For many people, mashed potatoes, turkey, corn, and stuffing are all fall/winter foods that basically cease to exist once the weather gets above 65. But back when I was *young*, I worked in a magical land where Thanksgiving was a thing year-round: Boston Market.
When every day is Turkey Day, that means actual Thanksgiving becomes VERY popular. Which means for the years I worked there, I worked on Thanksgiving...and let me tell you, it was a deeply weird experience.
You might take it for granted, reading about all the places that will cook your Thanksgiving dinner for you. Like, don't they ALWAYS have turkey and mashed potatoes? What's a little bit more? But Thanksgiving prep at Boston Market, at least when I worked there, started about a month in advance and bordered on the monumental.
Orders poured in via phone and sometimes from online, though since I am ancient (26 years old) that wasn't as common yet. I remember stretching the phone cord long enough so I could scoop sides while also answering questions about orders.
You'd truly be surprised by how many people get their entire Thanksgiving dinner cooked by places like Boston Market. People would rack up thousands of dollars in orders, which is why it was imperative I got them right, and since I was a teen and my brain was the size of a walnut, this felt even more stressful. My Very Type A Boss had a giant color-coded binder of orders that she carried around like the bible all week.
But all of that pales in comparison to the chaos that ensues on actual Thanksgiving. If you've never had Boston Market food, I will still say, after eating a million pounds of it, that it's still amazing to me. Mac and cheese? Bury me. Cinnamon apples? YES. And what makes Boston Market different from a lot of the other chains that offer Thanksgiving dinner is that a lot of it's freshly made, fully cooked food, so most people come pick it up on Thanksgiving Day. Which makes it insane. At least at my location, all employees were required to work on Thanksgiving because it was basically like our Super Bowl. In fact, planning Thanksgiving Day strategy at Boston Market feels a lot like a football game.
We all had our roles, and I remember going to a few strategy meetings where we figured out who would go where. Some people only scooped sides for what felt like days, some people worked overnight to make sure there was enough turkey cooked, while others ran bags of food from the back to the waiting customers. It was a bunch of moving pieces that somehow worked.
I often got a morning shift and I was assigned the "pre-order line," which was always indicated with a sign. I was instructed only to help customers in my line that had ordered ahead. Anyone else who came in would have to order from a more-limited, day-of menu.
Of course people had to have a card already on file because you're not going to make thousands of dollars of food for people with no reason to come in. I keyed in a code, indicating they were there for their food, their receipt got printed, they picked up their bag at the end of the counter. Easy peasy.
I pretty much couldn't waiver from that process, or else we would be keeping people waiting—or even worse, we might run out of food. But that doesn't mean people listened to me or read the sign. Nope, some people gave me a very hard time.
The worst experience was a woman who became so enraged that I would not let her place a new order that she posted up in my line for 25 minutes, screamed at me and my manager, and then, when we eventually let her bend the rules, threw her change in both of our faces and ran out. Safe to say, my manager locked herself in the walk-in fridge for a good bit before facing the mob again.
But there were also lots of things I loved about working Thanksgiving at Boston Market, too. I loved my coworkers so much, and the vibe behind the counter was fun that day for the most part. We sometimes ordered pizzas so our staff meals didn't dip into the food we had for customers. I remember one of my co-workers once came in for his shift with slushies for everyone.
And not all customers were bad. Not even close. Take for instance, the extremely patient women in line after the change-thrower who begged me to let them buy me a bottle of wine even though I was 16 (I turned it down, MOM) and squeezed my hand as I teared up finishing up their order.
We also had lots of dine-in customers, many of whom put tables together so they could have company while they ate, while others quietly ate their turkey and mashed potatoes. Many were regulars, so I knew they had no where else to go and that this was as "normal" of a holiday as it was going to get for them.
Knowing that I was helping give other people a nice holiday was honestly a really amazing way to spend mine. When I was mercifully relieved from cashier duty to bussing tables for a bit, I often chatted with customers, and it felt as natural as being around my own table. One regular who I served almost every Sunday even left me a leather key chain with my name stitched on it that I still have today.
All this to say, working at Boston Market on Thanksgiving was equal parts weird and wonderful. I missed having that day to relax but I honestly loved being a part of something special, too.
People have often asked me if I think places should be closed on Thanksgiving after having worked so many Thanksgiving days and Black Friday early mornings, and to tell you the truth, I don't necessarily think so. There are tons of people who don't celebrate Thanksgiving who want the money and there are plenty of people who have no where to go that day. There is no reason to shut them out.
But with that, if you are going to order food on Thanksgiving, be patient, be kind, and keep your change to yourself.
