Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009
Jerry Harrison
Keeping Things Friendly
Jerry Harrison at Friendly's in North Myrtle Beach. - photo by Scott Smallin, Weekly Surge.
Passing by any Friendly’s restaurant on the Grand Strand, one can come up with several funny scenarios. Our favorite is wondering if there are any gruff folks on the payroll there, slinging food across tables and snarling, “Welcome to Friendly’s.”
According to Jerry Harrison, restaurant manager of the North Myrtle Beach Friendly’s location, this is something that shouldn’t happen there. “We had a host that was quite unfriendly, and we got rid of her for cursing in front of the customers. We were like, ‘walk out – just go please,’” he says.
Originally from the Washington, D.C., area, Harrison’s family moved here in 1999. “There was a drive-by shooting at my middle school and my parents said, ‘we’re moving.’” After a couple of cursory trips, they decided on a house in the Castlewood area and actually took possession of the home during Hurricane Floyd. “We were like one of two cars coming into Myrtle Beach and everybody else was leaving.” This included their Realtor, who left the keys under the mat at his office. “We didn’t have any furniture with us, so we stole his lawn furniture and put it in our house.” All of the paperwork was completed later as a result of this hurricane honor system.
Harrison, 22, attended middle and high school at Carolina Forest, where he became involved with the FFA (Future Farmers of America) program, and was fast-tracked in the 2+2+2 college transition program, which would combine credits from high school and a two-year college to provide a seamless transition into a university. “I was all into landscape architecture, and got accepted into Clemson,” he says. Ultimately, Harrison says he had a little falling out with his FFA advisor. “I wasn’t really feeling the whole thing because I was already doing landscape architecture as a job, and was like ‘why do I have to go to Clemson to do something that I was already doing?’”
He made the switch to culinary arts at Horry-Georgetown Technical College. “I’ve been cooking with my mom since I was a baby, and thought I might as well do something I love.” After completing the culinary arts program there, he went on to garner an associate degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management at HGTC.
Harrison’s work experience in the culinary realm includes stints at Angelo’s Steak and Pasta and theshort-lived Goober’s 52. He answered an online ad for restaurant manager at Friendly’s and enjoyed an immediate rapport with the owner during an interview. This led to the opportunity he secured at the North Myrtle Beach location.
But what is his scope of duties at Friendly’s?
“When I go in, I make sure all of the prep is done and that everyone does their side work. This could be making sure everything is stocked, the soups are ready, there is ice in the bin – simple things.” But his main focus is guest relations.
“I’m doing constant figure eights – and that’s going around the restaurant and making sure the guests are happy and that the employees are happy and doing what they need to be doing – checking the fountain and going back into the kitchen – and doing that all over again.” Sometimes he must quell the rivalry between the servers and kitchen staff, but maintains that the working atmosphere at Friendly’s is, well, friendly. “I love everybody here,” he says. “It’s a great place to work. After I clock out, I’ll sit there and chill for 20 minutes because the people are so awesome.”
When Goober’s 52 closed abruptly last summer, Harrison found himself unemployed. “We had a big ass party and drank all of the alcohol in the place.” After filing for unemployment, he started blogging as a way to keep the boredom at bay, because jobs were scarce at that time. “I started blogging about things I would do – just random thoughts that would pop up in my head. I had this little Nokia and I’d take a 30-second video and upload it to You Tube. Eventually, he created a Web site (www.theunemploymentcouch.com) as an outlet for these random videos. He started doing animated cartoons there as well with characters called Pucker & Dobbs. “It’s not Looney Tunes, but it was a stress reliever.”
Although the Grand Strand boasts a beach, Harrison says he hardly sees it and never goes there. He does, however, enjoy catching local bands at For What It’s Worth and Wild Wing Café in Myrtle Beach. “I like Fat Tuesdays [Broadway at the Beach] in the winter because it’s pretty much all locals then.”
The Grand Strand will continue to be home for Harrison. “I want to stick around and hopefully start my own restaurant here.”
Click here for previous Working 4 a Living columns