Also promoted

16-1-2014

    Today was a lot different from every other day so far. When we showed up to work at 3:00 the team started with industrial grade, which we always do last, and the wet-line freezer was being thawed out and the belt hosed down, which is always done at the end of the night. I asked Luke why and he said, "because we're done."

   "What?" I thought. It's only 3:45. We can't be done already, we just started. Instead, I said, "Okay," and started with cleaning. 

   Midway through hosing down the freezer floor (under the giant belt that has to be at least 10 meters long) the wet-line supervisor, Ash, came in and said the head manager wanted to see me. Apparently he wanted me and Luke to learn how to run dry-line. So I found Luke and we walked over to the next big room over and we started to learn how to run the machine (another belt) for dry-line. After a little while the head supervisor found us and asked me who was more clever, me or Luke? I pointed to Luke. He said, "Okay, Luke will be supervisor, you'll be his 2.I.C. (The Kiwi way of saying second in charge)." 

    Holy cow, I just got promoted. And it was a big step up! Dry line is the most prestigious of all the lines, because it's for the grade A fruit (the stuff the big stores pay big for) and the stores can reject it so we have to be a lot pickier, and a lot more stringent, on what gets through and what doesn't. Everything that gets turned down by dry-line goes to wet-line, and then the packing house from there. To call it the packing house is misleading because it's just another big room in another part of the same building, but since the building is shaped like a C, with the freezer in the middle, you have to walk outside and back in to get there. 

     Anyhow, I was saying that dry-line is fairly prestigious. Everyone working in dry-line has to be paying attention to their task, everyone has to be aware of what's going on with everyone else, and everyone has to be good at what they're doing. That is not at all the case with the wet-line. Not even a little. Everyone in wet-line knows that the fruit we sort through is either going to be mushed for juice, or it's going to be frozen and then sorted through again in the packing house. People stand around and do nothing, and for a while nobody cares. The people who are grading on the line stare down and slowly pick out a bad berry here and there, bored, never reaching outside of the 8 inch bubble right in front of their face. That does not fly on the dry line. On the dry line, you must be quick, efficient, and alert to more than just what's in front of your face. Even just being a grader for dry-line is admirable; it shows you're fast, effective, and smart. Here I had just gotten promoted to supervise this line! To be a supervisor, you have to know how to do, and be good at, every job on that line. Since the machine is fairly complex, and since there are controls at both far ends of the machine that sometimes have to be operated at the same time, there are two supervisors. Hence, both me and Luke. 

   For the next few days Luke and I will be trained by the day shift supervisors for dry-line. And then we'll be on our own. I don't know for how long, but I'm assuming for the rest of the season (aka a few weeks). I have no idea what will become of the wet-line. I don't know if we'll be running both in the same night, or just have some nights on wet-line and some nights on dry-line.

    For those of you who have been keeping up:  yes, Luke is now a supervisor for dry-line and the 2nd in charge overall. He holds two spots at the same time. Go Luke! 

Ooh! And today... I got to learn how to drive the fork lift! Happy day!