Destin Commons

We call Destin Commons simply "The Commons" – it's a street in the center of Destin with various brand-name stores, a Hard Rock Cafe, a movie theater, and a little train that takes American kids for rides. In the center of this street, there is a very interesting fountain – on a small plaza between the shops, jets of water shoot right out of the ground, and every day little kids frolic in them, dressed or in swimsuits, thrilled to be soaked from head to toe.

Music plays on this street all day long, and all day long, vacationers in Destin—Americans tired of lying on the beach and looking for entertainment—walk along it and pop into the shops.

I would love to give you a tour of this beautiful little street, living its bright summer life; I've already learned almost all the shops (no wonder, we submitted applications to all of them, meaning we reached out in search of work).

But, ladies and gentlemen, let's proceed to The Commons not via the main street, but my way.

And I'm riding there on my bike.

First, you need to ride through the backyard of the "Bass Pro Shops" store, past the hangar with yachts that are taken out every morning and returned in the evening.

Then, past the back entrance of the "Blue Point" restaurant, next to which the waiter guys in black t-shirts and aprons with pockets often sit on a bench.

Olya and Ira work at this restaurant. They also come there on bikes.

Once, Natasha and I were riding past The Commons and saw them sitting outside.

• Hey, girls! Why aren't you working?!
• We were told to wait for the manager. They probably don't want us to work for them... They won't let us take orders. - Olya replies, - So we're sitting here, waiting, not even knowing for what...
  And then she says: "You look so tired, should I bring you something to drink?"
• Can you?)
• Well, yeah, I can bring out some Coca-Cola...
• No, not cola, just water is fine!

And Olya brought us water with lemon.

• Well, at least you took one order today, - I joke.

Olya smiles slightly, but her eyes are still sad.

All Americans always smile, but for us, it's sometimes very difficult. We can't be like them - you can see everything in a Russian person's eyes, but not in an American's. They are used to smiling.

Later, when Olya and Ira returned home from work, they said that everything was fine - they weren't being fired. They were just told to study the menu and that in a week they would be allowed to take orders, and that everything depends on them, how they prove themselves...

• Actually, they are slowly hiring staff, - says Olya, - but they don't hire Russians, I don't even understand how they hired us - we got lucky.

And we, ladies and gentlemen, get off my bike, put it in a special parking spot, lock it, and move on.

Next to "Blue Point" is the "Maui Nix Surf Shop". Vika, Natasha, and I work there. Natasha and I were hired a couple of weeks ago, and we were very happy about it. And then our manager Lucas said that he was putting us on an "on-call schedule," meaning we need to call every day and ask if we are working tomorrow or not.

This week I worked like this: Tuesday - from 12 to 8 PM, Wednesday and Thursday - from 6 to 10 PM, Friday - from 12 to 4. Natasha wasn't given any hours on the schedule at all.

I really want to work. I want to work a lot. And when I (smiling) ask Lucas if I'm working tomorrow, and he (smiling) answers: "Six to ten PM. You've got it, baby!" (That's American humor, yes, he's like that),

I have to say "Ok, Lucas, thank you."

And I say: "Ok, Lucas, thank you!" And I smile. And I think, "And the girls from Slovakia who don't speak English at all have a schedule for the whole week. F*** you, Lucas, and shove these four hours of mine..." In short, I think a lot about this situation.

But let's not dwell on these thoughts of mine. The next door is the youth store "Abercrombie and Fitch". Walking past it, you always feel the pleasant aroma of the perfume they sell.

Ira and Olya, whom I already wrote about, work part-time in this store two or three times a week. I have an interview at this store next week. You can't work much at "Abercrombie" - they hire a lot and give few hours on the schedule.

In America, you get paid for hours worked. And an employee won't be given more than 40 hours a week, otherwise, the employer would have to pay "overtime." Not $8.5 an hour, but, for example, $11. That is, a person can work, for example, 4 days a week for 10 hours a day and finish at midnight - but that won't be "overtime." Only if it's more than 40 a week.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are leaving "Abercrombie". The next stop is the ice cream cafe "Cold Stone". Do you see the long line that no longer fits inside and continues onto the street? This is called "busy."

"Busy" is an influx of clients or "customers," as they are called here.

The antonym is "slow," meaning a small number or absence of "customers."

At "Cold Stone," Russians and Americans work in equal numbers. Lena and Natasha from Chelyabinsk and Olya from Vladivostok work there.

They mix ice cream, bake waffles, make milkshakes, and much more.

They work in the cold for 8 hours without a lunch break.

• I don't eat this ice cream. I can't look at it! - says Natasha, - girls, do you think it's made of milk? And do you know how our "milkshakes" are made? In a glass, there is one-third milk, and then they add some transparent liquid from plastic bags, I don't know what it is...

• Almost all Russians were working today, - Lena says one evening, - it got to the point where we started taking orders!

• Wait, you're not allowed to do that. After all, those who take orders should be paid more...

• Yes! But of the Americans, only Ben was at the register! And the others went to smoke! It's good that no one ordered "milkshakes." I've learned almost all the ice cream, but not the "milkshakes."

They are always going out for an hour for their "breaks" and sitting outside smoking! - complains Lena.

• One time they were discussing us in English and thought we didn't understand them. They say something like "let the Russians go work." I then went up to Lexi and told her not to think that we don't understand anything - we understand everything they say about us.

The girls tell a lot of interesting things about their work at Cold Stone. Both bad and good. About their favorite Chris, about the cafe owner Paul, about customers flirting with them, about how their hands hurt after work.

There are a couple more shops and restaurants where my friends work. They all work well.

I also work well.

All my life I was a "customer."

And only here, in Destin Commons, do I begin to understand what work in the service industry is.

Any work in the service industry is very hard labor.

It is VERY HARD LABOR.

Shops in Destin Commons close at ten in the evening, Cold Stone - at twelve.

And in the morning, everything starts over - the sunny street, laughing children, the little train, the movie theater, the fountain.

And on the other side of the street, young Americans, Latinos, Russians, Czechs, and Slovaks are parking their bikes in the lot.

Eight of them belong to the girls from the Russian house.