Lessons To-Go Please.

Every experience comes with valuable lessons if you look deep enough and if not you can probably over exaggerate the importance of it in your life for a story or two. But there are some jobs that really provide valuable knowledge.

While eating chicken and string beans the other day, some may call them green beans, Scott said string beans weren't in season and that's why they were not that great tasting. Unaware of why he would know such information, I questioned him why/how he knew and asked if plums were in season. He answered confidently that he worked in produce (promoted from bagger) at a Kroger, one of the bigger grocery stores around here, for three years! Of course he knew when produce was in season and plums are not until early spring. The knowledge he gained at his job at Kroger was something that I wish I knew so I could buy fruits and vegetables at the mist optimal time of the year. And I'm sure he knows the proper methodology of choosing the best tasting produce too.

As I was folding clothes, I realized there are countless ways of folding clothes similarly to countless snowflake patterns. Some techniques are probably passed on like a family secret, generation to generation. But our generation is all about learning through the Internet, so there are plenty of techniques on YouTube. I know my mother's technique is very effective and clean but it just took too long to do it right. So I find this technique:

I found the Japanese method too much work (you have to lay down the shirt):

But for the really lazy ones, you can get the folding boards. But I'm sure there are plenty of secret professional cloth folders, some being people you interact with, that learned at their jobs, some being their first jobs.

For me and like many others, my first job I had was in the restaurant business. I packed thousands upon thousands of Chinese take-out orders throughout my years. And with that came many lessons and skills. One being that the customer is always right (unless you have proof showing 100% and even then, they are probably right). I can now withstand the heat in the kitchen without any trouble! (So that phrase doesn't apply to me. Dealing with pressure doesn't affect me much.) The most I learned was about myself especially while training others. I learned how my personality and work ethic were different than the people I worked with. I worked with my father for several years so I learned where I learned to have such a strong work ethic. I also observed and worked with an extreme range of personalities. 

And knowing how restaurants operate, I know what not to order! And it fed my obsession for crab rangoons for years!

And did you know that New Years Eve is the most popular day for Chinese take-out?