At the beginning of the summer junior Matthew Erlandson was looking for a job and some extra cash. He chose to apply at the Skillet Cafe because it was in town and his sister knows the owners. Erlandson has been working there ever since as a dishwasher and enjoys the job.

Erlandson’s favorite part of working at the Skillet is “the people, we like to have conversations and talk when we aren’t working.” He works with senior Henry Maddock, sophomore Allison Ott, as well as graduates Alex Deeb and Ike Appleton over the summer.

Besides just dishwashing, Erlandson also has the task of bringing out and preparing plates of food. Dishwashing is still his overall favorite though. This is because most of the plates are very hot when they are brought out to the customer. Erlandson also gets to stay in the back while dishwashing, which he enjoys.  

Erlandson thinks that the Skillet is “very friendly and it’s a fun job … we make a lot of jokes with each other.”

While first working at the Skillet, Erlandson was taught how to wash dishes by Alex Deeb (‘19). “He told me to act busy and clean the dish table when I wasn’t working so I didn’t get fired,” said Erlandson.

Erlandson was excited when he found out that he had gotten the job, but he also felt sad because it is his first job and now he has to work. What would he do if he didn’t have a job? “Sit around all day,” he said. 

One of the funny stories that Erlandson has of working at the Skillet is when another high school student dropped a pitcher of pancake mix. “We all made fun of him for that,” said Erlandson.

Working at the Skillet was harder than Erlandson expected it would be. This is because he didn’t plan on doing prep and bringing out plates. “It turned out better than I expected,” said Erlandson. He now has the goal of doing prep full time and the extra practice will help him get there.

A few things that Erlandson has learned while working at the Skillet Cafe is “to not take jokes seriously,” said Erlandson, not to drop anything, and how to hold a lot of plates at once.