Why does nobody talk about how loud a closing shift actually is
I was wiping down the last table at the diner on Friday when it hit me, the whole place goes quiet around 11, and the quiet is the loudest part of my shift. No radio, no espresso machine hissing, just the hum of the walk-in cooler and the ice machine dropping cubes every 6 minutes like a clock. I stood there for a second with a wet rag and realized I hear that ice machine more in 10 minutes of close than I do all day. Any other closers feel less tired from the rush and more drained from the empty room after?
The ice machine dropping cubes every 6 minutes like a clock, that part got me. Do you ever find yourself counting the drops without meaning to, like your brain latches onto the only sound left in the room? And when you wipe that last table, is it worse on nights when the tip jar was good, or does a bad night make the quiet feel heavier? I'm curious if the silence hits different depending on how the shift went.