I don't have any stories to match Jason's...yet. But I did have the flip-side to his story happen yesterday.
A young fellow came into the store, looking for a rolling pin without handles. Bonnie, my co-worker, said "Oh, you mean a French rolling pin." The fellow, who was about fifteen, was pleasantly surprised to find out that such a thing had a name.
It turned out that he wants to be a chef when he gets older. Yes, he's already looking into various cooking schools for his training once he finishes high school. I asked him if he's been reading cookbooks, which he has, but when he mentioned particularly enjoying Jamie Oliver, it became clear that he needed a push into more serious stuff.
So I took out my note pad (I always have a small pad in my shirt pocket) and suggested a couple of titles he might be interested in, starting with Alton Brown (if he knows Oliver, he should know Brown from television) and Brown's co-hort, Shirley Corriher, both of whom deal with kitchen science.
He was very grateful. It seems that the only job he might be able to get this summer in the cooking field is sweeping up in a bakery, but I told him that even that job could be a learning experience, as he'd get to watch close-up what others are doing.
And that's the sort of thing that makes working fun and interesting, being able to learn and pass on information. I'd envy Jason his job...but I think I've got a pretty good one myself.
Now, if I could only get my hours increased somehow.
