I was reminded today of something that happened while I was in college. I was working in a small family owned seafood restaurant in a northern California coastal town. I had been hired as a waiter, but with these kinds of places, you have to be able to do everything. I waited tables, I washed dishes, I learned to be a prep cook and even acted as Line Cook on occasion. I had a lot of fun at that job and still make a mean pesto with butterfly shrimp.
Probably the funniest the thing that happened at that job was a day I was working the line. Some of the outside lights were not working so the owner called an electrician to come take a look.
Let me see if I can set the stage. As with many restaurants, there is a service window. This is where the cook puts the prepared food for the servers to take to the customer. Beyond that was a passageway. Through that was the dining room. While standing at the line I could see the dining room, but not the ends of the passageway.The electrical breaker box was at one end of the passageway, beyond my view.
The electrician showed up shortly after we opened for the day and took a look at the situation. He went out to his truck and returned with a ladder and went to work. I was busy with the morning routine which included setting up the dining room, prepping side dishes and getting the line ready for our first customers. In the meantime the electrician, a big guy in his fifties, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, was on his ladder working on the problem. This is where it got fun.
As I was standing at the line I heard a loud pop. I looked up just in time to see a flash of red flannel and blue denim fly past the service window. I wasn’t sure what I had just seen. I poked my head out through the window and saw a very confused electrician lying flat on his back 20 feet away from his ladder. For a moment we just stared at each other. Before long he cracked a smile. At that point I cracked up. I ran around to where he was and helped him up to a sitting position. We both laughed. He said the look of confusion on my face was almost as funny as his. He sat there for another minute before getting up and getting back to work. He explained that this wasn’t the first time and didn’t figure it would be the last. I made some crack about maybe he should try turning off the power next time. He suggested I go back to the kitchen. We laughed some more and exchanged insults. He ultimately got the lights working and was on his way. On his way out the door with his ladder and tools I shouted, “See ya later, Sparky!” He shot me a big grin and casually introduced his middle finger. We both laughed again as he walked around the corner to his truck. Though I never saw him again, I made a friend that day.
The lesson learned? Laugh at life, and turn off the main breaker before playing with wires.