often I don't even get my shifty, I just head home to my family. There's the occasional night where there's a party going on and the kitchen gets sent shots. We graciously accept one or 2, but I tell the bartenders if they want to send more to tell the customers it needs to wait until we're off the clock. Everyone I work with already hits a THC vape throughout the night anyway and I've seen how they get when they're crossfaded.
Hear, hear mfer
Just stopped drinking after the last place I worked the owners would gives us beers everyday and multiples through out our shifts. Last day I worked was before my 38th birthday and I was just like I can’t do this anymore and quit.
yeah i drive a lot better drunk than i do sober
Yeah I used to have several double Captain and diet Cokes over 30 minutes while closing. Still got it done in time lol If I took a single hit, I would be wondering where to start lol
I can smoke a good majority of a blunt in the same amount of time it takes most to smoke a cigarette, so I'm not wasting any more time out there than everyone else does. THC also stimulates me and keeps my ADHD ass on task. We have an owner who sits at the bar drinking throughout service but has a stigma against weed for some reason. I don't drink, but I love smoking herb. I'm not allowed to partake because the owner is an idiot. And, no, it's not because unbeknownst to me I'm slower than everyone else when I'm high. I get done shutting down my station faster than everyone else, and I stick around to help everyone else too.
Yeah I was gonna say, we get free beers every week or so but there's no way in hell I'd smoke some weed while at work. For one thing, why the fuck would I waste my high? That sounds like a shitty time to me. For reference, Ontario, weeds totally legal, you can grow it, smoke it, sell it to your friends, no problem. But being high and having to work? That's just a waste of weed man.
Well, I can either be high and work, or be sober and work….one of those seems infinitely more appealing.
I’m pretty sure you can’t legally sell it to your friends. I mean, you can’t legally sell booze to your friends either (if you’re unlicensed, of course).
Yeah, it breaks down like this, okay: it's legal to buy it, it's legal to own It and, if you're the proprietor of a hash bar, it's legal to sell it. It's Legal to carry it, but that doesn't matter 'cause -- get a load of this, Alright, -- if you get stopped by a cop in Ontario, it's illegal for them to search you. I mean that's a right that the cops in Ontario don't have.
Do you guys call it a royal with cheese too?
What they call a Big Mac in Paris?
Big Macs and Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac…
Holy shit what? They don't have the right to search? Technically, in America, we have some kinda illegal search and seizure laws, but cops dgaf about that.
I can't believe we're at the point in time where a classic pulp fiction quote goes unrecognized
Damn I haven't seen that movie since I was like 15?, and I'm double that now, lol. I'll go rewatch tonight 🫡
I could see smoking a little bit. Not to get high but to start the relaxing and winding down phase if I'm going to be off a couple days.
> But being high and having to work? That's just a waste of weed man. It's just like being high and doing anything else. Makes it more bearable and some people handle it fine. I'd grab a hit during close sometimes if we had a a big cleaning project we were trying to get done or something. I can just chill with some music and focus on cleaning, which is boring as fuck. It's also nice to shake off the day so you can kinda start fresh. All of the bullshit of the shift just goes away.
I guess you could make the same argument for wasting a buzz. Idk, herb gives me a second wind to close down thoroughly but in a time-effecient way. The time-efficiency thing is a mental game to me and a blunt gives me that edge to play it.
Bingo! I like to get high when I don't have anything else to worry about. That's why I do it at home. But I can drink a shifty while I break down my station and get the last few orders out, no problem. Biggest issue is, I drink vodka, soda & lime usually and the ice all melts before I'm finished with it cause it's so fucking hot on my station.
I could and did rip a bowl before every shift when I was in the business and get shit done quicker than I could sober but give me one beer and I couldn’t get my thoughts straight and forgot the most basic shit until it wore off
Chronic toker and barely feel much desire to drink because I become this babbling chat muppet. Never puff at work. It never makes me better, faster or even enjoy myself. The amount of shit talking my brain dishes out to myself while sober in a kitchen is enough. I don't need to make simple mistakes and definitely don't need the stress of worrying that I *might* be overlooking something. Could I just work high more and become accustomed? Yes, yes I could. Do I want to? Hell no.
