Imagine this. It’s seven at night during a dinner rush. Sweat beading across your neck as you attend to several stations scattered throughout a restaurant. There are barely enough chefs to cook for the massive crowd.
Guests are complaining, babies are crying, and your nipples are hurting from breastfeeding the night before.
This is reality for Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen manager Marisol Hercules.
“I’m constantly running from the kitchen to the host stand to the server’s stations,” said Hercules. “All while covered in flour.”
In her 28 years of living, there’s never been a moment where Hercules wasn’t determined. She landed her first promotion at 17, while working at Applebee’s.
There was no doubt in her mind that managing a restaurant was what she was meant to do. She landed her first managing gig at 21. While others were preparing for college, Hercules was preparing a schedule for her employees.
Hercules has been managing at Cheddar’s for a year and a half now.
“The business sucks you in. Once you start, there’s no getting out,” Hercules said.
Managing this year, she was faced with pregnancy and a pandemic for the first time despite her seven years of experience.
Pregnancy didn’t make her job any easier. Between the back aches and swelling feet, there was no time for rest. One employee tried to make it a bit easier for her despite all that.
“I knew Marisol was pregnant before she even knew,” said Taylor Blair, FGCU student and a host at Cheddar’s. “The symptoms were a dead giveaway.”
Blair has worked at Cheddar’s for a year. She is no stranger to Hercules’ tendency to want the best for her restaurant, even if Hercules had to do it herself.
When Hercules returned to work with news of her pregnancy, Blair made sure she could do her best to assist wherever she could. Along with predicting Hercules was pregnant, Blair predicted the sex of the baby.
“I love Marisol. She’s made my first time hosting enjoyable,” said Blair. “Forever upset about not receiving an invite to the baby shower, though.”
Missing baby shower invite aside, work seemed to be flowing pre-COVID as per usual. Still, the occasional customer complaining about the temperature of something was inevitable.
The first coronavirus case in Florida was discovered on March 1. Hercules was concerned for the safety of her, her unborn child, and those around her.
On March 26, the cases began to swell to a whopping 85,000 deaths in the United States making it the country with the highest number of coronavirus patients, in the world.
FGCU asked for students to be off campus before COVID could spread amongst the students. That meant Blair and other employees were to be returning home. It left a large gap in help at the restaurant.
“We had little to no staff. Customers were confused, angry even, at us for doing our job and keeping them safe,” Hercules said.
With these limits, there wasn’t much Hercules could do to keep it running with whatever employees were left. The dining sections were closed but to-go was open for those who couldn’t live without a pot pie.
“We have to keep our masks on even when talking face to face,” said McKayla Kelly, a To-Go server at Cheddar’s.
Despite the small staff, Hercules stuck to her usual headstrong attitude. She kept showing up to work and providing positive customer service to those who pulled up. To see it barren wasn’t a sight she was used to.
Social distancing was pretty easy when you weren’t even being social. Between the lack of customers and staff, there wasn’t much interaction. Yet, there were still risks every time Hercules walked out her front door for To-Go’s.
“I was the one running everything to the cars,” said Hercules. “I was in contact with the customers. It was scary considering what the news was saying.”
Hercules came across a (fake) article stating that those who are pregnant are more susceptible to the coronavirus. Even though it was a hoax, she couldn’t help but stress about the possibility.
When July came along, Hercules gave birth to a healthy baby boy (Blair would say she called it). Hercules was allowed maternity leave even though business was down.
One word she would use to describe her time with Cheddar’s during the pandemic? Grateful.
“All the managers were able to keep their jobs. That means a lot, especially in trying times like these,” said Hercules.
The doors to Cheddar’s stayed closed for a few months. Those still employed even received pay for a few weeks. Even when the restaurant opened up, there were still sections closed off to enforce social distancing.
When the student workers came back in August, the staff on hand still wasn’t as efficient as it was before. The students were afraid of coming back to school which also meant coming to work. Granted, the restaurant was at 50% capacity.
“We were on a limited menu, sat in every other booth, and masks were required,” said Hercules. “Not all customers wanted to cooperate and that made adjustment difficult.”
The recent decrease in coronavirus cases has brought growth for the restaurant. Since Phase Three started, there have been some changes even Hercules has struggled with.
Before coronavirus, there were eight cooks in the kitchen along with a manager watching over them. Now, a manager has to be behind the line to help cook.
“I don’t think we’ll ever be back to normal,” said Hercules.
September 19. The first day that Cheddar’s was back to full capacity but, the kitchen wasn’t. There was only one host at the stand, a few servers on, and the wait was up to an hour for a party of two.
It was a shitshow, in lamest terms. The restaurant barely survived. With Hercules behind the line, there was hope for them.
“I think Marisol wants the best for us always, as a team and as ourselves,” said Blair. “Cheddar’s was her baby before her baby. Without her, it wouldn’t be growing like it is now. Again.”
