There's a difference between someone who likes their job and someone who loves their job. Today I searched Victoria's downtown core determined to find someone who loves their job.
I don't know her name, but I found her. She's worked as a waitress at the Dutch Bakery for nineteen years and may be the most genuine person I've talked to in a while. “I love working here” she says. “I love the different cultures, the fact that I get to see the same people every Saturday morning.” I believe her. She casually stands with her hand on her hip and her face lights up as she shares a recent happening- a pair of her favourite “regulars” couldn't wait to tell her that they got engaged in Europe.
She explains that her job lets her see people over the course of their lives. “I used to spend my lunch breaks helping a mom feed her toddler lunch. Nine years later, he comes in, now a confident young man.”
Eating lunch at the Dutch Bakery is hard to describe. You feel like you've been transported back to 1955, the year the Schaddelee family came from the Netherlands to open the coffee shop at 718 Fort Street . Enlarged black and white photos line the walls, complimented by Dutch china and needlepoint pictures. Maroon vinyl booths make everyone feel comfortable and back to the days where people never checked their blackberries while eating or worried about too many carbs. At the Dutch Bakery, babies are given old fashioned high chairs and pats on the head by the waitresses.
The Dutch menu items are quite something. Try a “Flying Dutchman” or an order of croquettes. And for dessert, use your saved up Weight Watchers points on their famous vanilla slice or sacher torte.
If you're having a bad day at the office, you might just need a lunch at the Dutch Bakery to raise your spirits. Sometimes, we all need to be reminded that loving a job is more possible than we'd like to think.
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