Confessions of a Sandwich Artist - Kayla Dvorak

Confessions of a Sandwich Artist

By Kayla Dvorak

Once upon a time, I worked at the local Subway. For the first two weeks I could barely cut the bread. After about seven months, though, I became kind of a sandwich stud. (Just kidding.) I did have the job figured out fairly well, though. Working there for seven months was quite an experience, so since I no longer work there I’ll share with you my favorite and least favorite aspects of Subway.

Positives:

Free Sandwiches

Every single time you work a shift, even if you have a split shift, you get free food. You can either get a free footlong or a free six inch and your choice of chips or two cookies. It is wonderful.

Comfy Pants

Other than the obvious “don’t wear ratty or revealing clothing to work” rule, I believe the only rule was that our footwear had to be closed-toe and our pants had to be black or khaki. Do you know what that means? That means I wore comfy yoga pants to work every day. Oh, yoga pants are too revealing, you say? No. I was issued a medium shirt that covered my behind, therefore, my butt was never visible.

Nice Coworkers

Most of my friends and family will roll their eyes at this positive aspect, because I worked there with my best friend. Aside from her, though, my coworkers were generally tolerable.

Coworkers Who Were Willing to Switch Shifts

Self-explanatory, really.

Short Shifts

It wasn’t until the last few month that I was considered a professional around there, so I wasn’t given very long shifts. However, I worked quite a few shifts. The hours added up nicely without me having to spend long stretches of time there.

Not Minimum Wage

Subway is the only place I’ve ever worked where I was paid more than $7.25 an hour, and I’ve got to say, it was rewarding.

Negatives:

Bread Smell EVERYWHERE.

It was in my clothes, in my car, in my house. The smell of fresh subs never left my hair. My last day was in the first week of August and I feel like my hair still reeks.

Annoying Customers

I’m not trying to stereotype the elderly of Concordia as clueless when it comes to technology, but man oh man did some of them have issues with our new drive thru. Some would press the speaker and shout at us, “Your drive thru is not working. There is no ham on there.” Umm, yes, there is a ham option on there. You just have yet to find it. Stop yelling at me.

Okay, new stereotypical customer. The, “Add bacon, guacamole, extra cheese, double meat, oh and everything else you have.” These people also had a habit of complaining when I rang up their $15 masterpiece of a sandwich.

There’s the good ole, “Oh, I see that you’ve already put together my sandwich, piled it with veggies, drenched it in sauce, and wrapped it…..but could I add guacamole?” NO.

Little known fact: as you punch in your order on the drive thru, we’re making your food. So, when you ask for a Footlong BMT on Honey Oat, then change your mind- after we’ve added all of your veggies AND the extra mayo you requested- and ask for Italian bread instead, you’re being annoying.

Now, you would not believe the amount of people who come through the drive thru and place an order for a Cold Cut Combo salad, just to delete the entire thing because they meant sandwich.

Free Sandwiches

I’m a very picky eater. Up until the time I started working at Subway, the only sandwich I ever ordered was a Footlong Spicy Italian on Italian bread, with American cheese, no veggies and no sauce. I occasionally asked for a cup of black olives on the side. After about my first month of work there, I would also eat turkey sandwiches. Then I added turkey salads and BLTs on Flatbread to my small menu. As you can guess, I quickly grew tired of all my options. The idea of a turkey sandwich from Subway is nauseating at this point. I’m going to give it a year, and if by then Subway doesn’t become appealing again, I’m going to blacklist the entire restaurant chain.

The Actual Act of Making Sandwiches for a Living

It just kind of made me feel dumb when I thought about it. I would be sitting on my couch watching Grey’s Anatomy, and I would realize I had to be to work in three minutes. Which- in case you control freaks out there are concerned about how irresponsible I am- wasn’t a big deal because I live a block away from Subway. I would get up from my couch and head for the door, so sad that I was going to work and I would think- wait, what’s your problem, Kayla? People are getting shot at or working construction somewhere, and you’re annoyed that you have to go make a couple sandwiches? Get it together. In all fairness, though, knowing that other people had more unpleasant jobs than I did definitely didn’t make my job any more desirable.