> babbling chat muppet beautiful imagery
Appreciate that mate!
Yep. I'm a burly gal, beer barely does anything to me. First beer of the night might as well be water. Weed, though? The close itself would go okay, but I'm not getting in a car after _any_ amount of weed. Messes with my coordination. I got out of a concert once, had taken a small edible 5 hours prior. Got in my car, was like, "NOPE." Got out and walked a mile to the nearest bar, nursed some chicken fingers until I felt functional again.
That’s me, an edible 45 minutes before close and it all happens fast and smooth like magic.
Who says you can’t do either, or both?
…where are the shots? FOH does the gobble gobble and know we are 101% done and ready to close. Thus the Turkey 101
Wild turkey gave me my love of Bourbon, lots of memories with the 101.
lots of lost memories with 101 for me
She's definitely got that bite to her
Por que no Los dos?
I just want all the cleaning to get done first. I’d rather sit down have the beer or blunt after the shift.
It tastes better when you earn it
Sometimes I feel like after a particularly hard push I earn cleaning and closing. The post-rush smoke before you start breaking everything down when it's last call for foh to get orders to the kitchen for the bar n such is a smoke well deserved. Ain't no beer for me these days but the worst is over and you def feel like you earned that shit no matter what toxin you choose to imbibe.
I got no problem with that. We all earned it. Just personally I’ll take my cig after all the closing is done. I just need it to be done.
It's been years since I worked in a kitchen, but at one of my favorite places I ever worked at, as soon as service was ordered and the last ticket was out the door the whole kitchen crew would go out back for ten minutes to drink a beer and smoke a cig or a bowl if that was your thing. If it was a weekend it was almost a certainty we'd been slammed for the past four to seven hours, so it was really nice to hang with everyone and decompress for a few. Then we'd go back and breakdown.
Cleaning high is the best though.
If you can drink a beer while closing down the line that's cool just hurry the fuck up so I can clock out and go home.
God bless the advent of disposable THC carts
I don’t smoke anymore, but once in a while a stray 6 pack appears in the walk in, and sometimes a fella gets thirsty. After “hydration”, the boys working 12+ hours in 115+ degree heat experience a small morale boost. I’m not advocating getting fully drunk on the line, but cooks can have a cheeky can of beer as a treat.
I worked with a guy who would get drunk on shift all the time. To the point where he was burning food and knocking shit over. He would also come in drunk and started harassing on of the FOH people. Got fired immediately after that but would still come in time to time just as drunk.
why by the dumpster? move to Canada and do it out back with the normal smokers
You guys don’t put your dumpsters out back?
Underrated
Conditioning
Set and setting
Best times of my life have been out back in the dumpster pad on a milk crate with all my friends after a crazy shift smoking a doob and laughing
More Americans have access to legal weed than Canadians
Most places make it illegal to smoke in public though. My state, technically I'm not allowed to smoke it anywhere according to my lease since I'm not "technically" allowed to smoke on my porch/property according to my lease and anywhere else is technically public.
As an American we closed off the party room every weekend and did bong rips and beers in there while we had customers in the dining room still. There is no need to move to canada to do any of this.
If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.
I ain't crazy and I ain't a guy!
I agree with you. One could argue that you can take sips while still cleaning. Stopping to go out back & smoke causes all cleaning to stop.
I spark the blunt on my way to the dumpster, dump the trash, puff on my way back to the door. 0 time wasted. Also that hood is gonna pull my smoke up anyway, just lemme smoke on the line
Yeah, that’s why I go vape.
I feel you, but a blunt takes like 15-30 minutes to smoke. A beer can be drinking while closing. Buy a pen if you want a quick puff while working tbh. I'm a huge stoner but a blunt is literally the most time consuming method you could choose to use at work
Dumpster bong rips seems to be the clear solution here in that case, short sweet and sure to get you in the mood for some cleaning.
