As track season ends, my once-limited work availability opens up, along with my energy and optimism.
Although work comes off as an annoying task to many, especially at the meager rate of pay, to me, it is a sense of freedom and productivity. Lying in my bed at home, endlessly scrolling through TikTok until I fall asleep, grows into unhealthy, repeated routines.
It’s disappointing to receive the reminder that it’s time to start getting ready for work, as I am already set up in my bed as I usually would be for the night. However, the feeling of unproductivity is even worse.
The thought of leaving my cozy home to perform tasks I don’t always love can be frustrating. Yet somehow, I enjoy it. The simplicity of cleaning down each table and resetting it in a repeated pattern is not exactly “annoying.” Instead, I try to think of it as a relaxing game. While most of my coworkers prefer to save the work for other employees and stay behind the host stand staring off into the distance, counting down each minute until it’s time to close, I set my phone down and continue to repeat the same process: pick up each of the dirty dishes, return them to the dishwasher, and continue to wipe and reset every table.
Even on the nights I’m the most tired and often dread going to work, after my shifts come to an end, I feel much better than I did prior. As long as I have an energy drink of some sort with me as a sweet treat to reward my work progress, nothing can stand in the way of my mind and me. Each minute ticks by as another table is wiped down, and as soon as I know it, my shift is over.
As my shift came to an end, I barely even noticed that by each table I cleaned down, another five minutes went by. Soon enough, I’m scraping the remnants of forgotten handprints off the restaurant windows along with refilling the paper towels that were once filled to the brim before my shift started.
The work shift comes to an end.
Most anticipate this moment for the entirety of their shift. I prefer to stay as long as I possibly can at work, because not only does the money pile up after hours of work, but there is nothing left to do after eight on a Sunday evening that I could do. In my mind, there is no purpose in going home to go back to the same routine as before, watching TikTok and, once again, falling into unproductive patterns of a pit that seems almost impossible to break out of.
There are no other words to say this: I love cleaning tables. Whether it’s picking up dish after dish during rush hour or simply resetting each table with a set of four plates and four perfectly wrapped sets of silverware, cleaning is not a chore to me but instead a habit. A habit that reminds me that I am not only receiving money for the things I might not enjoy doing, but also growing healthy habits for myself within a world of unproductivity.
