The best bits of you....

There are some activities that require your all, to get lay it out on the field, the court, the classroom.... culinary is no different. Many good home cooks contemplate entry into professional cooking and many do very well, but the casual observers seldom have no clue what it takes to climb to the upper strata.

Take my career as example, I started in 1988, before completing my Associate degree in food service production. I have work for several big name companies in Chicago, to various levels of successful tenor.  There have always been a limit on how much I could sacrifice for the job, especially after becoming a parent.

I have pulled 18 to 20 hour work shifts for short periods of time, gladly, but consistent grinding like that can make the best of us crumble like blue cheese.  In some ways, it can be easier for our guys than the finest of ladies. Either having no real life outside of the job or having a very supportive partner tends to be the only way to soar in our industries.

Now that that's said, there are lots of industry jobs that are much less demanding, but those will seldom to never get your own telephone show.

I worked retail food stores as a bakery department manager just to have stable hours.  It was what I needed with one child in elementary school, one in daycare, and pregnant.

I took opportunities to stay home with my children and so did the hubby. Am I saying that you can't have it all? Not entirely... some are blessed with a great support system but not many of working chefs have one.

Working on your feet, wearing out joints,  for such long hours, leads us to be close knit with are comrades in arms. We hang out together, drink together, work together and very often sleep together.  It ends up that you don't have friends in the outside world, mainly because you are not in the real world. 

When people want to sit down and eat, we are grinding, when the party is in full swing, we are humping hard and when we sleep,  everyone else is working.  Shadow people who make every day and every night magical for everyone else. If we do our jobs correctly, you can easily overlook us. We strive to provide faultless service with a stress free atmospheres.

There's a lot of work options in my industry from critic to lunchroom service, and a thousand in between.  Make wise choices for we never get second chances to live it all over again.  What worked for me may have nothing in common to yours. And that's okay.

Guard your heart and treat your body well.