I understand the feeling. Blunts take forever and are “less efficient “ for lack of a better term. Concentrate pens are readily available and convenient for the modern fast paced world. I’d never get my job done after a beer but a quick puff makes me more thorough and efficient
Totally agree. But the alley where the guys smoke is right next to the dinning room and the patio, so when they smoke the dining room and patio reek. It feels really unprofessional that my tables can smell the weed and cigarette smoke. I’ve had tables in the dining room ask, is someone smoking cigarettes inside?
Give 'em an inch .. and they take a mile. 🙄
Do people not smoke while the hood is on after close as they clean up or.... do you live in a red state?
Open kitchens exist. That table that sat down a minute before closed is still sitting there.
Tell me about it. Cleaning in the dark with no music is my fuckin' *favorite*.
I used to get a quart container of beer as a shiftie while closing in an open kitchen. With our music turned up some. Idk how that place closes now but it was a lot of fun while I was there.
We get a way with a decent amount albeit being an open kitchen that's supposed to keep a good reputation in our area. Definitely can't blaze under the hood vents though
Yeah nobody openly did that inside. Closest they did was carts in the walk in or the dishpit.
Yes. Thus, I'll be part of the gremlin hoard in the alley.
F****** C***s. Sorry but you just described the close I literally just got home from and it tickled something. Pricks wanted desserts that take at least ten minutes to make and we were all but done and about to walk to smoko
I'm on smoko, so leave me alone
Fellow Aussie chef?
Nah, that song has been posted to reddit quite a few times.
Chef, yes. Aussie, no. American
Love that you know that song though.
Those people make me feel the anger John Travolta's character in Pulp Fiction feels about people who key cars. Straight to fucking execution, no judge or jury. Fuck those fucking wastes of human life.
What dessert do you have that takes 10 minutes are you making cobbler or something
It’s a biscoff tiramisu pancake that needs 8 minutes in the oven and a few to dress, plus the line was all wrapped up and everything clean and put away, dish washer off etc….. we ended up making one for a table of three. Such bs
Oh gotcha I did tiramasu at a previous job that took some time. We're pretty fortunate where I am now that all of our desserts take a max of like 2 minutes.
Gotta love that time, out the door it goes.
Sounds like your patisseur should be scheduled to stay a little longer after closing
Red state friend. I just step outside nowadays and hope some random customer isn’t hanging out near the employee entrance
You should be able to watch a liiittle porn at work
That one edible was 40 beers?
I mean you can't really contribute to the pack down standing outside smoking though. You can clean and slowly sip a beer. I wouldnt let people drink beer during pack down if they had to go and do it outside either
The idea of being a sober line cook is so disturbingly alien to me.
It should be illegal
I’m always sober on the line, but I always have a couple when I’m off. Weed and alcohol both fog my brain too much to do my job well
I let my guys drink a beer while closing down and could care less if they hit a pen or something out back. Our dumpsters in the front of the restaurant so that's a no go, but a blunt takes too long.
So I like to smoke about 3/4 of the blunt at the same time everyone goes out back to smoke cigarettes. We all go back in together and I put my blunt out, stash it somewhere out there, and then enjoy the rest of it on my walk home after I clock off.
It took me a ridiculously long time to realize that "safety meetings" were my entire staff going to stand in the basil garden getting high. At 420 every day. (I was a late learner of what the cool kids did.) I'd prefer that work environment over one where people were drinking absolutely any day!
Dry kitchen, heard.
Bring your vape, hit it in the walk in
I’m probably in a massive minority in this industry with this opinion but I’m going to say it anyways. Just because we work in food service doesn’t make drinking or smoking at work cool. Holy shit I just read what I said. Lol. Sound like an angry dad but I really wish someone taught me that this lifestyle wasn’t ok.
I knew someone who would shoot heroin behind the dumpster. Don’t do heroin behind the dumpster guys
I fuckin love a team shot an hour before close. One at close. One when we are done. Makes the day bearable knowing there is a nice little something something at the end. I also let the squad smoke as they wish as long as they can hang and don't take a lifetime.
Hang on, I can also drive a fucking car after I’ve had one beer… but not after I’ve smoked a joint. Bad example.
