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By Tara Sharpe
Brideau. Photo: UVic Photo Services A DAY IN THE LIFE of Pierrette Brideau can include cooking up to 80 paninis per day at the Sci Café, including the most popular “All Canadian Melt” ham-and-cheese. She also makes calzones, soups and salads, and does twice-daily appliance and food safety temperature checks.
But Pierrette’s day starts long before her shifts in any of the campus food outlets. She’s up each weekday before 6 a.m. to take care of a special-needs child, getting to his house by 6:30 a.m. to wake him up, make his breakfast, get him ready for his day program and ensure he gets to his bus stop by 7:30 a.m. “Then he’s on his way for the day!”
Pierrette usually works in the Sci Café from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. and she says her day “is all about the timing.” She’s constantly checking the clock to keep on top of class changes. The busiest months are naturally September through April, and the busiest times are always at class change.
On weekends between March and December Pierrette also operates her own business, “That Frozen Lemonade,” a stand at the Swartz Bay ferry terminal. Working with her business partner, she also serves coffee and mini donuts. In her spare time, Pierrette plays baseball and “loves” her motorcycle—a 600 cc Honda Shadow. She rode it up to Port Alberni this September with 2,000 other bikers with toys in their saddlebags, to bring goodies to kids in need for their annual toy run.
Born and raised in Tracadie, NB, Pierrette grew up speaking Acadian French in an extended family of eight plus ten nieces and nephews.
In August 2002, she decided to pack up her car and move to Victoria. On the first day of her trip, she hit a moose. Her Pontiac Sunbird was totalled and she was air-lifted to hospital, but that didn’t stop her from moving to Victoria by November. “And I’m here to stay. Nothing is stopping me from staying here. I love it!”
Nothing stops her from making Christmas presents each year for family back East, either. She’s already busy knitting this year’s batch of slippers.
According to Pierrette, the most satisfactory part of her job is the interaction with people. She likes to “get to know the regulars. I like to make everyone happy with their choice of food, and I like to put a smile on their faces.” She thinks it’s great when customers smile and say thanks. And interacting with people is exactly why she’s planning a trip to Japan in mid-December: “I’ve always wanted to know what life is like there.”
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