It’s 7am and my alarm just went off. Its time to get ready for work. I go take a shower, put on a white button down shirt, black dress pants, and dress shoes. I then stroll down the stairs of my house and greet my wife and kids who are getting ready to tackle their days. After lounging around for a while, watching some television, and sending off my kids to school, its time to head over to work. While driving the short distance to work I stop for a quick Starbucks. The coffee will give me much needed energy to be working on my feet all day. Soon after I leave my house I arrive at one of the family diners. Every day I feel a sense of immense pride and excitement to be able to continue the family legacy which has been going strong for over 50 years now.

Having multiple busy New Jersey diners is not easy. You work over ten hours a day. You work weekdays, weekends, and every holiday. While most families around the country are enjoying Christmas morning with family, I am at the diner working. While everyone is out with their family and friends on Friday night, I am working. While everyone is having a late night on New Years eve I am going to bed to work in the morning. The work that goes into running these places is demanding. You have to deal with over fifty staff at each location, do food ordering, tons of paper work, and make sure customers are having a good experience. There is stress when the health inspector comes to give us trouble. There is stress when the plumber fixes something only for it to break again. There is stress when my wife calls me to ask when i’m finally coming home from work. But without constant stress things would never get done. It is the stress that always keeps me on my feet.

As my mom used to say, “Are you sure you don’t want a nice corporate job and work a simple nine to five only Monday to Friday?”. Not having a simple corporate job is the best decision I could have made. As I go to work with my family I feel a sense of fulfillment. Im fulfilling the work that was started by my family many years ago. I feel a sense of pride every time a customer leaves with a smile on their face. I feel a sense of pride every time I look out the window and see a full parking lot. I feel a sense of pride every single time I get in my car to leave for the day. Having an “average” job is something i’m proud I didn’t pursue. Sure, I work over sixty hours a week and am stuck in restaurant watching the world go around me. But at the end of the day I love what i’m doing.