Don't Remember Me?... I'm that Steak Guy

It amazes me how the human mind works. So many nerves and neurons. I once read that the human brain has over 100 billion neurons, that is 16 times more than the amount of people on this Earth and amazingly not one of those tiny little suckers can remember a simple, yet loveable face :D


I was let go from my prominent job (at the time) back on the beautiful Spring day of the beginning of June. Ahh, of course I remember what the weather was like that day, my life changed drastically and it wasn't in my hands. I worked at this place which I will call my "7 year steak home". It was my life. There were times where I spent more time there than my own apartment or saw my co-workers more than my own friends. That is the restaurant lifestyle. 


My job was pretty basic but would scare away people that was training to help me out over the years. From table to table, I had to recite our menu and cut ribeye on a cutting board which eventually meshed with my forearm and we were one. Kinda like those sci-fi characters with a gun as an arm. Well I was that guy with a cutting board as an arm. I took the customers orders and continued the process. I visited those tables 857,902 times (guesstimate but probably right), and saw three times as many faces, maybe four and I saw some of those faces twice a week, three times a week, ten times a week.


Now, if you saw somebody's face on multiple occasions throughout the week, knew their name, what they were studying in school, their dog's name, even notice when they get a haircut and then suddenly you don't see them for 4-5 months, you would recognize them right? 


Wrong.


Since my departure from 7 Year Steak Home, I have run into regular customers many times. Nobody recognized me ('cept one). And it makes me think, "How?" You know my dog's name but you don't recognize my face or even my voice. What if I just stand there and say "Prime Rib with Au Jus", will a bell start chiming away in your brain. Maybe if I was wearing my attire from the job out on the street or wherever I bump into them, THEN they might recognize me. I wear my street clothes to Wal-Mart: I'm nobody but I walk in there with my chef coat, black apron, slacks, and shoes then I'm that "Steak Guy". I even had full on conversations with some of them because, well, I had too in the circumstance that I ran into them at my 'other' job. Did they recognize me? You know the answer to that.


Granted, one customer did recognize me when I ran into them but I disgracefully didn't remember her. If you were a regular that came in once a year (Valentine's Day) then no I'm not going to recognize you. If I saw you even once a few months then you have my attention. Sure, call me a hypocrite for not remembering her but can you blame me, I've seen over a millions faces while working there.


Maybe I didn't make an impression to the customers while I worked there. Maybe I'll be remembered for something else (I surely and dearly hope so). But memory can be a tricky little gadget we have. CTRL + ALT + DEL? Maybe a reboot will help.

And so it begins...

I recently read a book called Waiter Rant Thanks for the Tip - Confessions of a Cynical Waiter by a very talented author named Steve Dublanica. He was lost in life as are many people at different stages in their own lives. He dived into the restaurant business, seeming unknowingly what he was about to get himself into to. Sometime during his 6+ years there he started a simple blog called Waiter Rant where he rants and raves about the life of a waiter. Over the months and years that he kept his blog going he gained millions of readers which lead to winning a blogging award and eventually landed the book deal to write his book. 


He nailed it. Ever word he wrote is true for the restaurant business. Basically, that book is my biography from the last 7+ years of my life except I didn't write the book and it was written about me. 


That's why I am on here. No, I'm not going to copy him and rant and rave about the disillusioned life of waiter. He described it word for word. I can add to it though and I just might but this is a blog about me, my life experiences, my travels, things I see, hear, feel, smell, taste and do. Writing for me has slowly, very slowly grown on me. I have never kept a journal in my life nor have I written anything besides the mandatory research papers and essays that I had no interest in for school. 


Hopefully my blog will entertain you. Hopefully it will keep you coming back for more. Only time will tell... as for now, let the experiences begin or shall I say continue on.