Storytelling Week 11: The Lucky Lion

The Lucky Lion
John Lion was a focused man. He was focused on his job more than anything else. This was because Mr. Lion had just received a promotion. He was the new manager of The Rainforest Café. He held many different titles within the restaurant over many years, but this was the chance he had been waiting for all along. Mr. Lion knew this day would come, he just did not know when. No matter the timing, John Lion was extremely thankful for the opportunity and responsibility of running his own restaurant.

As a young boy working in the kitchen, all the way until be made is way out on to the dining room floor, he watched the managers run the place as if it were a piece of cake. Mr. Lion was looking forward to that moment.

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It was Mr. Lion’s first night on the floor as the manager. He arrived at work early to make sure everyone would run smoothly. Unfortunately, he had more issues than he could have ever imagined. After going into the kitchen, he realized the dishwasher was broke and two of his cooks were late. He wanted to make sure no one thought he could not handle it so he started helping out back there. Before he knew it, orders were flying in! However, another speed bump stopped Mr. Lion once again. Servers were coming into the kitchen panicked because not all of the serving staff had arrived. This put some pressure on Mr. Lion, but once again, he wanted everyone to think he had it under control. Therefore, Mr. Lion went out on to the dining room floor and began helping the servers.

After a little bit of time spent helping the servers he took a step back and looked around at his fully functioning restaurant. It was in that moment that he realized he was really in charge. The biggest thing Mr. Lion learned that night was that even though he was the boss, there might be times when he needs to wash the dishes or help cook or even help serve. He discovered that becoming the manager did not give him a new title or a new job. Becoming the manager meant that he now had a little piece of every title and every job through out the restaurant. That no matter where the weak spot may be, he could help strengthen it again.

(Photo taken from WikiMedia Commons)

Author’s Note:
I have worked in many restaurants throughout my life, and for some reason as I was reading  different fables from the section Lions in Aesop’s Fables, all I could imagine were those crazy jungle-like nights. I have watched many managers, who are a lot like the king of the jungle in a restaurant, succeed like the lions did in some fables. However, I have also seen the exact opposite, where the managers have need our help much like the lion needed the help of other animals in some fables.
For this story, I combined a lot of different fables from the section Lions in Aesop’s Fables. Sometimes the lion was king of the jungle, and other times he needed his fellow animals to help him out. To me it seemed as if the lion was like a real person, perhaps like a boss. Usually a boss is someone who runs the place most of the time, but of course, there are some times that he or she could use a little help from his other workers. I decided to name my main character John Lion because he may not be an actual lion in the jungle, but he is the king of his jungle.

Bibliography:
Aesop’s Fables: Lions
Fables and Satires

Sir Brooke Boothby (1809)