[Quote Quest] Hard work appreciated greatly

One kind word can warm three winter months.
Japanese Proverb

Never has a quote sparked happiness more than the above quote when I saw it as an upcoming prompt and immediately starting thinking of situations applicable to it.

I started my current job in hospitality just over 4 years ago and I will admit that I didn’t always find it easy going or fun at times (The nature of the job) but I always worked hard despite finding some days tougher than others.

Over the last year, year and half or so I started to find my feet a lot more in the job and this is when I started to feel a lot better about being where I am and what I’m doing.
At the same time I was continuing to work hard, do whatever was needed without bothering i.e. working days off, doing extra tasks, staying longer, covering shifts…etc

It was during this time that I began to get appreciation from my Assistant manager where she would generally be really nice to me, I assume because I always worked hard, never took days off and all other things mentioned above.
This appreciation made me happy not only because it’s nice to get compliments but also because I knew someone was noticing all my hard work, and that I felt like I was doing a good job more than when someone says”thanks” at the end of the night when I would be leaving which happened all the time.

The appreciation really was brought home one evening shift when I was asked by my AM what shifts I had off on X days of that week.
I assumed she was going to ask me to swap a shift, come in to cover or do just do an extra shift for whatever reason but I couldn’t have be far from the actual reason she was asking about my days off.

Having assumed the above, I was taken aback when she said to me that on either of my 2 days off, of which she was working, that I should bring my mum into the restaurant for a free meal because of how hard I was working or words to that effect.
I honestly never felt as happy as I did when hearing that and it made up for all the days I hated being in work, the hard busy shifts from 10am -930pm, the stress and even the times I’d be walking home after 11.30 at night in the worst mood ever knowing I had to go back in at 9/10am the next morning and do it all over again.

Ever since that day I’ve always loved when my AM was working when I was especially if I was in on an evening shift because I knew even if it was going to be hard she was always nice to work with which helped to remind me that I can still enjoy working no matter how busy we are, plus if needed she would come and help me out as my section is usually just one person so can be hard on a busy shift to get through lots checks in a timely manner on your own.

I can’t help but think back to all these times where I was appreciated and not smile or get very happy thinking about them. The fact it’s not just a “thanks” I’m getting and it’s more than that does warm up my heart and if you included the free meal offer it helps to know that I can do a good job and that working my ass off without fussing is noticed in the best way possible.

In addition to all of the above, a former chef who I worked with in my restaurant is dating her and he always was just as appreciative as she was, because I was always “No problem” no matter what he asked me to do and I think he also saw that I did things no matter what and worked as hard as possible.

My job (Pandemic aside) is a lot better than it ever has been and most of my stress is gone because of being appreciated alongside making me feel like I am a lot better at my job than I was before.