Heard! on the Tequila

I was recently hired at the Shake Shack in the Theater District area, also known as Times Square. I am constantly surrounded by individuals who walk around with phones in hand, camera ready but most of the time looking upward. Most are from a different culture than mine and that is always exciting. As a Shake Shack team member, I was hired to smile a lot, listen closely and use every interaction to enrich our Shack culture.  I was immediately handed the beginners guide to Shake Shack and on my first day at work, I noticed the importance of communication especially within our open kitchen concept.

The kitchen lingo is abundant and hard to catch on. They would say things like “I need a shack burger ‘on the fly’”, meaning they needed that burger immediately. When we are out of something and it is no longer available, that item is considered to be ‘86’d’. The most common word shouted across the kitchen is the word ‘heard’. This is used as a response when someone is requesting something or communicating something to another teammate.

Last week, I was placed at the front expo position which assist guests with their questions and hand off completed orders. While waiting for food a guest named Jesus hands me his buzzer and ask me if I’m Hispanic. I say, yes, from the Dominican Republic. He grins and says “Ah, la gente del Brugal”, meaning, the people of Brugal, a popular rum from the Dominican Republic. I oddly grinned as I don’t drink really drink at all. Trying to connect with the guest, I followed up by asking him where he is from and he immediately puffed out his chest and said “de la cuidad de Guadalajara, de Jalisco, Mexico. Yo soy de la gente de tequila!”, meaning he is from the city of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico and from the people of tequila. A couple of my Spanish speaking coworkers that were overhearing shouted heard!

What really shocked me was not the fact that he went on and on speaking about a couple of embarrassing stories of himself while drunk on tequila or the fact that my manager was directly behind me observing how I, the new trainee, enriched our Shack culture, but of how proud and educated he was of his Mexican culture. Tequila is rich in history and is produced from the Weber blue agave plant. The plant is fermented and distilled and has developed into an immense industry since the 17^th century. The blue agave plant is native to Mexico and its environment and tequila is considered a unique cultural product, native to Mexico.(Tequila)

WORK CITED

“Tequila is Mexico’s undisputed national drink, unique cultural symbol”. The Yucatan Times. November 4, 2015. Web. August 31, 2017.