hi my name is kim, i learned how to cut meat in a little mom pop place. i loved it so i went to winn dixie for the benafits, sorry my spelling, once you start doing it, it easy to catchon i learned alot. i cut meat for 13 years, but i got on kidney dialysis. so i had to quit. if i didn't have diaysis i still be there. don't know were your from, but publix has great benafits my father worked there.
Thank you for the replies! Yeah I was wondering how long it would take to learn how to cut everything and whatever else I would need to know. I try to do my best everyday at work and the last thing I want is to be a bad meat cutter. I'm a little impatient but I realize I won't learn it all in a day. I need to speak to my Manager more tomorrow and find out when I can start. Kimba, I'm in FL and yes Publix is a great company to work for. I retired 15 years ago after being there for 10 so I could stay home with my first son. Now I'm back and can go do my thing.
Good luck! Meat cutting is a rewarding and honorable trade...there is so much to learn. It will take some time to learn the in's and out's of butchering and meat cutting. There are so many different ways to process a whole carcass into retail cuts, not to mention the regional and cultural differences in butchery as it changes from country to country, so exciting. If you enjoy it, go for it!!!
Thank you Tia! Well I started the process today at work. I filled out a form and they send it to Corporate. So we'll see what happens from here. Hopefully the ball will get rolling soon.
Hmmm....where to start..... lets start by saying that I am neither the exception....or the rule...when it comes to female meatcutters. I do not want to get any ones painties in a bunch....
I started out 30 years ago....and it was difficult to try to keep up with the guys. There were not a lot of women meat cutters around then....and there was a lot of prejudice....but that can go with any job. I can not answer on if it would be a good job for you.....I don't know you....your temperament, your physical strength, work ethic, gag reflex or if you have a low tolerance for blood.....just sayin....
Here is what I do know....... 1) I had a hard time trying to keep up with the men.....I am 5'6" and 135lb....my body was not meant to lift 90lb boxes...but I did. I could never heave them like the guys, but I worked my ass off to make it up other ways....wrapping fast, parting out chicken fast, boning out rounds fast, hell even walking fast. It took some time, but the ones that were not just total asses....gave me respect for not giving up and "trying" to do the same work they did, cause i received the same pay. But after so many years, carpotunnel (sp), cortisone shots in the shoulders, and looking like a 90 year old getting out of bed in the morning until my back warms up.....trying to keep up with the boys....caught up with me.
2) never play the "female" card.....IE: PMS, cramps, head ache....etc...etc.
3) there is no crying in the meat department.....just like there is no crying in baseball!
4) have very thick skin..... meat cutters are like construction workers....but with a knife...haha. To be honest, I loved it. I have the same sense of humor (perverted) as they do....I don't even know a clean joke. you just have to set the parameters up front. meat cutters want to joke the way they want....without the issue of "I AM OFFENDED"....UGH!
5) ICE ICE BABY! ice and ibuprofen are your friends....coarse i like my kidneys...so i just mostly go with the ice. when i do a truckload sale...(that is another story...just know that it literally is a truckload of all meat being sold in 2 days) my husband meets me at the door with a drink, ice packs and ibuprofen.....not necessarily in that order.
6) think layers! in the summer it is great....you could rent out space in a meat cooler and serve MiaTai's.....but in the winter....some days it seems like you never get warm.
7) invest in really good shoes....shoes for crews ($75?) were the best for me. non slip....slip on shoes....felt like slippers after i broke them in.
8) buy some rubber or plastic floor mats for the driver side of your car.....cause you always save a little something in the tread of your shoes from the meat dept....then it gets on your mats....and if they are rugs....and a hot summer day comes along....or even winter when you turn your floor fans on....WOW... not a good smell at all! rubber mats....trust me
9) i always wore chain-mail cutting glove. some made fun of me....but i do have all my fingers.....and most of them did not.
10) i also wore disposable latex gloves.....for many reasons. blood is hell on the skin...dries it out bad....sometimes my hands would get so cold i could barely feel them....it was faster to go wait on a customer....didn't have to wash my hands every time to answer phone, talk to customer, whatever....just remember...manly hands on a man is great....but manly hands on a female....not so much.
11)I was 14 when i got in the business.....I stopped cutting meat full time about 4 years ago. body could not handle it full time anymore. I am know in whole sale, merchandising...etc...etc. still cut here and there helping out with my customers sales, or training meat managers.....but would not be here if had not started out as a wrapper and meat cutter
12) in my experience it is better to learn in a busy shop....once you learn to cut slow....you will always be slow. ***Now you journeymen...don't get your panties in a bunch.....QUALITY ALWAYS COMES BEFORE QUANTITY.....and that should go without saying....but I am sure we have all worked with that 1 person that when cutting it was like watching paint dry....have to charge double just to pay for the time!
i could go on and on and on...... **so it probably sounds like I am trying to talk you out of it. not at all. I am just trying to let you know some of what you possibly may need to consider.
BOTTOM LINE.....i really miss it. I loved the people....customers....and their stupid questions....yeah, you will need a poker face for those....my crew....they were awesome! 14 guys and no PMS in the lot of them....haha...sorry....anyway....the holidays and planning promotions....getting the case filled up again after it getting wiped out the night before cause the sun decided to come out ( i live in Seattle.....sun is rare) I loved educating customers so they could make good decisions on what to buy for their families....what was what in the media hype for that month about meat....all the planning, ordering, training. walking my 52 foot full service case and looking at it with total pride....in myself and my crew. "sigh" would i do it all over again? YES in a heart beat.
everything Shelley has said is true, I was in the hospitality industry ( management ) for 30 years and decided to start a different job at 50 years old, went to school to learn the basics. managed a meat department for a year and a half ( decided that the company was not for me ) left and now have spent 5 months wording at Safeway as a cutter. Great pay, easier than managing a department. I know the company will ask me to manage in the future but I will have to think long and hard. Its nice to go in and do your job then go home without any worries. Its hard on the body but so are many other jobs. I am five foot one and just over 50 years old and I have had no issues. If the box is too heavy ask someone to help you lift it. Yes females are not as strong as males, ( just a fact ) but there are many ways to work around that problem and like Shelley said we can make up for our shortcomings in different ways that help out the department and 99% of the guys appreciate all the little extra things that we do. You will still run into the 1% of jerks but jerks are everywhere. And remember NO CRYING IN THE MEAT DEPARTMENT, be confident, strong and if you must cry when you get home...
I've never been a girly girl so that should be fine. Y'all have given me a lot to chew on so I appreciate it.
