Above is a photo of a former location of a famous local seafood chain in the Prudential Center. It was one of many for a couple of decades, but it's gone now, lost to "BIG CHANGES" due to the shopping center's construction. It looks like it will set up a new location elsewhere in the shopping center, but not for a year.
I left that hell hole (good food, bad work environment) years before they improved their staff dress code and renovated the space. I would always stop in every Christmas Eve to pick up a gallon or two of chowder for my family and say hi to
one of the few people I cared about who still worked there years later. It was always great to see her and catch up. We always made plans to hang out that never materialized. That's what happens when one person has a 9 to 5 job and the other works most nights.
She herself put decades into working for that restaurant, which was regarded as the flagship (at least that's what was said quietly to those of us who worked there, preferring to refer to one of the newer, non-mall locations as the flagship). This winter, before the restaurant closed its doors, my friend chose to retire, not caring to scrounge for money and wait for them to place her in another restaurant, which is what happens when their restaurants go under or close for renovations, planned or unplanned.
For weeks after 9/11, I made next to no money there as a waiter (hard to lure your customers back then when residing in a mall joined to a large building is part of your decor). It wasn't until after I left and got a 9 to 5 gig that I found out that waitstaff could collect unemployment to compensate financial issues like this. No one in management, who knew we were going broke, said a thing or gave us any advice. That we were disposable was never in question.
When I worked there, I used to hear a story about two waitresses who were with the company almost from the beginning. At one point the owner(s?) sent them on a boat cruise. My friend didn't work as long as them, but it's safe to say she was in the trenches longer than 90% of their entire work force at least. I doubt they even bought her a going away present.
Getting back to the top photo, what makes me a little sad is that if my friend ever comes back to visit, she won't be able to visit the old place to have a bite or just say hi. As much as I hated working at that restaurant towards the end, I still went back to buy chowder or even have dinner with my girlfriend on a special night. It wasn't because I got comped meals or any other kind of discount. Believe me, I did not.
Maybe it was even nice to think that I was some infinitesimal small part in a place's history. It was a substantial chapter in my early life even if I don't like remembering it much. But today even successful modern businesses come and go so frequently, almost wiping away memories of everyone's hard work.
There were a lot of people who were struggling for work after this chain store closed. A couple worked there for almost two decades as barbacks and bussers. Hopefully by now, the majority are all set (you don't keep a job that long by being bad at it). Still, I would hate it if any of them walked by what I photographed, looked and wondered, even for a second, if it was all for nothing.
