where i work

today a customer felt the need to demonstrate how a sandwich should be wrapped. because apparently, i did not do it properly enough for her. she did this by taking me through each step over the counter as though i were an idiot or didn't speak english. even when i offered to help her re-wrap it before she began, she wasn't amused.

i've gotten a variety of responses from customers when i help them to food in my dept. i've gotten the "you must be a manager cause you seem like you know what you're doing" as well as what happened today. i've had customers tell me "your food sucks". this same man also made a blanket statement once about cumin, "who eats cumin?~!?~! nobody likes cumin!". haha... let the crazyness ensue...

i wish a smile and a "have a nice day!" would suffice as gratitude to people in the food service industry.

and as if to add insult to injury... one of my team members had a sudden need to dump his grievances w/ me today. he used the word "abandoned" as though i were his biological mother who had left him at an orphanage. goodness gracious man! it's just work! and no, i am not perfect. but i do a pretty darned good job though and a little perspective would be nice. wouldn't it be nice if we could alter the perception of another person to see what you see? what a dream that would be.

i talk too much

so i began this thinking that i'd be able to somewhat keep up w/ anything and everything in my life. how quickly sentiment wanes!

whenever i start to feel ill, i become quite hungry (first) and then despondent about life, my career... just about everything. today was one of those days. feeling frustrated at all the things i wanted to have in my life at this point and my inability (it would seem) to accomplish and gain those things. times like this, i can't even trust myself to know what is right or just. am i crazy? or simply overly exacerbated to the point where sanity morphs into delirium.

i want so many things. so many....and to tell myself that i don't deserve it goes against what i fight so hard to remind myself everyday. otherwise, i'd be a big ole walking HOT mess. if only i could push down the things i want until it forms itself into a hardened piece of rock. something dark and shiny like obsidian. then, i'd just wear it around my neck and take it off when i didn't want to anymore. maybe then, i'd be more in control. gosh i hate not being in control.

philly, football and fries w/ tripe(#$%?)

So starts another attempt at writing my thoughts, observations, loves and general tidbits of self-reflection. W/o much more ado...

This past w/e was comprised of some philly <3 in the shape of Tony Luke's bacon ranch french fries and Italian style tripe. The former being amazing (reminiscent of Outback's aussie cheese fries w/ spicy ranch but w/ the appropriate ratio of creamy:salty) while the latter left me remembering why it isn't a good idea to purchase cooked offal from a cheesesteak shop off I-95. The cheesesteaks were good but in my very humble opinion, Jim's was a bit more fond of a memory I'm afraid.

But during dinner, we ended up having a brief conversation I've had many a time re: tripe. Yes, tripe.

It isn't the most appetizing looking food out there. I realize the concept is kind of "nasty" as my nephew has recently learned to say. As it stands, tripe is what we call any of the first 3 chambers of the cow's stomach. It is white, chewy to quite tender (depending on how long it is cooked), and has tiny little bumps on it. Basically, it looks like it is just that, parts from a cow's stomach.

I've enjoyed it at dimsum (steamed w/ oil, ginger, scallions), order it regularly in pho (w/o fail actually), and most recently, tried it braised in tomato sauce. The best I've ever had however is at David Chang's Momofuku Noodle Bar a couple of years back. As a seasonal option, he offered it as a side dish in a very rich and red saucy stew, which I unfortunately cannot fully recall at the moment. It was full of flavor and scrumptious. Currently, he serves it as a noodle dish which I'm pretty sure would be worth trying for the few and friendly open-minded foodies out there.

At the end of the day, I've come to realize that I enjoy food for many, I mean seriously, countless reasons. In this case, the texture of tripe and it's ability to fully become the flavors it is cooked in makes it one of my top 3 fave food loves. Well, for this w/e anyways. For the tripe-fearful, a bit of advice: just close your eyes and chew. :)

Steelers vs. Packers in 2 weeks! I <3 football.