Junior personal chef -- would people pay for this?

[Anonymous]

How often am I going to hear the equivalent of "but you can't expect him to miss study sessions/cramming for a test/the first football game" / "he's only a kid" / "only an a--hole would be such a harda-s about the scheduled time when he's basically just volunteering" / etc etc?

That wouldn't be the whole reason for me not to find this appealing, but the expectation of it at some point would tip the scale if I were considering it. I've never worked with teenagers and not had to make allowances at some point. That's fine -- and it's expected -- but it's not a treat for me. It's a job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teen is a really good cook for his age.

We're doing the college hunt, and he is having real reservations about living on campus without a kitchen.

Do you think that people would pay for a college kid to come make a meal for them? Or to stock their fridge with a few things? He'd probably do it for free if someone paid for the ingredients, and let him take a serving home for himself, but I am wondering if it could be a part time job. Like a personal chef but with no credentials.

Has he been formally trained in cross contamination and safe food handling/prep? If not no.

Yes he has it for MD, although the type of certification seems to vary by state so he may need to recertify depending on where he ends up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How often am I going to hear the equivalent of "but you can't expect him to miss study sessions/cramming for a test/the first football game" / "he's only a kid" / "only an a--hole would be such a harda-s about the scheduled time when he's basically just volunteering" / etc etc?

That wouldn't be the whole reason for me not to find this appealing, but the expectation of it at some point would tip the scale if I were considering it. I've never worked with teenagers and not had to make allowances at some point. That's fine -- and it's expected -- but it's not a treat for me. It's a job.

Volunteers aren't full time employees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does he have any actual experience cooking professionally? Does he know how to thoroughly and properly clean up after himself? There’s a huge difference between someone who just likes to cook for themselves and a pro.

He definitely knows how to clean properly, and has food handler certification because he cooks for a couple programs that serve the homeless. Our family has a younger kid with an allergy so we keep our kitchen 100% allergen free, so he gets the importance of checking ingredients, and is good at substituting.

He has sold some things -- like a set of cupcakes for a birthday party, but that's been a very small part of his experience.

With this background I think he could market himself but I don’t think he can count on finding something regular enough to allow him to feed himself regularly. I posted up thread but there are colleges with dorms with good kitchens. My kid is locked into a full meal plan freshman year but we are considering it basically lost money as they can’t eat most of the food — they just buy and cook their own at the dorm and hopefully next year we can scale back on the meal plan. I think their school has worse food than average though.

[Anonymous]

i think some people would pay for afterschool care/make dinner. people pay for after school care all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How often am I going to hear the equivalent of "but you can't expect him to miss study sessions/cramming for a test/the first football game" / "he's only a kid" / "only an a--hole would be such a harda-s about the scheduled time when he's basically just volunteering" / etc etc?

That wouldn't be the whole reason for me not to find this appealing, but the expectation of it at some point would tip the scale if I were considering it. I've never worked with teenagers and not had to make allowances at some point. That's fine -- and it's expected -- but it's not a treat for me. It's a job.

Volunteers aren't full time employees.

Right. And it's not a treat for me to deal with teenage volunteers OR workers -- in both cases, it makes it into a job. That's fine, but it isn't a break for me. It's more work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How often am I going to hear the equivalent of "but you can't expect him to miss study sessions/cramming for a test/the first football game" / "he's only a kid" / "only an a--hole would be such a harda-s about the scheduled time when he's basically just volunteering" / etc etc?

That wouldn't be the whole reason for me not to find this appealing, but the expectation of it at some point would tip the scale if I were considering it. I've never worked with teenagers and not had to make allowances at some point. That's fine -- and it's expected -- but it's not a treat for me. It's a job.

Volunteers aren't full time employees.

Right. And it's not a treat for me to deal with teenage volunteers OR workers -- in both cases, it makes it into a job. That's fine, but it isn't a break for me. It's more work.

Now I remember why I never volunteer.

[Anonymous]

I don’t mind hiring a young person but only if it’s all legal and above board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How often am I going to hear the equivalent of "but you can't expect him to miss study sessions/cramming for a test/the first football game" / "he's only a kid" / "only an a--hole would be such a harda-s about the scheduled time when he's basically just volunteering" / etc etc?

That wouldn't be the whole reason for me not to find this appealing, but the expectation of it at some point would tip the scale if I were considering it. I've never worked with teenagers and not had to make allowances at some point. That's fine -- and it's expected -- but it's not a treat for me. It's a job.

Volunteers aren't full time employees.

Right. And it's not a treat for me to deal with teenage volunteers OR workers -- in both cases, it makes it into a job. That's fine, but it isn't a break for me. It's more work.

Now I remember why I never volunteer.

Sucks to be a teenager forever.

[Anonymous]

No, I don't want a child in my kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Yes please give me his number!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely not. He's not bonded or insured to do this. What if he burns himself cooking? Drops a hot heavy skillet on their family dog or worse, child? What if he slices the tip of his finger off?

Lol typical DC answer.

not only would many people want this but they would pay good money for it. He just needs to negotiate to take a few servings home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would pay for this! I have someone help me with cooking, and she’s not licensed or insured. She has cut herself at my house before. We aren’t doing both reasonable people.

That was supposed to be “we are both reasonable people” — meaning she’s not suing me over a cut. When I hired her, I wasn’t looking for a “chef” and I don’t think it’s accurate for your son to call himself that. I was looking for help with meal prep. I am a disabled, working, single mom, FWIW. But I think there are plenty of just plain ole working moms who could use the help I have.

And that makes sense. It's a service you needed, and that might well be true for others that this young man could find. But it wasn't a luxury item thing, and this service wouldn't likely sell that way. I mean, it could -- but if I wanted this as a luxury thing for myself, I'd be going through an agency or hiring someone with a solid track record.

I can't see wanting to rely on a college student as the single provider point for something I have now made plans around, when there is a decent likelihood of exams, last minute class projects, relationship woes, partying, homesick angst and just the whole transition to living on your own, simple flaking out because you're a kid, getting sick, all of it. I mean, of course none of those might ever come up, but in bulk the risk is certainly there. It's annoying to have to think about. I don't want to deal with it. I wouldn't be a dick to a kid trying their best, but I've had enough on my plate with the kids I already am responsible for -- I don't want to take on more, not as a luxury. That's kind of work.

Other people may feel differently about it.

Growing up we had a series of college students come make dinner for my (large) family 4-5 nights/week. They did dinner, some laundry, and nominal childcare (like no direct childcare but were there to be an adult in the house when older kids came home). Find the right student and it works well.