Sunday, October 6, 2013

Stranger in a strange land


As stated in another blog, my culinary class went to PFG’s vendor expo at Hotel Lumiere. What I may not have mentioned is the fact that we were all in uniform. This consists of chefs coat, pants etc. well with that being said, we were done for the day and had all met in the front lobby to leave. Suddenly I had the urge to use the facilities and soon headed that direction. Much to my dismay, it is a long walk down somewhat of a narrow area due to the setup of the venders. As my luck generally would have it, an old man was shuffling along in front of me. My need was so strong at this point that I almost blurted out for him to move faster. Well I get there finally and take care of business, as I am washing my hands a large gnarled hand falls on my shoulder. This is something that does not happen in a men’s restroom, no sir, no way! I am immediately defensive as I turn. With a big smile on his face, there stands the old man who was shuffling along. He offers his hand for a greeting and commences to telling me he is on our Board at Le’cole. He informs me of how they got their start here and so on and so forth. I must have missed his name when he gave it due to the shock of being touched in a restroom. I ask him his name again and to my surprise, he says Orville Middendorf, and commences to tell me how he started his company with $4000.00 in 1962. In those few brief minutes it took for us to reach the front lobby, he never stopped talking and what’s more important, I never stopped listening.

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