Working in the restaurant industry: love it, hate it, why do you do it?

[pastrygirl]

The latest tipping thread got me thinking about how much we in the restaurant industry love to bitch and moan and compare war stories, yet we still seem to love it somehow. Is this the sort of bad relationship we'd counsel our best friend to run, run away from? Or is it not as dysfunctional as it seems, and we all have our reasons to stay?

I'm happy in my job as a pastry chef. I make things, which makes me feel useful, even if they are not very useful things. People then shower praise on me for it, which strokes my ego. I get to indulge my loner nature and work alone for at least half the day. I can't imagine myself in retail, and think I'd last about 20 minutes in the front of the house. The pay could be better, but the there is nothing I want for that money can buy. Sometimes it has been a factor, but not the only one. Catering orders and restaurant week can be annoying, as can vegans and freezer failure, but I pretty much do what I want all day. How could I complain about that?