I'm A Chef. Here's Why I Hate Cooking Tonight.

Hello everyone,<br><br>I've been a line cook for almost seven years and a sous chef for almost three. I've worked in eight different kitchens, at every service time, for every meal period, for every cuisine.<br><br>I'm tired. I'm sick of the system. I'm sick of the culture. I'm sick of the customers. I'm sick of the owners. I'm sick of the equipment we have to use, and I'm sick of buying the same low-quality ingredients from the same low-quality distributors. I'm tired of being taken advantage of. I'm tired of the lack of basic human decency and professionalism the industry demands. <br><br>I'm tired of working in kitchens that are dirty, dangerous, and poorly designed, with too many people doing too many jobs with too little training. I'm tired of working with drugged out co-workers who can't stand up for themselves. I'm tired of being bossed around by people who can't even chop an onion. I'm tired of management who sees us as nothing but meat for the grinder. I'm tired of being told that this is how things have always been, that this is how they're always going to be, that if I don't like it then I should leave.<br><br>But most of all, I'm tired of not seeing any way out. My skills are useless in the outside world. I've invested years of my life to be a specialist in a field that nobody wants to specialize in. I'm in massive amounts of debt and have no benefits. I have no retirement savings, no pension, no paid time off or sick leave or any kind of labor protections. I'm a serf, a slave, an apprentice with no master, a soldier with no war. I work for people who have no idea how to do my job, who think that all a cook needs is a pulse and a tongue to taste with. They think that we're replaceable, that one cook is as good as any other, that training and experience is irrelevant to our profession. They're ignorant, and they see our ignorance in return.<br><br>And so I'm here on reddit. I'm on r/confession and r/relationships and r/rant and r/unpopularopinion and r/changemyview. I'm on food chambers and travel chambers and fashion subreddits. I'm trying to find a way out, to see if there's a life for me outside of the kitchen. I'm pretty sure there is, but I'm still scared. I'm still scared to leave the only thing I know behind.<br><br>But I know I'm not alone. The restaurant industry is a system headed for collapse. Wages are rising and people are quitting and the owners don't know what to do. They can't handle higher wages, better benefits, and greater protections for their workers. The system is unsustainable. They either adapt and evolve or they die. And a growing part of me wants to see them die.<br><br>I'm done with bad tipping and bad management and bad owners and bad co-workers and bad customers. I'm done with bad kitchens and bad equipment and bad food. I'm done being a line cook. I'm done being a chef. I'm done being part of a system that exploits its workers and abuses its customers. Tonight, I'm done. Tonight, I just want to go home.<br><br>Edit: I've never received so much support from a post like this. Thank you for the Silver and Gold and Platinum. Thank you for the awards and the rewards. Thank you for the kind words and personal messages and advices. I'm overwhelmed. I'm touched. And I'm grateful. Thank you.<br><br>Update: I quit.<br><br>Quit the job, quit the industry, and perhaps one day I'll quit the country. I was given the opportunity to go remote for a job in tech and I took it. I've been out of the industry for a few months now and I couldn't be happier. Better work/life balance, better work environment, better labor protections, better compensation. I was able to travel for the holidays. I was able to see my friends and family without having to ask for time off. I'm healthy, I'm happy, I'm well-fed, and I'm well-paid. And I couldn't have done it without you, fellow Redditors. Thank you.