Workers in the foodservice industry are under-appreciated and underpaid, but the job can be rewarding. Like with many things, your mindset going in can make or break you. Chiharu, the 29-year-old newlywed protagonist of the charming manga one-shot 29-Year-Old In The Service Industry, learns this lesson the hard way.
At the start of the story, Chiharu has been playing the stay-at-home role for the last couple of years. Ready to try something new, she takes a stab at a serving position at her local restaurant. Like many people with an outsider's perspective on restaurant work, she immediately underestimates the difficulty of the job. Surely it’s as easy as serving food and collecting payments, right? Wrong.
Immediately Chiharu experiences an uncomfortable but all-too-common situation she hadn’t considered or expected: a perverted boss who takes any chance he can get to casually put his hands on her. This rattles her a bit, but she’s determined to do her job well despite his slimy advances.
Yet another example of her underestimating her job, she realizes that her much younger co-worker, Miho, has been working there for quite some time. Surely if a girl still taking school courses can do it, Chiharu can... right? Wrong again. Chiharu is immediately overwhelmed by relatable foodservice troubles: balancing multiple tables, dropping food, dealing with picky customers and receiving blame for issues that she had no fault in. Very quickly, Chiharu realizes just how tough this line of work is.
Chiharu’s experience is very true to life. It’s very easy for her to underestimate food service because she figures it’s just what she does at home, but at a slightly larger scale. When she starts to dislike her co-worker because she believes she’s looking down on her for not being able to do the job effectively, it doesn’t help her self-esteem. Suddenly she’s ranting to her husband about how much she hates her job. It’s so out of character for her that even her husband comments on how she’s changed.
Without going into spoilers (this is only one chapter, after all), ultimately Chiharu discovers the more rewarding aspects of her job, like developing relationships with the regulars, or seeing customers that go out of their way to apologize or compliment her. While the job certainly has its struggles, Chiharu learns that she shouldn’t be so quick to make assumptions about things or others and that when she changes her mindset, the job can actually be quite rewarding.
29-Year-Old In The Service Industry is a one-chapter short available on Mangamo as part of a $5 monthly subscription (or 30-day free trial), and can also be read legally for free on Manga.Club.
