Has Anyone Here Ever Worked As A Dishwasher?

I got a job as a dishwasher at a restaurant. I'm panic stricken. I've never had a real job before. The manager says she wants everything, "SPOTLESS!" She, like, screamed it at me. I'm not good with screaming. I start next week. I'll feel really dumb if I mess this up. Does anyone who's done this kind of job have any pointers for me?

 

i did

it was easy though i just had to scrape the plates off into a lined garbage box then arrange them on a tray ..spary them off with a hot water sprayer that was hanging from above and slide them into a commercial washer

the dishes would come out so hot they were dry within seconds....the silverware had to be hand checked and we would polish each single piece by hand with a soft cotton rag that was actually an old rice bag


the only gross part was cleaning my work station at the end of shift....and digging wet napkins out of glasses i hated when people would do that



i was actually the delivery guy but dishes and stocking was my secondary when deliveries were slow....one thing i really liked about that job was that my boss was often filling in my spot when shit got busy....it was nice to see the boss willing to do the grunt work when needed


every few weeks we used bleach and hand scrubbed the plates to get rid of the silver scratches that the forks and knives would leave


i hope you dont have to do them old school style in a sink...that would really suck if they dont have a commercial washer

 

yes me...twice..


much of it is automated..you rinse stuff and put it on a conveyor that runs through the dish washer...pots you scrub......tey will give you steel wool etc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1dO8UGAq7A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzEE6MEVfWI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx-aak2zK_Y

 

I gotta hand it to you. That's a challenging profession. You'll get it though. Once you get into a routine anything can become easy. My advice would only be stock up on hand lotion.

When I was a lad I went away to a boarding school. One of the things we got to do there was work in the bowels of the kitchen doing... you guessed it! Pots and pans. It wasn't always easy because the food was prepared for a buffet. So it goes out to the buffet... eggs, potato casserole, stew, whatever it may be, and it sits in the buffet with a heating element to keep it hot. Well the food got so caked on. I mean really bad! and then we would have to scrape it all off in the back kitchen. That video from rolling along reminds me of it. Some of the easier stuff would be like stacking the plates on one of those things and running them through the industrial sterilizer. Lol!

It's hard work but you'll be able to do it.

 

good luck eavesdrop....do not be dishdrop

 

Wouldn't we wear gloves?

Ha ha ha! Good one!

 

Good point! but you might find that your hands get a little dried out if they come into contact with detergent.

 

My friend worked as a dish washer at hometown buffet and quit after one day lol

 

I feel less stressed knowing this. If I can't handle it, at least I won't be the only one.

 

that second video appears to be a newer version of the exact system i had to use

looks the same but something is different about the soap injection mechanism

 

I've never been an official dishwasher but I did work in a sandwich shop once and after the rush we would rotate who cleaned the front and who washed dishes. I liked washing dishes a lot more than working the front and dealing with customers. I could just zone out and listen to music.

 

i remember spending a complete shift at that job watching oj's slowspeed bronco chase live on tv

 

She screamed at you before you even started there? That's very forward of her.

Good luck, you'll be fine. It can be really hard work (depending on how busy the restaraunt is) but once you get a handle on the routine of it, it just becomes automatic and time starts to fly by, especially if you can get a radio on back there.

 

It seems easy if there is a spray. Otherwise it's still not difficult but it would take more time. But I never did it as a job, I only wash dishes recreationally.

 

She's from India. They beat the servants there.

 

I used to wash the food assembly line storage trays at a fast food restaurant. The first step was to pressure wash all the food that was grafted to the side of the pan. Next was to put it in a large sink basin that operated like a jacuzzi with soap and water. Finally it was to set them out to dry. It was tedious work, but simple enough to figure out. Washing dishes wasn't my only duty though. I had to make food, operate the cash register, drive thru, and keep the dining room clean.

 

Sounds like a demanding first boss.

 

Not techically. But my good bud while working at whole foods did. and i took a couple of his shifts.

It was kind of a blast. you didn't have to talk to customers. and at least in our case, the washroom was a floor below the sales floor so we blasted the radio and just worked away.

The time passed by real fast on those shifts. but idk if i'd be able to do it longterm

 

She wants me to mop the bathroom, wipe down tables, and answer the phone in addition to doing dishes. Most of what she wants me to do tho are dishes. It's the dishes part I'm stressing over because she made it sound like I was going to get detailed complicated dishes instructions and she kept loudly shouting "SPOTLESS!"

 

one pointer, you've got the wrong boss. sounds like she doesn't really want you for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of your work.
take pride in the quality of work that you do, but don't expect anyone to appreciate or even notice it.
the only real plus side is that not being rocket science, your mind can be a million miles away, thinking creative thoughts, and imagining how to make them real.
do pay attention to the quality of the work that you do though. i've worked a lot of dw jobs. morning shift starts the coffee, closing shift cleans everything.
it doesn't take rocket science to just send everything that doesn't come out spotless back through the machine again.
so if she thinks you're not paying attention to that, i can understand her being frustrated and angry with the help.
but as long as you don't give her any reason to think you don't care, all she can do is fire you, and you were looking for a job when you found that one.
all you owe her is to show up on time all the time and do as best you can what is asked. all she owes you is full pay for hours on the job.
both of you live up to that, that's all there is.

oh yah, did i forget to mention, i've worked plenty of dishwashing jobs and held on to each of them longer then anyone is really expected to.

general cleaning things up is reasonable during slack time in the dishroom, but wanting you to answer the phone, that's an odd one,
i can't imagine any reason she wouldn't want to do that herself unless she has something to hide from creditors or former employees.

i take it this must be a very small opperation, with your boss the only other person, and she does all that cooking, hosting, and everything else she isn't having you do?