The Dunkin’ Donuts Debacle

– The Dunkin’ Donuts Debacle

My first hood cleaning job… and my first disaster.

Fresh out of Black Magic school in the 1980s, I was loaded up with brand-new shiny gear: pressure washer, clamps, hoses, everything polished and ready to conquer the world. My first job? A small Dunkin’ Donuts in town. One stainless steel hood, about six feet by six feet. Easy, right?

Wrong.

We got in there mid-afternoon, when they were done cooking. Three of us, full of confidence. We started wrapping the hood — and everything fell apart. Plastic falling down. Buckets tipping over. Tools clanging. Every mistake you could make, we made. To make it worse, there was a big glass window where customers sat drinking coffee and laughing at the circus on the other side. Finally, we taped plastic over the window just so they’d stop staring at us.

But here’s the thing — we got it done. The hood shined, the fan worked, the customer was happy. A complete disaster on our side of the wall, but success on theirs. And that’s business in a nutshell: it doesn’t always look pretty behind the curtain, but if the job gets done, that’s what matters.