Let's see how far we've come

Let me tell you a story of a place that shaped who I am today...a place I didn't realize had shaped me until I sat there for a long time today and observed it as an outsider looking in...

In April of 2007, I walked into the Panera Bread in Macedonia to ask about the status of my job application. I had been out of a job for a few months and really needed to start making some money before I went to college in the fall. I was worried because I was going to be leaving and what place would want to hire a high school kid who was only going to be around for a few months?

After speaking to the manager, she agreed to hire me on the condition that I work on my breaks from school. And thus a new (and really now that I think about it, huge) chapter of my life began.

Keeping true to my word, I worked at that store every break and summer up until the week before I left for Kent.

In those 5 years, I watched people come and go...eventually getting to the point where I was one of maybe 4 people left that had been there when I started. But in those 5 years, I found a connection with people. I gave up many of my mornings and evenings to be at work...volunteering for shifts, or going in when I was called.

Panera shaped a lot of who I am. I learned HOW to work there. How to work as part of a team, and that sometimes doing the smallest thing can make all the difference (such as portioning chicken...it was an easy task, but if we portioned enough of it, the lunch rush was so much easier because we didn't have to stop every 30 seconds to weigh chicken portions). I learned a work ethic that has carried over until today...and I still have so much pride for Panera as a whole.

And I'm still addicted to the food, 2 years later.

Julia came to visit me this weekend (yeah nerdfighters!) and we went to the Panera in Stow for lunch. One of the guys I trained my last summer at Panera now works there...and he works the shift I used to work (6am-2pm). Saturday and Sunday mornings were my thing...I did them every week without fail and I loved it. They were our busiest days for breakfast and the sandwich line was crazy. And to see that someone I trained is now running the sandwich line like I used to...it's a happy feeling.

I've realized that while I've moved on to a career in higher education...I will always be thankful for my manager giving me a chance to work at a place that would shape who I am in ways that I didn't even realize until my time at the store had ended.

Panera was a family. We made work fun. We genuinely cared about each other's lives outside of work. One of the girls bought me an awesome poster of Time's Square in New York City because she knew I loved musicals/New York so much. One of my managers and I would time our breaks so we could each breakfast together and she could tell me about her grandchildren and I could tell her about school. Another manager and I would blast musicals in the back of the house while we closed and we would sing as loudly as we could.

I will always cherish the time I had there...and I will always hold a special place for my Panera family in my heart.