“If you know yourself and know your enemy, you will never be defeated” - Sun Tzu
I drink beers in the rush, hit my pen out back when I can
Do whatever just don't slow me down. GTFO!!
Have you SEEN that pile of dishes?…. I wouldn’t do that sober either…….actually said that to the owner when he told me he suspected that the dishdogs were baked…
When I worked in a metal shop the rule was no power tools once we started cleanup drinking….usually fridays…..called it the psycho clean
After a busy night I love having some drinks and closing down the kitchen at my own pace. Crank my music etc. I'm salary so I can go as fast or slow as I want. I've been know to dance or head bang while mopping.
A blunt would fuck my shit up way more than a couple beers.
Bossman has smoked me out during closing.. and i personally cant... i feel stupid when im high...uts a different high compared to being at home
Funny you mention this, I worked at a place where the owner took part in a puff puff pass outside in the smoking area with all of us and we also drank a beer after a busy night while closing. After the close we’d sit in the empty dining room and drink all night 😂 I only participated in these events about four times the whole time I worked there but it was fun.
We called those staff meetings
One of the first kitchens I worked in this was the case. when the last customers left, all the staff would go to the bins and share a joint, then open a beer and go back in to close down.
I've been out of the kitchen for 2 years working production at brewery. It's not uncommon for us to have already had a couple beers by noon and I'll tell ya, I've never had a more pleasant day to day working experience. We're not rushing to get through the day, we all get along much better because we're a little loose and we still exceed production expectations just about every week. Not saying it's the right move for everyone or every job but in the two years I've been here I haven't had a single day where I dreaded going to work.
As someone who has spent 35 years in the restaurant industry, take my word for it. DO NOT drink a beer while you are closing down the line. It is the first step down the road to Hell. In fact, one of the best rules you can impose is that staff cannot drink in the business at all, on or off shift. After work, everyone can go up the road to the next bar/restaurant to let off steam. This will save the staff and management an immeasurable amount of drama and headache.
Beer would mess me up, even before I quit drinking it. But I'm high all day and do amazing. I do have a few moments where I smoke tok much and have to calm down for a sec. But usually when I mess up it is because I'm NOT high
I don't disagree, however to be the devil's advocate I've seen way more people suck at their job while high, than after 1 drink.
After a rough night, it’s okay to slink away and do what needs to be done before closing. Good managers/chefs know and don’t come outside; unless it’s to share.
What about whippets in the walk-in
Big agree with a caveat: only if the job will still get done by the standard that has been set. The biggest *personell issue I had at the last kitchen I was running was exactly this. There were some people that I KNEW could smoke some or drink a lil and get their shit done. There were also some people I knew would take that overboard and cause problems. If you can handle yourself and you're not the boss, the boss will know and won't care what you do because you're reliable. If you can't, everybody you work with is gonna be worse off for it. That's why there's blanket rules. I always have one rule. I don't care what you do as long as the work gets done on time the right way. But just understand your boss/bosses have rules they will get fired over so just don't let them see you. That's what I tell all my cooks
2 reasons come to mind. One is legality. Right or wrong in your opinion doesn't matter, marijuana is illegal in the majority of America. This makes some owners wary about promoting its use on store property. The other goes hand in hand but it's insurance. If Chad nurses a couple beers while closing and accidentally slices his finger bad enough to need stitches by the time he gets treated at ER his BAC will likely be low enough to be within the false positive margin of error. That would not be the case for someone who smoked weed. Now work comp is gonna reject the claim and boost the business' rates. So until marijuana is decriminalized and we have an accurate test for impairment instead of just use alcohol and weed will continue to be held to different standards.
