I was incredibly nervous walking into Applebee’s for my first job interview last September. I had no idea what to expect. What will they ask me? What if I stutter? What are they looking for in an employee? My heart was pounding in my head, my palms were sweaty and my knees were trembling. A host brought me to table 55, and I waited for the key hourly to interrogate me.
“Hi! My name’s Andy, you’re Olivia?” he asked.
We shook hands and he flashed a calming smile. He asked me where I went to school, and we discovered that he graduated from my high school, Arrowhead, almost a decade ago.
“Have you had Mr. Freeburg?” he inquired.
I quickly shook my head yes.
“Here.” He scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to me. “Ask him if he remembers me. It’s pronounced Freeze not Fries.”
Within a matter of 60 seconds, my anxiety disappeared. Andy was approachable, charismatic and welcoming. I knew in an instant that he was an incredible person, and I immediately looked forward to working with him.
Not long after my job as a host began at Applebee’s, I knew I had made the right decision in accepting the position. Even though hosts are at the bottom of the food chain in a restaurant, Andy treated us like equals…and not like front-of-the-house slaves.
I remember one particular night when I was the closing host, and the restaurant was dead. The bathrooms were cleaned, the food was run and the kids menus were folded. I had nothing to do and no one to talk to.
“What’s the difference between an enzyme and a hormone?” Andy inquired on the headset, cracking corny jokes. We went back and forth telling each other goofy one-liners to keep ourselves in high spirits. I could hear his distinct laughter coming from the kitchen…it’s a laugh you could pick out in a crowd of thousands. We continued having a conversation over the headset, and it meant so much that Andy was able to keep me entertained.
This made me feel like I was part of the family of employees at Applebee’s. It helped me realize there is more to a job than getting the work done. It taught me that before we are workers, we are human beings...we get lonely, we get stressed out, and we crave attention. Little things such as Andy’s witless wisecracks can change someone’s night.
After every Carside shift, I go into the office with Andy to count the money from my drawer. He asks me the typical post-shift questions: “How did your shift go? What were some things you did well? Where did you feel that you struggled today?” He also asks me how I’m getting along with my parents, how my grades are, and how my relationships with my friends and coworkers are. He’s a therapist minus the notepad.  Andy cares about me and my co-workers as people. He cares about our mental and physical health as well as how we are doing socially. Andy has no obligation to care about our personal lives, but he genuinely does. It makes me feel accepted, appreciated and adored.
Mr. Andy Fries goes above and beyond his job expectations as a key hourly. Not only does he manage a staff of crazy comrades successfully…but he also takes the time to listen to our ridiculous jokes, obnoxious complaints and life stories. Andy is like that “cool uncle” figure to me: empathetic, encouraging and enthusiastic. Not everyone in the work world gets along with their boss, and very few get to call them a friend.