(Insert stupid Blog name here)

 

Hilarious.

 

Actually, the main demographic I usually see at the Ol' C.B. is old folks. At least for people who lived through the depression and WWII, the prospect of a "good deal" is almost impossible to pass up. "You just pay $10 and you can eat as much as you want! What a deal!"

 

I'm thinking, sure, but it tastes like crap and you don't eat that much anyway, so why...?

 

But old habits die hard. Or something.

old habits die hard

Sounds like the next sequel in the Die Hard series.

I worked as a Fry Cook for the Old Country Buffet for a brief stretch of my misspent youth. I don't recall any specific propaganda graphics at that location, although to be fair that was well over two million years ago and my memory might be a little flickery.

 

One thing I do recall with unfortunate clarity is the giant biomechanical nightmare that I would feed the fried chicken parts and gizzards into. It looked like a cross between R2-D2 and an industrial washing machine, and I would have to break the thing down into about roughly 487 parts every night to clean it, then reassemble it before I went home. I felt very much like a laborer in some science-fiction dystopia, lovingly cleaning and re-assembling my robotic chicken torture-machine. I also remember that the Sunday church rush sucked bad, and I spend most of it hauling giant cold garbage bags full of gizzards back and forth to the machine.

Wow... that brings back memories of my days at Kentucky Fried Chicken. "Breaking" the chicken (rinsing the parts, popping joints, stripping off the fat), cleaning the fryers, "grease bowling" after hours (setting up empty bleach jugs, then bowling a full one at them across the greasy floor), using boiling water, bleach and degreaser to mop the floors, hauling chicken fat and grease out to the "maggot barrel" (the smell was unbelievable - you just held your breath all the way out and all the way back, and you could hear the maggots from 10 feet away), being completely saturated in grease at the end of the day...

 

...did I mention the grease?

 

Well, it wasn't all bad though - I used the money I earned there to buy my 2600.

I worked at KFC too, for 7 1/2 years during high school and college. I started as a cook and left as an assistant manager. I suspect you're a little older as we didn't have to "break" the chicken, it came ready to be breaded and fried (marinating was still needed for crispy), plus my initial paychecks purchased C= 64, drives, etc.

 

I seldom eat there now, maybe once a year. When I do the biscuits disappoint me - they're no longer made fresh in the store, instead they come frozen which screws up the texture. When I'm in the mood for fried chicken I hit Frenchy's, a local chain. They make Creole style fried chicken and are much better than Popeye's.

I only had to put in a few months there. Maybe six. Then I got fired for missing one shift. (Someone else traded shifts with me on the calendar, and didn't tell me. I was mad, but not that mad. ) I can't imagine working there for 7 1/2 years. But then I spent five years working my way through college with a janitorial company - which has its own set of stories.

 

I worked for KFC in '81. The food is pretty disappointing there now. El Pollo Loco is far better (it's flame-broiled). I've only had Popeye's once or twice.

guess not that much older - I started in 83, it was my second job. I started my first job at 15 in 82 - washing and fueling helicopters. Didn't yet have a driver's license, but could drive the fuel truck as it was on private property. Lost that job when the base I worked at was downsized due to the oil crunch.

 

EPL hasn't made it to Houston, though I see they have a few locations in San Antonio.