“Not everyone can be a great Artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere”
~Ratatouille (2007) , PIXAR ~
Its been nearly a decade, but that memorable speech by Ego at the end of Ratatouille has stuck with me ever since I watched that movie. Perhaps, it is because deep down I have always wanted to become some sort of “Artist”. Nevertheless, I was genuinely surprised to see the insurmountable efforts that it took to keep a grocery stall looking fresh and appealing. Those efforts are nothing short of the work of an Artist. For the past one and a half month, I was glad to be part of this team of Artists that kept our little grocery stall looking like a little “Farm”. This is my first journey after NS and I am glad I started this as I have learned many things. (It also keeps me from going bankrupt!)
The artwork begins in the early morning, where we begin to check the quality and freshness of the fruits and vegetable. The ones that are deemed not sell-able will be taken out to be “sorted” or to be thrown away. “Sorting” is the magic behind the illusion of freshness that you see in the super markets or grocery stalls. “Sorting” is like defending against terrorism, we have to be successful every time and everywhere but the “enemy” only needs to succeed once somewhere.Likewise, a single moldy grape, a small scratch on a peach or a black spot on a cauliflower can make the whole box/bunch unattractive to customers. Below is the 101 to the art of Sorting
Basic guide to Sorting :
- For Grapes, Berries and baby tomatoes we have to pour out the entire punnet and painstakingly examine every single fruit for molds, scratches and changes in colour. The poor quality ones will be removed and we will repack everything into a clean-ed box (notice that it is clean-ed and not clean). The next time that you decide to eat your grapes or berries before washing, do remember that it could have been sleeping beside a moldy and rotten counterpart!
- For Cauliflowers and Broccoli, the mold on the head will be gently scrapped off. If the base of the stems turn black, we will cut a thin slice off the base. If the rotting is more severe, we will chop it into smaller pieces and wrap the nicer portions on a tray. Therefore, when you see the surface of a cauliflower or broccoli being smooth or being conveniently chopped into smaller pieces, it probably isn’t as fresh as it looks.
- For cabbages, whenever the top layer turns yellow or have black spots, the top layer is peeled off to reveal the fresher, green layer underneath. If the rot is deeper, we may simply cut the cabbage into half, a quarter or even into eighth.
- For Pumpkins, the core and seeds tend to turn moldy and we will scoop or cut the entire center portion out. If the flesh of the pumpkin gets soft, the surface layer will be cut out. When buying pumpkins, buy those with the seeds and core intact, they are probably much fresher (assuming you didn’t miss the molds among the seeds) .
- For the fruits like Mango, Banana, Peaches and Apples, the bad ones will be cut, the good parts of the fruit is sold as cut fruits or added to yogurt and sold as parfait. On the bright side, the good parts of overly ripe fruits are usually tastier and sweeter. The next time you buy a bowl of cut fruits, just don’t expect it to be “Fresh” cause fresh fruits will be probably be sold as a whole.
- For Yogurts that are about to expire (2-3 days beforehand), they will be repackage with going-to-expire granola or semi-spoiled fruits to be sold as parfait. Make your own Yogurt dessert, otherwise just have whatever that is in the package or just pay for a Yole! (Secretly sponsored by Yole)
- All Samples are basically the poor quality fruits with the spoiled portion removed. Fortunately, samples will definitely taste good and look appetizing as we want to encourage you to buy
- For Meats and Eggs, well, we used a variety of methods…… (Pay USD0.99 for full guide). Just kidding, you probably don’t want to know.
The art of Sorting is essentially prolonging the “freshness” of the foodstuff, minimizing wastage and stopping you from seeing nonsense shown below. Honestly, I was initially quite startled but I soon came to realise that this was necessary to minimise the company’s losses due to wastage. I do believe that all supermarkets and wet markets will do similar things or even worst in order to appeal to nitpicking and demanding customers.
Apart from Sorting, I also realised an uncanny similarity between the structure of my workplace and Army’s structure. Pardon my ignorance, perhaps I have never paid enough attention or worked enough to notice this earlier. In the Army, we have duty Sergeants (DS) who will organised and be responsible for the entire platoon for the day. In the shop, we have a Full timer or Duty supervisor (DS) who will be responsible for everything in the shop. Worst of all, both sides have a unreasonable level of accountability , whereby anything that happen even those not within your control will be our fault. There is also the similar problem where the management/Battalion HQ are too far from daily operation and they make bad and odd decisions. Perhaps, its not that my workplace have similar structure as army but that the working world all operate on similar structure.
The past month in this job made me realised that I actually learned some usual skills from army.. My Encik relentless criticized and improved our abilities to analyse/create systems and organizing things. Honestly, back then, I felt really irritated by my Encik, who was being such a perfectionist and finding fault with every nitty, gritty detail. Fast forward a year and I am finding fault and trying to improve the system (mostly finding fault) in the shop. Really never thought that I will say this, but thank you 3WO Nazli 🙂
People get bored easily when they have little interest in whatever they are doing, especially when it is repetitive and when you “Don’t make a difference”. Likewise, after the first 2 weeks, the job got repetitive and boring. Fortunately, I am no stranger to routines, after all I literally spent 33 weeks staring at the monotonous, empty sea. This is probably my greatest carry over from army, being more involved and spending time getting to know people can make a monotonous job much more enjoyable. As a part timer, I tried to understand the system, try to help drive sales in the stall and emphasized with the full timers when none of it should matters to me. I guess once a fool, always a Fool 🙂 Perhaps, it is because I have grown closer to my “Team” members and I am trying to help them out. Regardless, I do believe that going the extra mile in a job and learning more about your colleagues can make your boring job, much more meaningful.
To all Millennial (including myself) who complain that you don’t feel like you are “making a difference” or having “Job satisfaction” , try putting in more effort before quiting your job. As Simon Sinek mentioned in his famous talk about Millennials, Job satisfaction takes time. After trying that, please go head with saying your F-bombs, point your middle fingers and say “I quit” to your unappreciative boss.
This is by far the most enjoyable part time job and also my most meaningful one. I got to learn how to brew coffee, select fruits and vegetables and most importantly listening to the interesting stories from my colleagues. As my internship draws nearer, I will probably work much lesser in this magic house. As University starts I will probably leave this place…
All good things will always come to and end. Perhaps, it is the limited lifespan of experiences that makes us cherish it more….
Joel 