On my last day at the Cantonese bakery, I realized how much I had learned without even understanding the language.
At first, I felt like a complete outsider. I didn’t know the language and I acquired all my bakery skills from watching the old workers. The bakery was a bustling environment; there would be new customers lining up almost every minute. This made me worry because I didn’t know any of the names or prices of the buns.
One of the moments that is stuck in my brain from the job is my manager yelling, “What’s the price of the Portuguese Egg Tart?” I froze in confusion and just shook my head. “I already told you five times! You obviously did not do your homework.”
After the day she yelled at me, I went home feelings embarrassed but very determined. That night, I took a picture of every single item in the bakery shop, went home, and memorized the entire price list. The next day, when she quizzed me, I got everything right, I saw her sneak a slight smile. It wasn’t really a turning point in our relationship, but she definitely started to show a little more patience.
From that day on, I never forgot the price of the Portuguese Egg Tart ever again; it was $1.75. I used to think that manager genuinely hated me, but slowly now realized that her way of expressing help and aid was through tough love.
Once I got little more uncomfortable with the job, I was able to relax a little. There were many funny moments that occurred throughout my job experience. Several times, customers would compliment me, telling me my English was so good! I just smiled back and said thank you, but internally I was kind of confused because I was born in New York. What other language would I speak?
Even taking orders gave me something to laugh about. In Cantonese, so many words sounded so similar to me. For example, if they asked for an iced coffee with no sugar or less sugar, the words “less” and “no” sounded the same so I would often get them mixed up. Not only were there funny moments and misunderstandings, but some impatient customers were also hard to deal with. Their frustration would be written all over their faces if I was just a little bit slow. Although impatient customers made me nervous, I learned to face them calmly, with a smile on my face.
By the end of my time at the bakery, I felt like I had really started to fit in with the rest of the workers. After I finished my very last shift, my manager quietly pulled me to the side and she whispered, “I am going to miss you.”
These were the six words that I never would have imagined would come out of her mouth; this was the same person who yelled at me for not getting orders correct. Somehow, in that exact moment, all the long shifts, memorization, and stress felt like it was all worth it.