Welcome to The Moth. I'm Chloe Salmon. It's Restaurant Week here in New York City,

and that's got us reflecting on dining out, a true forte of mine. I'm thinking about all of the

incredible meals I've shared with family and friends, about the neighborhood spots that feel

almost like home, and about all the hardworking

chefs and servers who make a space come alive. It takes a lot to make a restaurant run. So to honor

the hustle, we've got two stories for you from behind the scenes and inside the kitchen. Our first one

is from Trevor Craig, who told this at a Pittsburgh story slam where the theme was bold.

Here's Trevor. Live at the mom.

The sophomore year between my sophomore and junior year of college, I told my parents I had a job

in Des Moines, Iowa, and I wasn't going to stay home. I lied. There was anything I could do to not live at home with my non-drinking Mormon parents when I was secretly gay, except for it wasn't so secret. I moved to Iowa, and I stayed with a friend, and I stayed on her couch, even though she promised me a bed.

I stayed on the couch, no air conditioning because I could not live at home.

And I talked her into getting me a job at a restaurant.

This restaurant was one of those Japanese-style restaurants where they cook in front of you.

There was zero Japanese people who worked there.

There was also zero gay people who worked there. There was also zero gay people

who worked there. So my first day coming in, I was told I'd be a server because I wanted that

money. But what I ended up doing is working in the cash office because I looked trustworthy

and I could count past 10 and give change. So that server's office had a little window and I looked out through that window,

but if you stood a little bit to the side, I couldn't see you.

And the girl who was training me, we'll call her Sarah,

was way more confident about my gayness than I was.

And she would see guys standing and looking at me and she'd yell out,

...