I've been busy of late, what with working at the Salvation Army , going to culinary class and battling a particularly vicious flu bug which seems to have migrated from my bowels to my chest like it was on Sherman's March to the Sea. A big gripe about dorm living: Why can't these sick, thoughtless bastards simply keep their malevolent microbes to themselves?
Let me take a few moments to proffer some updates in the ever-changing life of your humble narrator. Graduation day for our culinary class is fast approaching. That means we have to get serious about resumes and going out there in the "real world" to find j-o-b-s. Because if we don't comply, SA then exercises its right to scatter us back to the streets from whence we came (or prisons for those on parole). I've written a resume and have been submitting some online apps, but we don't have to 'officially' start the job hunting process until April 5.
Some of my classmates have already started their searches. My ex-teammates in culinary class have had varying degrees of success thus far. Rain Man seems to think he has an inside shot at a gig with the local Applebees. Pitbull, though is the first to actually score a job. He was accepted for service at Zion National Park as a cook and starts on April 11. Good for him. I've also considered working in the national parks/resorts system. However ...
There are a few things I'm not crazy about re this sort of work. These are often seasonal positions, although PB thinks he'll go year-round. You still have to live in dorm-like settings: shared rooms, bathrooms, etc. As stated, I hate dorm living. No individual TVs allowed, Often non-existent cell phone service due to the secluded areas. You also have to pay your own way to and from the location. For those reasons, I'm putting this sort of work on the back burner. I'd rather have my own place and do what I like, when I like (and with whom I like to do it.)
Did you notice I referred to RM and PB as 'ex-teammates'? Look, your humble narrator is an easygoing lad and his patience is legendary. But everything has its limit and so does his patience. Simply put, I got tired of seeing my 'teammates' doing all the work (including mine) while I was relegated to standing around and basically doing the dishes. When I told them how I felt, it wasn't met with much enthusiasm and eventually turned into a shouting match inside the CSN kitchen lab with another class observing. Let it be known your humble narrator simply tried to state his case while RM provided the shouting. In the end, he only made himself look bad as was noted by several onlookers. As for me? My behavior was described as calm and reasonable.
The upshot was a meeting between myself, RM and two caseworkers. In retrospect, it was not unlike meeting a divorce counselor as the caseworkers mainly nodded with indulgence and turned from RM to myself saying things like, "And did that happen?" or "How did you feel about that?" Well, your humble narrator took the opportunity to put on a little show. Nothing excessive mind you, but I made sure to let RM know I found his behavior to be little more than a petty annoyance; that I thought I had left this stuff behind in junior high school; and that I had little patience with such juvenile antics. In fact, I found his behavior not unlike "a full grown man acting like a child and throwing a tantrum."
He wasn't throwing any tantrums that day, nor offering much in the way of a defense. His face looked puffy and I wondered if he was forcing back tears. Not necessarily because of what I said but because he was frustrated at his situation. I mentioned before that I found RM to be potentially dangerous because he doesn't exhibit a great amount of self-control. It could be due to his retention of an institutional (read prison) mentality where he could get away with such tactics. Or maybe it's just a character flaw.
It comes down to this: Everyone is good at something. Guys like RM might be good with slinging food but I'm pretty proficient with words and how to use them -- especially when it comes to speaking. Simply put, had it been a boxing match I would've scored a 1st round knockout. At the end, I added one final bit of discomfort for RM: I made a grand gesture of offering my hand and saying I'm willing to be friends if he is. Ha! You should have seen the look on his face. He didn't want to shake my hand, of course, which was plainly evident. But he had to because the two caseworkers were right there. I wanted them to see his reaction when I made the gesture. In fact, I was hoping he'd refuse to shake my hand; that would've been the icing on the cake!
For now RM is still put out. So be it. Interestingly, he had another argument with a different co-worker yesterday in the SA kitchens. This resulted in another set-down with RM and the newly affected party. My guess is he has some sort of personal problem(s) that are eating at him, accounting for this argumentative behavior. Still, two outbursts within a week that require meetings with the higher-ups? Not good. As I've often said you can have all the technical know-how in the world. But how successful can you be if you can't make people want to work with you?
I finally managed to switch teams by going directly to our new instructor, Chef Y. When I explained my frustration, he readily agreed to the switch and it was made that same night. I think he'd noticed the tensions in our group and how much of the assignments RM and PB seemed to do on their own. It wasn't a team per se. It was two guys and me. Well, now I'm on a team that better compliments my personality and it looks like this switch will work out best for everybody. Actually I seemed to gain some points from my other classmates because I managed to pull of the switch. You see my friends, never mess with a small bald man who knows how to make words cut like a sword!
Time is winding down, more updates later. That's a wrap!
Try this link for a One Way flash to the disco past!
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