The other 2.

[butterflydreaming]

Aha! Found them: the rest of the questions that I asked for from buhrger back in... November. Um. If you want to look for the other 3, they are somewhere in January, I think, under the q&a tag. here.

how're plans for the seattle franchise of the curry crawl coming? do you have specific restaurants in mind at this point? do you have specific company in mind at this point?
Indian food, anyone? We haven't managed to make the Seattle Curry Crawl as official as Sushi Night. Nevertheless, with varying company I, at least, have managed to sample a few more places.
India Bistro (Ballard)
Flavor of India (Pioneer Square)
Roti (Queen Anne) - lunch buffet
Shalimar (U District)
Maharaja (West Seattle) - take out
Indian Oven (Port Angeles)
Royal India Grill (Admiral District)

I'm game for more. If we could do a dinner in June, who is interested? I've heard that there are some great places in Bellevue, but that's a bit of a jaunt for me, so if you know of somewhere new that we should try that's closer to downtown, let me know. Although if Bellevue eats meant meeting up with any of the PCGs while they are in town, I'd be willing to Flexcar. adventurat, do you like Indian cuisine?

you're a few months into the new job. if you compare the people you meet at work now to the people you met as a barista, what's the biggest difference? what's the biggest similarity?

The biggest difference is that the people that I interact with on a daily basis are others in the business -- loan officers, escrow closers, insurance and real estate agents -- rather than patrons. One similarity between the two sets is that it is important to maintain a good relationship. Even though I was pretty bossy behind the counter, I was in a service job, as a barista. Since I'm not dealing with customers anymore, the dynamic is different. I have a right to expect a minimum amount of courtesy and competance. (Which reminds me -- never use Admiral Escrow; they are horrible.)

The mortgage industry is much more... homogenous than my previous line of work. There is more grind (intended) and less art. I met such a great variety of people when I was a barista. I could find the answer to almost any question, within the length of a shift, just by asking my customers. Since we were "high end" espresso, we had a clientel that tended to be more interested in a personalized experience. Plus, the rhythm of the job meant that not only was there time for conversation, but that there had to be conversation to fill those few minutes from ordering-to-payment. Talking about the weather all shift was not interesting, so we had to be creative. It was kind of like a linear cocktail party. Consequently, it was a lot more wearing.

The biggest similarity is that I still need to "cut to the chase" and figure out what the person I'm talking to needs and get it done without wasting time. In both places, the ability to multi-task is mandatory. Sometimes I can chit-chat a bit, or even flirt (which feels much weirder to do with a title officer than with a latte drinker), but most of the time, I need to be pleasant while simultaneously doing the job, as efficiently as possible.

Comments

[buhrger]

I've heard that there are some great places in Bellevue
if you ever get across the lake, i recommend Raga, in Kirkland, in spite of the name

One similarity between the two sets is that it is important to maintain a good relationship.
that'd be true of any job, not?

[adventurat.livejournal.com]

I love Indian food! Count me in, if it's the right weekend!

[worldmaker-13.livejournal.com]

Indian is awesome! *ooooh* *rubs hands* A PCG big get-together!

[adventurat.livejournal.com]

With food! Who'd've imagined that? :-D

[samildanach.livejournal.com]

We're in for the curry crawl.