The Grill (file under I’m not McDonald’s)

My loyal readers let me just tell you that working the grill for five days straight is enough to make anyone crazy. Of course when I saw the weather forecast I was excited at the thought that I might get a little break from it. But of course, what other profession can you be wrong sixty percent of the time and people still like you. Sometimes I think it must be great to be a weatherman.

Sunday started off brilliantly. As I got to work my bones were killing which is usually a sign that the rain is coming. Sure enough I started getting my prep ready and the skies opened up. I went to the Director of Operations and asked him what the plan was and he told me that he was closing me for the day no matter what happened. Of course I was glad that I would get to be inside working brunch acting as a runner. But as soon as brunch was close to being over the rethought their decision and decided that I would be open in an hour.

To give me an hour to get the grill station ready is not nearly enough time. Fortunately head Chef decided that I would be running a limited menu. That did cut down the prep time significantly but it was still a tall order to get me out in an hour. I think it ended up being an hour and twenty minutes. I was a little miffed at opening as I felt as if the sky was going to open up again at any minute but in fact it ended up being a fairly busy afternoon and after the first rush at five, I had another at seven thirty and then it slowed down significantly.

Monday was crazy. We had a private party for the International Language Academy of Canada. 700 kids, who are all learning English as a second language. At first Head Chef had said that it would be W and I working the grill alone. Within a few minutes it was obvious that we would not be able to do it alone. As such L and D came out and we started moving very well together. It really was like an assembly line which basically looked like this;

One of us was putting down the baskets that we would put the food into. We were doing this twenty five or more at a time. The next person would follow putting the buns into place. The third was putting down the lettuce and tomato as well as handing out the food and taking tickets. Of course L, being the machine that he is was working the grill and placing he burgers down on the buns. This mad rush continued for almost three and a half hours. NON STOP. It takes a lot out of you running at that speed. Not only were we doing burgers but we also had chicken fingers and fries as well as Empanadas. All of this done with one grill and one fryer. It was madness but we all kept our cool and got things done quite effectively. I loved having L out there with me because he and I can say things like left and right and the other knows immediately that the other is talking about. We work exceptionally well together.

By the time I was finished on Monday I got home around 2:15 am and then had to be back at work for Canada Day at 11 am.

Canada Day. First off Happy 141 Birthday Canada. I love this country and the many opportunities it has given not just to me but to all those who have come to this great country. I hope you all had a great day. Mine was a roller coaster which ended very badly emotionally.

The day started easy enough. I par cooked burgers and started moving over all the prep that M and I were doing. Again we were running a limited menu with Hotdogs, Sausages, Burgers, Chicken Fingers and Empanadas. None of us thought that we would be overly busy but man were we wrong. We were almost as busy as my six hundred order day. Almost but not quite. M and I worked well together once we found our rhythm.

The day was going smooth enough and I even got to have a cigarette or two. Most of the people that we work with were on site enjoying themselves and Canada Day. Head Chef was there, as was Director of Operations, A and lots of Front of House staff. Everyone was truly enjoying the weather, the music and of course the booze. I was having an alright day right up until around 5:50 pm.

There was a man in a wheel chair who was on site. I had seen him a few times throughout the day. His wife came to get a hot dog from us. It was a hot and humid day and she and her husband were spending time in the sun. After they had eaten I watched as the passed my station and I could see that something was just not right. I looked at the security guard and he sensed what I was looking at. I felt around in my pocket as my spidey sense was going off. Sure enough a few moments later someone came up and said that the man was in distress. Without missing a beat I opened my phone and dialed 911, the time was 5:58pm. I arrived where the gentleman was only as few moments later and could see that his eyes had rolled back in his head and that his tongue was sticking out. I relayed to 911 all the pertinent information and tried to take his pulse while a nurse that happened to be there started doing CPR in his chair. We decided that it would be better to get the gentlemen out of the chair and continue CPR. I directed the Security Guard to go to the entrance to guide the emergency vehicles in. I stayed on the line with 911 but was not feeling a pulse at all where only moments before it was there but really faint. He began to turn purple and I knew at that moment that it was too late. There was nothing that anyone could do for him at that point. I immediately made sure to get the wife sitting down and drinking a bottle of water trying to console her letting her know everyone was doing everything they could do. 911 thanked me for my calm and cool and let me know that I should just continue doing what I was and that it was okay for me to get off the line now that responders were on site.

I informed the emergency responders all the pertinent information and watched as they quickly transferred him to a stretcher while trying to get him breathing and clearing his passageway. I also made sure that security pushed everyone back from the scene.

After a couple of minutes they had moved him to the ambulance but I knew it was too late. I knew he was gone. I knew that he had gone as I was taking his pulse. But in an effort to maintain the relative calmness I said nothing.

I remember this one man, a complete asshole, who was wearing red biking shorts and a jersey who was in the way of the responders trying to tell them how to do their job. It’s funny what you recall at moments like that. I remember that I wanted to knock him out just to get him out of the way.

I lit a cigarette and waited for a responder to come and ask me a few questions. I asked what we should do with the wheelchair after identifying myself. She asked if we had somewhere that we could put it. I said yes and instructed site security to take it there. The effects of what had just happened had not really hit me yet.

The Director of Operations came over and asked me to give a statement to security. Which I did when he came over to me at the grill. The last thing I wanted to do after watching life fade away in front of me was sling burgers to somebody. I walked over to where Head Chef and everyone else was and said that I was going to have a smoke. I went into the cubby hole where we keep the ice machine, took off my hat and lit a smoke.

What goes through your head at moments like this. For me, no stranger to death, I started feeling badly for the wife. I felt badly that I could not do more. I felt horrible that I had in some way contributed to his death (not in reality but it is how I felt). I was reminded of my own mortality and how quickly it all can just go away.

D, who works front of house, walked up to me and could see that I was not in a great mental place and he said to me what does this tell us. That none of us are promised anything.

I finished my smoke and went back to work. Though I didn’t want to. I wanted to curl up into a little ball and start crying. I wanted to release all this angst, tension and thought that was balled up inside of me. I wanted to punch a wall. I wanted to punch the guy in the biking shorts. No I think I wanted to head butt him but you get the idea.

I spent the better part of the next five hours that I was working thinking about the events that transpired. I was really upset. Still today I am really upset. A and Head Chef tried to take my mind off of the events by really laying into me. A more than Head Chef, but as it was happening all I could think of was how someone died in my arms, effectively anyway. And how useless I felt. How there was nothing I could do differently. Though I took everything that was being said to me in stride I was in some sado-masochistic way grateful to not be thinking about the man on the cobblestones who died in front of me.

I did everything I could. I say this by way of not trying to convince you but myself. I am asking my employers tomorrow when I go back to work to pay for me to get my Life saving certification and to get a defibrillator on site. I feel with a defibrillator I could have saved him. But maybe that is just what I’m thinking and it is not true. But nonetheless I do plan on asking tomorrow.

So as you can all see I had quite a weekend. It was, quite the example of the ups and downs of the industry I have chosen to be in.

Another post is imminently coming. For now;

Marcus Aurelius once said; “Death hangs over thee, While thou still live, while thou may, do good” It’s how I feel. But I can still do good.

A la prochaine

SDM