I am not a young man. I grew up before the internet existed, at least as we know it. When personal computers came along they did not interest me. In high school I began an elective course that assigned an Apple IIe, and a floppy disc that was actually floppy, but I quickly changed to wood shop.
My first computer, a hand-me-down Toshiba laptop, came years after most folks were familiar with computers through work and/or owning their own. But I had no use for it in my life, until I installed a AOL from a disc given for free at the supermarket.
Blue Collared Chef’s Coat
When I turned 15 years old my father signed a California work permit so that I could get a job at Burger King. There I realized that I am naturally a good, hard worker. I stayed with the job for two and a half years.
At 18, while still in school, I got a job cooking in a Mexican/Tex-Mex restaurant. From there I ran the kitchen at an old-school American steak house, serving prime rib and lobster. My full-time cooking career concluded as sous to a French chef whose work was respected in restaurant circles.
I had held management positions and keys to several well-established restaurants by age 24 but the restaurant business, if done well, is a lifestyle rather than a career, and I needed a change of lifestyle.