And So That's Why We Call It A Grind

About 5 days ago I started playing the sickeningly popular MMO, World of Warcraft. Sure it's fun, but why would I write about that? What I want to express is the odd familiarity I found while playing it. You see...

About 5 months ago I started working at a restaurant in my hometown. Of the two factions, I chose to play Back of House. I rolled a 20-30 year-old grill cook. I'm sorry, are you an RPG nerd. No? Let me break it down.


Class
Grill Cook
Role: Damage Dealer
-Reduces each check health to zero. Low health (highly irritable).

Of course, there are lots of other classes in the restaurant. 

Manager
Role: Tank
-Absorbs enemy complaints and all the garbage that goes down in the house. Constantly barks out orders.

Prep Cook
Role: Support Buffs
-Keeps other cooks stocked and prepared, providing a permanent haste buff to cooking and stocking speed.


Dish Washer
Role: Healer
-Removes negative status effects from the kitchen. Heals grill cooks by giving them someone beneath them to lash out at.


Race
20-30 year-old
-Balanced Race. Average wisdom and energy. Slight elitism somehow despite working in a kitchen past 20's.

And there are certainly other races amongst us too.


16-20 year-old
-High energy race. Can activate berserk every hour, giving a 20% casting haste but a 50% increase to mess generated. +30% experience gained.

30+ years old
-High health race. Not easily upset (read: too old to give a care). Base speed is low, but has a racial ability to use wisdom as speed modifier, putting young guns in their place by sheer life experience. -30% experience gained (read: hard to teach an old dog new tricks).


Well, now that I've laid all that out, let me just say, our store (henceforth to be known as "our server") is one of the busiest. Lots of mobs just crawling in from everywhere. Frequently aggressive. My experience began with the tutorial stage, learning what all the different instruments do. Next came the exploring stage, making my way throughout Azerothony's and meeting new people of different classes. And then comes the level grinding.

I defeated countless burgers, phillies, and steaks. As I leveled, I acquired new skills. Take for instance:

Read the freaking check
-Casting time: 5 seconds
Lean in and actually read the check, idiot. Reduces the chance of a order mistake proc by 90%.


Oils, Seasonings, and Presses, oh my!
-Casting time: ~a few seconds
It's amazing how with a little butter, pepper, or onion salt, you can make your food taste palatable. Oil and grill presses can haste your casting time by as much as 80%.

And my favorite:
Burn resistance
-Passive ability
Splashing yourself with oil or touching a scalding plate doesn't make you freak out like a little girl. Oh, it hurts alright. But you're a man now. Remember, this is simple burn resistance, not fire resistance. Your flesh is just as flammable.

Before long, I realized there were entire talent trees. I could spec speed, clean, efficient, or fun. Bet you're curious what each of those are. Of course you are! If you're still reading by this point, you'd hate me for not telling you.


Speed
Abilities center around berserk and general haste buffs. Highest dps and highest mess. You might be saving time by flailing your arms around like a human blender, but when it's time to clean your floors, you'll consider respecking as:


Clean
Your abilities are primarily geared toward using exactly what you need, no more no less. Excess creates mess. Cooking times might be slower, but you have the fastest side-work time and generate lots of honor points when people see your pristine work station. Of course, you're so focused on staying tidy you might might mess up here and there, so maybe you should spec


Efficiency
You get it right the first time, every time. If this whole cooking thing really were and RPG, you'd put "read the freaking check" on number 1-9 and faceroll your way to victory. Avoids those nasty order mistake procs almost entirely which, lets face it, is like guaranteeing no enemy will ever crit on you. Of course, you inflict massive penalties to casting haste, and if you're going that slow, why not be

Fun
There's really no better word. Some people think that funny stories, a careful amount of singing, and goofy antics have no place in the game, but they're wrong. You heal yourself and those around you from stress and boredom in-between checks. Not exactly ideal for massive raids, but great for those little 5-man dungeon shifts.

And from there, I realized it's all up to me for what kinds of shifts I want. Friday nights are some great experienced raids. Monday afternoons are some casual questing. Holidays offer lots of exciting new mobs and quests. Maybe in time you'll level your way to the top, acquire all the hip titles and gear. But in the end, no matter how difficult the boss, every enemy drops the same loot at 8 dollars an hour.

And so that's why we call it a grind.