Field Hockey Snack Shack

On Friday night I was one of six culinary students working in the snack shack for the field hockey game. This was the first time for me working, and also the first and probably only field hockey game of the season with an open snack shack. I found the night extremely easygoing and well done. I felt no stress, apart from the first 15 minutes after I arrived. During this time I was still getting used to how the snack shack functioned and wasn’t really sure how much work to expect. However after this initial tension I felt extremely at ease for the rest of the night. The majority of the time was spent simply cleaning or just standing around, as business was very slow. It was not as much work as I had expected it to be. I understand that this same atmosphere will not be present at any other games this season. The only time I somewhat felt like we were a little behind was at halftime. We received the most customers during halftime and were basically cooking everything to order. For hot box items such as chicken tenders and onion rings I understand that it would not have been economically smart to cook more in anticipation of halftime, as we did not know what kind of orders to expect. But I definitely think that we should have had more fries on hand, as those are always a popular order and the first thing eaten by workers if they are left over at the end of the night. It was just a touch chaotic at halftime and I feel as though just a little bit more preparation would have eased the tension slightly. All in all though this was an extremely easy shift, and despite the lack of urgency necessary I still feel it prepared me well for future games spent in the snack shack. - John Carlson