My first week at STREAT: an insider's perspective

Well my first week at STREAT was an interesting one. Meeting the team and the trainees the first day I got an impression of the kind of awesome energy that our glorious leaders have cultivated and invested into this fantastic organisation.

The trainees themselves were a little stand off-ish on the first day and I was a little wary as well, not quite sure what I was getting myself into, and while I’m still not quite sure, I know there is a fantastic network above and beside me willing to help in any way as I find my footing here at STREAT. That in itself has made the transition here worthwhile, although a little headsore in the first couple of days as the information kept pumping into my fragile mind.

So now armed with the knowledge of my forebears in this social enterprise, I found myself on my third day at the front line- Fed Square Food Cart- with the trainees themselves.

 To be frank, there is a fair bit of slog in hauling out, setting up, washing down, sanitising, pluggin in, turning on, heating soup, stocking fridges etc....... that are part of the turf with the Fed Square site and while it wasn’t done without a bit of grumbling, I was quite amazed at the ease and familiarity all these tasks were accomplished in.  

So these guys can do the job? I’m thinking to myself.... and they can!! Not only do they enjoy it they all have some definite ideas about how to do it, sometimes a little wide of left field, but hey they’re in the ball park right? So we are out in the elements cooking up Jerk Chicken wraps and Lentil wraps and serving soups with rolls and all of a sudden I’m not the awkward kid in class anymore or the outsider.  We get to talking and stuff and they’re asking me about my experience and telling me about theirs and I’m thinking this is fun, hang on...  I’m getting paid to have fun!!

I have always enjoyed my job and I like working hard. Now this is hard work of a different kind, but the trainees are engaging and smart and they want to know and are genuinely interested in what we can relate from our experiences.

The best thing is the support staff, managers and the CEO (a word that has always had frightening connotations for me) are human!!! Not suit-wearing stiff necked ogres breathing fire down the altar demanding that their  will be done, but warm inviting people always ready to listen and advise and discuss solutions and ideas. It’s an awesome new experience for me.

So, so far so good. It’s a different pond I am swimming in with slightly different rules but it’s already feeling like home in a way. Like I said there is an amazing energy at STREAT and it grabs you and makes you feel a part of something a little bigger and a little more worthwhile than the daily slog of a normal chef’s job. It’s something that makes me want to excel at this job and invest myself in because of the passion and atmosphere created by our forebears here sparks the same fire in me, and I hope STREAT is my home for a long, long time.