by Lucynda Rowen

Created on: September 23, 2008

It was 1999 and I had just started a brand new job as the assistant manager of a fast food restaurant that was considered to be fast food, but who sold items that were better and healthier than hamburgers and French Fries. This business was also located in an area that was ideal for servicing high school students, working professionals, and factory workers on there lunch breaks.

I wasn't new to restaurant management. I had 8 years of experience in this field under my belt but never before had I been in a position where I was second in command and I was a little nervous about it.

So far my training had been pretty straight forward and simple. Make sure the meat gets cooked in the morning and everything is set up when the doors open. Position everyone properly in the morning according to how busy the day is expected to be. Count the money, put 125 dollars in each register drawer, and program each computer.

11 am rolled around and people started pouring in on there lunch break. The line in front of the registers began to grow along with my nervousness. I was training next to a slicer that sliced off paper think pieces of roast beef. There was a heating lamp aimed in the spot where the beef fell to keep it warm.

This paper thin sliced roast beef was as important to this restaurant as beef patties are to Mickey D's and it was treated with delicacy. I would later be asked to drive to another state and be paid to take three days worth of classes on how this meat was created, shipped, and the proper way to cook it. It was that important.

The line in front of the register grew and I sliced away. Sandwiches were made and went out. Everything was going well. Then all of a sudden the light bulb in the heat lamp exploded in a shower of slivered glass. I found myself standing there covered in shards of glass and looking at a pile of roast beef also covered in shards of glass. I'm stunned and unable to act other than to stand there and stare at the mess.

Fortunately the shift manager standing next to me new her job well enough to act. According to her this had happened before and it was at that point that I started to feel unsure about my job. Why would a situation that caused light bulbs to explode on a regular basis still be in practice? She cleaned up the broke glass and guided me to a large trash can where I shook the broken glass off of my clothes. I didn't even have to worry about the people waiting in line. Once they saw glass shower over the food they were about to purchase they left.

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