The parking lot is only about one third full but the drive-thru seems to be doing brisk business. The neighborhood is nice, the neighboring businesses seem to be prosperous. Scattered about the sidewalk out front and in the parking lot are abandoned placards and protest signs. There is a scruffy young man asleep in the little strip of lawn bordering the sidewalk. He is curled into fetal position, sucking the thumb of one hand while tightly clutched in the other is one of the signs. It reads, "EZ SAY HO".
The sign above the restaurant proclaims "Everything!" in proud letters. It has seen better days perhaps. The addition of a big, shiny "2" over the exclamation point seems, somewhat, recent...
Upon approach the door is thrust open and a small gaggle of employees smilingly, greedily, reach out to bring in the newest visitor. Milling about in the dining area and behind the counter are more employees. Most of them are smiling, a few are not. After a hurried welcome the small gaggle vanishes leaving behind a single employee, standing off to the side, apparently willing to help.
Looking about, the interior is obviously in the process of some sort of renovation. Just as obviously, this renovation has been going on for quite some time. Only a small few appear to be working on it though. Another small few are tidying up under the tables and wiping down the glass. They are chatting with each other, arguing over whose job it is to take out the trash this time, laughingly throwing wash clothes at each other. Off to one side it appears about half the staff are on break. They are just sitting around, shooting the shit.
Approaching the counter one becomes aware of a great deal of noise and chatter coming from the kitchen. So, it appears a lot of them are actually busy back there cooking...
At the counter:
"Welcome to Everything2! You want a job?! Or, did you just want to eat something? browse the menu? It's all good by us! If you want an application they are right here." and again, half whispered, conspiratorially, "Don't worry about getting the job, we hire everyone. If it turns out you aren't qualified we'll train you. If you can't be trained, well, we still don't fire anyone. I heard they fired someone a long time ago but I don't know what that was about. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you!"
"What's the pay?" one might inquire.
"Pay? There's no pay! You'll learn to cook better maybe."
Contributed from the back of the kitchen, "Ha!"
Off to the side is a long delivery chute. Sliding out from the back of the kitchen is tray after tray after tray piled with every imaginable food-stuff. It doesn't appear as if anyone has actually ordered anything, they are just producing this food on the off-chance someone will come in and take it. The employees are picking up a lot of them, strolling by from time to time to grab a tray and take it back to their table or work group. Occassionally a shout goes up, "This meatloaf is awesome!" As well, they are throwing food out the drive-thru window as fast as they can. At the end of the long chute is a trash can, everything not picked up just falls in...
One might inquire, "So what kind of food do you serve here?" That one would be a fool who didn't read the sign outside before coming in...
One might inquire, "If I come to work here what will I have to do?" to which one will immediately hear a chorus of suggestions. Many of them are crude, some are anatomically impossible, but the overriding ones appear to be "Nothing!" and "Cook something!"
So, you want a job? you want to hang out? you want to sample each item they produce? It's up to you. The owners have abandoned the restaurant to the staff. There's a manager or two about somewhere, they mostly hide in the back office. For all the anarchy, for all an MBA might tell you this is no way to run a business, they are still here, still serving food, still welcoming new employees. It's up to you.