64 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 19 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Life Arts    H4'ed 3/8/16

Obscured American: Tony the Cook

By       (Page 3 of 5 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   1 comment
Message Linh Dinh
Become a Fan
  (73 fans)
It was a third black, a third white and a third Hispanic, and everyday, there were fights. I was just this scrawny son of a preacher, but I had to learn how to fight. I was tired of getting beaten up.

In junior high, a black kid hit one of the teachers with an oak chair, knocked him out. He was pissed because he had failed a test. They had to bring in an ambulance, take the old guy out in a stretcher.

In 12th grade, I got my first job as a dishwasher at the Holiday Inn. Seeing that I was a pretty good worker, the head chef soon turned me into a cook.

"Will I get paid more?" I asked him. "Sure," he said, "and you'll get to eat all of these shrimp for free too." I was always hungry so I said yeah. It was weird at first because all of these people were screaming at each other all the time, there was so much stress, but at the end of the day, it was all forgotten.

We would drink a punch made of brandy, Coke and oranges, cut into halves, and we would also do coke. We could only do this after the chef had gone home. The sous chef was cool. At the end of the day, we also threw hot, stuffed tomatoes at each other.

I was in the marines for six years. After that, I got a job as a manager at Jack in the Box, which I didn't like. I like to cook.

I enjoy cooking. I think it's an art. Sometimes you can see the customers eat your food. Especially with the very old and the very young, and they have that smile, I like that.

Another reason I like it is, if you look at the expression, "food and drink," food is always first. "Food and entertainment," "food and shelter," food is always first. You can get by without shelter, but you can't get by without food. Food is number one.

I'm around seafood all the time, but I can't really afford to eat from there, but the other night, I splurged on myself and bought three pounds of shrimp. I just sat in front the TV and kept eating" over two or three hours. Instead of popcorn, I was eating shrimp. It was good.

I live with my sister. It's $600 a month, and I pay half, but sometimes I must give her more, because she's doing so bad.

I come to the Friendly a lot because it's like my living room. I don't have that much space.

My sister is never in the bar, because she's bipolar. She drinks at home, and smokes a lot of weed. It calms her down. She has to have that. I smoke weed too, but not everyday.

I've been living with her for six years. She needed help to pay the rent. Her boyfriend left. It's expensive here.

She works in a restaurant too. She's a server. We don't say waitress anymore. Server.

Her job is really getting to her. She fights with her boss all the time. She's been there so long, she feels she can fight with him, but she doesn't realize that" you lose. I mean, you're not gonna win. Because she has a bad attitude, and shows up late, everyday, they give her a bad section that nobody wants to sit in, so now she makes even less money and hates her job even more. She's only fifty, so retirement is more than ten years away. This is the time to work as hard as you can, because you know what you're doing, and you still have your health, but she doesn't get it. She feels like she should be able to retire right now.

She spends all her money on weed, and she smokes the good weed, not the cheap weed. She smokes about a hundred dollars' worth of it a week. That's like a car payment, with insurance, then there's the wine, lots of wine.

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Valuable 4   Well Said 2   Must Read 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Linh Dinh Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in


Linh Dinh's Postcards from the End of America has just been published by Seven Stories Press. Tracking our deteriorating socialscape, he maintains a photo blog.


Related Topic(s): Economy, Add Tags
Add to My Group(s)
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Deranging America

Striking Russia through Syria

Common Dreaming

Postcard from the End of America: Lancaster County, PA

National Nervous Breakdown

Cui Bono After Orlando Pulse Club Shooting?

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend