Keepin' it Real

I know that many of you know that I am a chef by trade. I have a Love-Hate relationship when it comes to the restaurant business. I love good food, I love different types of food, and I want what I do to be perfect. These days I don't get to practice my passion; it's just a job. It's like an athletic event called "How fast can you feed me." I don't think most of the people here in this area understand how difficult that is to accomplish.

I don't really advertise where I work on this blog, because I don't want to put the owner of the business where I work in any sort of a precarious position because of my forthright opinions, which offend people sometimes. He is a great guy, who gets along with everyone in town and never steps on toes. He is intentionally apolitical and I can appreciate that, because it is most likely what has gotten him to where he is today. My personal views don't represent him in any way.

The reason I am bringing my work up is because in my comments on the Hickory Daily Record website under the article Hickory officials, police wrestle with 'degrading' graffiti and on Youtube under the Houndvision video Houndvision Intro Video 1 , I was made fun of for what I was wearing in the Youtube presentations and for sitting in my grandmother's favorite chair -- notice her tube of BenGay to my right.

I apologize if I offended anyone because I was wearing a t-shirt and Wrangler carpenter's pants -- called sweatpants by the critic. That is what I wear to work, because I am comfortable wearing those clothes. The kitchen where I work is old and has basically been unchanged since it was opened in the late 1960s. We do the best we can with what we have to work with. During the summer months it gets really hot on the line where I saute. The temperatures can reach 120 degrees standing over the stove, where flames are constantly flying and you are constantly opening a 400-degree oven door. Below is a snippet of me browning and searing beef tips, before I flambe them with Marsala wine.



So I sweat profusely in my workplace in the summer. When I returned home and did the video that night, I was excited to present what was on my mind. It was midnight and I really didn't feel the need to go get dressed up, because to me it is about the words more than the image. Anyway, I think average people like myself need to come forward and present their case without the usual facade, such as that represented by the major media.

I do have some suits that I wear when I feel the need to. I wear a suit if I usher at my church, I wear suits to job interviews, I wear a suit if I am going to be in a meeting or event where others are wearing suits, I wear a suit to a funeral, and I wear one to a wedding. But lately I don't dress up much, because I feel myself to be a common person representing the interests of common people. I have a message and if people don't want to listen, because I'm not a GQ fashionista, then that is their problem. The message is for people who are willing to listen, not for people who are lost in trivial issues. Many of the great leaders of our time were not hung up on fashion. IT'S THE MESSAGE.

So you may agree or disagree. I do believe that their are times when one needs to put their best foot forward, but there is also a time for keepin' it real.

P.S. Check out the video shot by this guy. His pseudonym is Georgefortitle on Youtube and he pretty much does the same things as myself, in Southern California. He caught these teenagers tagging in his neighborhood and started filming it. Check out the way they act. How will you react when confronted by a similar situation?