Long hours, stressful work environment, low wages, and little to no recognition lead to a higher than average level of alcohol and drug abuse among cooks. As a profession, cooks have the highest level of these addictions of any of other profession, as a matter of fact.
Not to make excuses, but after sixteen or more hours a day, exhausted to the point of near death in many cases, and still unable to fall asleep, many cooks begin down a slippery slope of parties, drugs and alcohol. Restaurant workers tend to have few friends outside of the industry because of the demanding and uncompromising schedule, so when they do go out to party, those around them tend to be other cooks and waiters, who are also looking to take the edge of the day off in a bottle, which leads to intense and crazy nights; things as little as a drunk guy out crying in five degree weather, tiny orgies of writhing bodies in the corners of darkened room, guys and girls pissing outside, and more than can be adequately described in a blog post.
And while these things seem fun in the moment, you look back on them with one of two emotions; horror at what you’ve been part of, or happiness at having had these experiences. And the result of all this is, that often times, you have to get up in the morning with maybe an hour or two of sleep, or simply go to work with no sleep at all, and still be expected to work at the highest possible level for anywhere from eight to sixteen hours.
This cycle may start slowly, but it quickly escalates to the point that the drug and alcohol abuse, for a lot of cooks and waiters, becomes a necessary reprieve, sometimes to the extent that they can not operate without. This is a known issue in the restaurant industry, and a lot of work has been done to try to fix it, as much as it can be fixed, and there has been some improvement in the last decade or so, but much work still needs to be done on this front.
Now, don’t get me wrong, not everyone who works in restaurants turns to these vices to get through the day, but enough do that it is something that needs to be fixed. The easiest way that you, the consumer, can help with this problem is to work to relieve some of the stress that these workers feel in their low wage, long hour jobs. Be polite to your server, and nine times out of ten, he or she will be polite to you. Don’t make outrageous demands on menu items; remember, many kitchens prep ingredients for the expected number of customers and dishes, and demanding unnecessary changes to a dish can and will throw a kitchen into disarray as new ingredients are prepped and cooked for you. Unless you need the changes for health reasons, of course. By doing just those two simple things, you could help make life in the restaurant just a little easier for those who prepare and handle the food you eat.