Getting into the swing of things

29 March 2011

PRELUDE: After some fun in UK, it was time to work to get some moolah so I could travel more comfortably and for longer. Here’s the start of it all, i.e. ‘getting into the swing of things’

West London

I’ll tell you what is a real confidence maker and breaker: printing out forty CVs and walking around an unknown bit of London, into bars and pubs that don’t offer any vacancies, let alone vacancies to an 18-year-old recent school leaver who doesn’t really look 18 in the first place!

I don’t know how many places I walked into, but after applying to countless bar work jobs online, the next day after physically walking into places I got two offers. These old methods, they’re always suitable at some point…

The 1st job I trialled for was noted for its window in the kitchen – a luxury according to the chef. Not only this, but the owner of the pub was Australian and knew precisely the places I bullshitted about working for. “It’s a small world”, they say. Yes, it’s small; very, very, small if you go to the right places. After the two hour trial consisting mainly of the chef handing me boiling hot pots full of what was, supposedly, used to make the meal, I knew I was in the wrong place. I ditched that, and the boss understood that this wasn’t the type of work one would do when overseas.

This wasn’t a problem, as I had already organised a real bar work trial shift the next evening. It seemed like I was about to hit the jackpot after the least social, grimy and downright ridiculous dish pig work in London.

May 8th, 2011 7:00pm