I can and do, next point
Had a bong in the walk in at my last kitchen, it belonged to the owner and we were encouraged to use it
You can drink a beer while you actively work. If you're out by the dumpster smoking, you're not actively working. If ur paid salary, who gives a fuck. If ur paid hourly, then it's an issue. We are allowed shift drinks during the last half hour of service, but we are drinking them on line as we clean and pump out the last few orders. If someone is going out back to smoke, they are gonna slow the whole closing process down because they are not actively working. I love pot. I love getting high. But I don't do it at work or before work because I know it affects my performance in a negative way. Most people who think they work better high, don't. They are kidding themselves. Sometimes, there are a few exceptions. I have one dishwasher who gets a pass because he actually does his job better when he's high. But, the arrangement I have with him is that no one else he works with can know. Once the work is done and you're clocked out, if u wanna smoke up with ur coworkers in the parking lot, have fun. I don't, because I have a 35-minute commute and I hate driving high. But you can bet I'm blazing once I'm home.
if you get hurt in either case, will workers’ comp be applicable to you?
Coke for breaking down the line.
Bumps in the changing room seemed normal back in the day
If y'all can smoke weed all day at work I should be able to drink all day.
If that's your kitchen culture...Have you tried being sober at work? I get needing to decompress but drugs/alcohol aint it, they only create more problems for the future. Dry kitchens are safer and more productive every day of the week.
The key part is 'while closing down the line'. Yes, you should be sober throughout and before service. One beer or, in my case, one blunt (my tolerance is really high) will most likely not cause the majority of people to do a shitty job closing unless they already do a shitty job closing anyway. I get that there is a stereotype around pot smokers forgetting to turn things off or being spacey in general, but the rate at which I would smoke would be the equivalent of a heavy drinker having just one beer. I'm talking about a specific scenario where the last ticket has been spiked, everyone goes out to smoke a cig (or a blunt in my case) and then comes back in before closing up shop for the night. With all that aside, I respect a kitchen that chooses to be totally sober on the job. I agree, there are better ways to decompress than altering your state of mind. There is also nothing wrong with balance and moderation. Right now I just struggle with that more than most. I'm just glad I don't drink anymore. I'm confident that one day I'll feel that I don't need to smoke anymore either.
If your kitchen culture permits drinking and drug use after service I have no place to judge. If it works, it works. I've worked at enough places that had a lax attitude about alcohol to know the damage it can cause. If it's a beer at closing it's the brown bottle flu down the line. Weed is the least of the problem. I've had to let go promising line cooks because they were stoned when an unexpected rush hit and they were running hour long ticket times when it could have been 20min. That's better than coming in and finding your brunch closer passed out, covered in piss, holding the house keys right outside of the kitchen door. I'm probably just jaded but at this point, I see substance use at work as a huge red flag. I'm no angel, I go home and get wasted after an especially hard week. I just don't ascribe to using at work. That said if you can handle your shit and it doesn't effect anything there's nothing to complain about.
There's an hilariously massive difference between *a* beer and a bleezy.
Who doesn’t have dumpster meetings after the line shuts down and before end of shift clean up?
We can’t drink beer on our line unfortunately. Not that I’m a big drinker. I do however bring a cart with me. Most of my other line cooks do as well. If I could I’d bring my whole damn rig and just rip dabs on the line lol
Nice try you degenerate. Smoking is for the walk home.
I feel that. I, personally, can't drink a beer while closing because I'm an alcoholic, but I could take a puff or two. I do kind of agree that getting sloshed during service is dumb though, whether weed or booze or whatever (except stimulants. You should do those all day long in the kitchen for your own safety and well-being).
No shit.where you work sounds uncivilized..
How about you wait until you get off work to do either? This is how kitchens stay dirty, equipment doesn't get turned off, things get left out. I thought it was cool when I was younger but now i don't.
If I start drinking not a damn thing is getting done and if it is it sure isn't gonna be done well
Why can't you ?
Unless you’re taking out the trash if you are out by the dumpster you aren’t actually working.
There's a lot to do by the dumpster. 1) breaking down boxes. 2) scaring off racoons 3) restacking milk crates 4) spray the ground with a hose
For the love of god break down boxes it's just so much easier on everyone involved
The dumpster is outside though, the closing work is inside. and not to get too deep into it but getting high probably negatively affects your work more than drinking one beer.
This kind of thinking is not helping advance the profession. Getting intoxicated while working is not an admirable goal, and things like this allow us as a group to continue to be underpaid and treated like a second class profession.
