I got out of the industry about 10yrs ago (Dillons/Kroger). A lot has changed in the intervening years, but I look back on my time cutting in a mostly positive light. Met a lot of great folks that I still consider friends today, learned a ton, and have a trade for life. That's not half bad. Unfortunately the number-crunchers came along and just turned it all into never-ending nightmare.
Anyway, today is the Super Bowl and I know how hard you guys work on this day and during the holidays. Most of you likely don't get much thanks or recognition for this and that sucks. There's a staggering amount of pride that goes into working in a market. It was drilled into me by the old-timers I learned from and I tried my best to drill it into the youngsters I trained.
A big thanks to all of you still out there on the blocks, working like hell everyday.
Good for you and getting out of Kroger, it is pretty bad here right now with the Whiz kids running the show. If I could i would go to a smaller chain or independent and do my thing, but even those guys are trending towards corporate bastardization of the meat dept. Much truth about res[ect and honor doing this job, I miss the guys who brought me up in this business.