Ma, I can't talk to you now...

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

VeraBlue

Executive Chef
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Messages
3,683
Location
northern NJ
I pull into work today, noticing that my lead cook's car is not in it's usual spot. A quick surveillance of the parking area proves that, unless his car is disquised as a minivan, Angel is not at work.:huh: I mount the stairs as a string of expletives rolls off my tongue. I ride the elevator up to the kitchen engulfed in the aroma of charring eggs and overdone bacon grease. Barely time for the 'good morning' pleasantries I head straight for the cook's alley and see the grill cook and a dishwasher cooking eggs in the swiss braiser. For visual effect, this is not a two man job. I've seen it done successfully where just one man can heat the braiser AND manage to scramble the eggs all alone, without any other pair of hands involved. Jose and Pascual were joined at the hib, pouring and scrambling in tamdem like they were running the three legged race, only upside down. I'd have congratulated their efforts if not for the fact that, as I mentioned earlier, they were burning the eggs:furious:. I've never seen two sets of eyes light up upon seeing my countenance since I brought cupcakes home with little snowmen stix for my kids. I suppose they imagined they were relieved of further egg burning.
A new string of expletives escaped when I discovered that Guadalupe, my 'deli lady' called out sick. I was also informed that Angel called and would be late. Seems that someone blocked him in and he was waiting for the police to come and tow the offending car. I immediately thought "I gotta write that one down so I could use that feeble, lame excuse the next time I over slept.
I looked over the menu and saw that on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being something a 4 year old could put together and 10 requiring skill and concentration, I was looking at easily an 8. (for the record, when I create the menu, I do so with the belief that no one will ever be late or infirm, and it will always be 70 degrees in Pleasantville)
I told Jose to stop burning the eggs and that he was on his own for breakfast. If he required any back-ups, he'd have to lay the eggs himself, let alone scramble them. The eggs he so deftly burned were the last eggs till the delivery guy arrived.
At this point, I'm still holding my bag and wearing street shoes. After a change to black vinyl clogs (very shiny!) and a sweep up of my hair, I grabbed my knife and donned an apron. No sooner do I reenter the kitchen than my cellphone starts trilling that song that only means one thing: My mother is calling:dizzy:. I discourage my staff from using their cellphones once they are clocked in, so I walked back towards my office to take the call. Did I mention that it was only 10 minutes past 7am? Doesn't the woman sleep? Does someone need to reintroduce the two of them (because my father is just as guilty) to the concept of retired?? Do they not know that now, they can sleep as late as they like?
So, I proceed to answer the phone, saying "Ma, I really can't talk now, I'm in the weeds and I've only been here 2 minutes" She proceeded to tell me that she has to tell me why she has to talk to me now....So, I sit down, waiting for her to continue.....Luckily, it wasn't an illness or worse, a death (they seem to happening a bit rapidly in our little extended group of liliputians, lately)..but that she had 'words' with my older brother. And she was upset. And she hung up on him. And he deserved it. and on and on and on for almost 20 minutes while I'm thinking in my head of ways to change my 8 menu to something along the lines of a 2...something like chicken fingers and fishsticks.... When she said "so, call me back when you're not so busy and I can tell you the whole thing":huh:

I was able to call her back about 2 and a half hours later. Naturally, I had to get the whole story and she was just dying to tell it. In the end, we both agreed it's all my sister-in-laws fault and we proceeded to discuss how difficult it is to make a decent cream puff in the state of florida.

Gotta love her.:heart::heart:
 
Nice little story.

When you're having a terrible day like that, you get a phone call and get that terrible feeling that, "something is terribly wrong", like your mother being sick... it puts the rest of the dilemma in perspective.
 
I said terribly way too much!
At least I don't say "like" too much!
Now I'm saying "too much" too much!
Long day at work... sorry!
 
CaryAnne said:
Nice little story.

When you're having a terrible day like that, you get a phone call and get that terrible feeling that, "something is terribly wrong", like your mother being sick... it puts the rest of the dilemma in perspective.

Hi CaryAnne....it was never really a 'terrible feeling'....If that was the case, she would have phoned me at home, before I left for work.
My mother suffers under the dellusion that since I work in a kitchen, it's all fun and games the workaday!
 
CaryAnne said:
I said terribly way too much!
At least I don't say "like" too much!
Now I'm saying "too much" too much!
Long day at work... sorry!


ha! not to worry, more folks than I can count have the same malady as you!
 
Bless her soul, my mother was a non-stop talker. When she got on the phone, it was at least an hour, and then her feelings were hurt when you insisted that you had to go.
I was also an only child, so there were no other siblings for me to "sick" her on, although if one of my daughters was available, I did sometimes pass the phone.
One late afternoon, she called me at the shop when I was getting ready for my Christmas openhouse. After a few minutes, I said, "Mom, I'm sorry, but I just don't have time to talk to you tonight."

She died of a massive coronary at 5:30 the next morning.

Bless you for calling your mom back, Vera. You'll never be sorry.
 
Oh, Constance.........I'm so sorry, the decision to beat it off the phone must be a hard pill to swallow every day. It's nice to see that you can tell about her 'chatty' qualities with a smile. I think the dead like to spoken well of....just look at all the pretty flowers that are around...They pass by, just when you are speaking well of them, and then sure as rain in spring, you have one of the lovliest gardens in town.:flowers::flowers:
My mother used to pass the phone to us (kids) when her mother called, too! Strangely, when my kids were smaller, they always ran to the top floors when Grandma called:ROFLMAO::angel:!
 
VeraBlue said:
My dear sir, you flatter me

Miss Blue...

Now that you have been duly flattered, and I duly impressed, may we forgo any further niceties and formalities and get on with the issue at hand. That being, becoming multi-millionaires.
 
VeraBlue said:
Oh, Constance.........I'm so sorry, the decision to beat it off the phone must be a hard pill to swallow every day. It's nice to see that you can tell about her 'chatty' qualities with a smile. I think the dead like to spoken well of....just look at all the pretty flowers that are around...They pass by, just when you are speaking well of them, and then sure as rain in spring, you have one of the lovliest gardens in town.:flowers::flowers:
My mother used to pass the phone to us (kids) when her mother called, too! Strangely, when my kids were smaller, they always ran to the top floors when Grandma called:ROFLMAO::angel:!


Thanks for bring a smile to my face as you reminded me of a memory of my father....I have so many but certain things refresh old ones forgotten.

I remember not long before he passed his oldest sister called........oh she could ramble on and on and complain about 10 people in a split second it seemed. Well she called and I was the one to answer the phone .... I eagerly passed it off to my dad who took it out into his garage.....before I knew it he was entering the kitchen to tell me here and hands me the phone....I feebly took it thinking what is he getting me into. When I finally was able to hang up he was just re-entering the kitchen and I said (smiling), "how dare you".....his sheepish reply "What"?.........my response "you did that on purpose because you didn't want to talk to her anymore".......he gave me his sheepish onry grin that always captured my heart........I can still see that look when I close my eyes. Good love him.......I'd take that call a thousand times over if I could still have him here with me.
 
Back
Top Bottom