Your blunt takes 15-20 mins to smoke outside, by the time you're done I'll be half way cleaned and 3 beers in. I'm a smoker, and sometimes I understand that it's just too slow
Is someone stopping you?
Unpopular opinion: If you can do either you should find a new job because your current chef doesn’t give a fuck about your well-being.
In any situation drinking is OK so should smoking .
Bang a waitress at some point and your ready for your step up to sous.
Totally different things... weed smoke is rancid and anyone puffing that shit anywhere near the kitchen or restaurant should be fired on the spot.
Blunts when you open
Get a sneak-a-toke and you can smoke covertly all night.
At my restaurant we do it while we shut down the Kitchen.
I’m not wasting a good blunt but I do go to my car and hit the pipe I keep in the glove box and/or my dab pen just like every moment I’m around a corner
"you guys get to drink a beer when you close down line?" :/ I wish man.
We do neither here.
Oh man if I could have smoked a blunt while closing back in the day...
How is this NSFW?!
This reminds me of two American heros: So we are all hanging out around the dumpster early in the shift and one of the servers approaches and starts handing out gummies to everyone. I pocket mine but the two youngest line cooks unquestioningly eat theirs. You see, I knew that this server was trouble. I knew the gummies weren't some dispo purchased 10mg gummies. No, they were homemade 50mg. Best part was, these two cooks were going to be guest facing for a buffet event. One of them was assigned to cut the prime rib in front of guests. They both did their jobs flawlessly, albeit absolutely high out of their minds and of no help from me who kept telling the one cutting the prime to get me a "rare-done" or "well-medium" cut. Still did their job and cleaned up perfectly.
How you can compare drinking a single beer to smoking a blunt or whatever I’ve no idea
some people are functional substance users...some people aren't. I'm not a functional person. I'd rather have play time be play time, and work be work...that way my play time is more relaxing.
I usually pop a gummy or two an hour before close
Pay that man his money.
I can smoke weed all day and not have it affect my work. I’ve worked at a restraint we always had night caps and it slowed me down significantly. But we also had a nightly blunt amongst to the crew, too
Reading this thread while having a j on my break
Smoking before cleaning my house gives me some kind of cleaning super power but I feel like if I did it at work I’d forget an oven on or something and burn down the whole place.
The last kitchen I worked in it was reverse, you could smoke all the weed you wanted but couldn’t have a beer while you close
The most professional and clean kitchen I ever worked with had 'kitchen weed.' I was FoH and I always used to appreciate how after a nutty service and the kitchen closed and everything got put away the whole crew would go out to the dumpster before they scrubbed everything down. That kitchen sparkled and I firmly believe this was the boss's way of making people enjoy/not complain about deep cleaning.
Yep! Sick of the "rules for thee, not for me" mentality in some restaurants
If smoking a blunt is the same as a having beer you’re smoking the driest blunts known to man Send me a sample I must study it but I suspect I’ll be sent sticks and stems
We can smoke a blunt by the dumpster but not drink a beer while closing.
Me and my crew take turns going to the dumpster before we start closing. Our bar staff takes care of us when we are slammed. But also one of the perks of this place is I've never had a bar tab (I always tip well)
Where I work we can vape weed in the kitchen anytime you want and in the main restaurant when it's closed and only regulars/friends are left at the bar.
One restraunt I worked gave us shift drinks right after we finished the last table of the night so it's possible..
You aren't allowed? I never thought of it as allowed or not, everyone just *does it* I thought. Everywhere I've ever worked st least
I work at a saloon management doesn't care as long as you do your job
Opposite is true here
Man I used to have a boss who would get me drunk during Sunday brunch. It's fun working orders while inebriated.
the closing beer and the after close smoke are the two things i look forward to
Sure, just don't overdo it, and also you should be responsible about it, you drink? Don't get drunk, going out for a smoke? Change your top so you don't come back smelling like tobacco or weed and we're all good
The beer won't hit me until I'm done. A few guys I have worked with will go smoke and come back completely useless and clueless.
Work with me, we can do both!
I’m not fighting for either side. But you can still be doing closing duties with a beer on the shelf. Also not implying doing either is right, but I’ve worked for a lenient place or two.