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Back In The Fray
By: Patrick Maguire
Book Chapter: Human-to-Human Service
Posted: 08/16/2011
I am currently back in the line of fire as co-owner and operator of Native Cape Cod Seafood, a take-out seafood concession and raw bar in Provincetown, MA. My long-time friend, Andrew Morgan and I started the business from scratch after an opportunity suddenly presented itself in the spring. We built and opened the business by cramming what should have been several months of work into 4 short, tumultuous, anxious weeks without much sleep. More about opening the business will follow in later posts.
My days currently consist of arriving at the seafood shack before 8 AM, to manage the day-to-day operations of the business. That includes scheduling employees, cutting lemons, taking in deliveries, setting-up, banking, making our housemade tartar sauce, minimizing the internal and external drama, bussing tables, bookkeeping, working the counter, putting out fires, shucking oysters, cleaning, closing, and leaving the shop by 10:30pm 7 days a week. As with any short, seasonal business, there’s a time to go hard and a time to go home. August is the Superbowl (especially Carnival Week) for merchants in Provincetown, and I am right in the middle of the fray.
Thank you for your patience between posts. As I have often stated, this blog and my forthcoming book are intended to facilitate a conversation that fosters greater empathy, awareness and mutual respect not only between customers and service industry workers, but also within our communities where we live and work.
So get ready, because ServerNotServant is about to get up-close and very personal, very fast, with rich material from the front lines of my current project. The posts that follow will be spontaneous from the service side of the counter of Native Cape Cod Seafood.
Come by and say hello if you make it to Provincetown before Columbus Day. If not, please join the conversations that follow, and check out our business on Facebook.
Thank you.
3 Responses to “Back In The Fray”
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Permalink | Posted in Human-to-Human Service | 3 Comments »
Great job, Patrick! The place and the food look fantastic on your Native Cape Cod facebook page . . . best of luck! (It’s good to have you back here posting, though. You’ve been missed.)
Sounds like a great experience, Patrick. I’ve been enjoying the NCCS updates on Facebook. I’m looking forward to catching up and hearing some good stories.
You, like many others before you, are insane. I happen to be insane, too. This business is like an addiction. One cannot stop! Good luck and God bless!
I sent a friend of mine to your place (he was at a conference in MA) and he had nothing but fabulous things to say!