I have posted a lot about my grandfather over the years—but have not talked about this.
He owned a construction business and one summer let me be his chauffeur.
He was a gourmet and took me to these ridiculously fancy restaurants for lunch including some big name restaurants in Manhattan and metro NYC.
I never “got it”. Maybe my palate is not sensitive enough but I never really appreciated the food.
Ironically I am a cigar fanatic—and can tell you the Cuban brand and year with one puff.
Go figure.
I lost a j9b once because the owner of a resteraunt told me that if I was hungry to get whatever I wanted for food if he wasn’t around during lunch. So I saw “a roast” once and cut off a slice, began to eat it, and thought “yuck- this stuff is way too mushy”
I had grown up eating tough cuts of steak (we grew up poor, on a farm out in the country- good cuts of meat were foreign to us) and had never even heard about prime rib- I tried to explain to the irate owner that I had no idea that the roast was that expensive (I ruined 2 cuts apparently) and that I’d be happy to have h8m take my paycheck until it was paid off
He didn’t beleive me about not knowing what prime rib was- but I honestly had no idea, and didn’t even like it- thought it was too mushy and too fatty.
. I asked him why he told me to get what I wanted for lunch, and asked if I was a thief then why did I offer to go without a paycheck to pay off my mistake? Long story short- he wasn’t interested in an explanation and fired me, accusing me of theft.
That was a hard lesson- always ask first even if they tell you to get what you want for lunch- wish I had it to do over-