Chapter on Professionalism, from Professional Cooking by Wayne Gisslen.

STANDARDS OF
PROFESSIONALISM

What does it take to be a good food service worker?
The emphasis of a food service education is on learning a set of skills.But in many
ways, attitudes are more important than skills because a good attitude will help you
not only learn skills but also persevere and overcome the many difficulties you will face. The successful food service worker follows an unwritten code of behavior and set of attitudes we call professionalism.Let’s look at some of the qualities a professional
must have.

POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD THE JOB
In order to be a good professional cook,you have to like cooking and want to do it well. Being serious about your work doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it. But the enjoyment comes from the satisfaction of doing your job well and making everything run smoothly.
Every experienced chef knows the stimulation of the rush. When it’s the busiest time of the evening,the orders are coming in so fast you can hardly keep track of them, and every split second counts—then, when everyone digs in and works together and everything clicks, there’s real excitement in the air. But this excitement comes only when you work for it.
A cook with a positive attitude works quickly, efficiently, neatly, and safely. Professionals have pride in their work and want to make sure it is something to be proud of. Pride in your work and in your profession is important, but humility is important too, especially when you are starting out. Sometimes new culinary school graduates arrive on the job thinking they know everything. Remember that learning to cook and learning to manage a kitchen is a lifelong process and that you are not yet qualified to be executive chef.
The importance of a professional attitude begins even before you start your first job. The standard advice for a successful job interview applies to cooks as well as to office professionals: Dress and behave not for the group you belong to but for the group you want to join. Arrive neat,clean,appropriately dressed,and on time.Get noticed for the right reasons. Carry this attitude through every day on the job.

STAYING POWER
Food service requires physical and mental stamina, good health, and a willingness to work hard. It is hard work. The pressure can be intense and the hours long and grueling.
You may be working evenings and weekends when everyone else is playing. And the work can be monotonous. You might think it’s drudgery to hand-shape two or three dozen dinner rolls for your baking class,but wait until you get that great job in the big hotel and are told to make 3,000 canapés for a party.
Overcoming these difficulties requires a sense of responsibility and a dedication to your profession, to your coworkers, and to your customers or clients. Dedication also means staying with a job and not hopping from kitchen to kitchen every few months. Sticking with a job at least a year or two shows prospective employers you are serious about your work and can be relied on.

ABILITY TO WORK WITH PEOPLE
Few of you will work in an establishment so small that you are the only person on the staff. Food service work is teamwork,and it’s essential to be able to work well on a team and to cooperate with your fellow workers. You can’t afford to let ego problems, petty jealousy, departmental rivalries, or feelings about other people get in the way of doing the job well. In the old days,many chefs were famous for their temper tantrums.
Fortunately,self-control is more valued today.

Cheffin'

I went in to work tonight to do my order, and see how things were running at the club.
I had to pass through the hotel to get there, and as I moved through the hall, I noticed three somewhat drunken hotel guests staggering towards me. They were young men, and pretty fired up and rowdy, and two of them had their shirts off. They had the look of young guys spoiling for a fight.
I tensed a bit as we drew towards each other, and then one of them piped up "Good evening Chef!" I said good evening right back, and I was a little stunned, because he said it quite respectfully. As they continued off behind me I heard one of them say "What the fuck did you call him?" with a bit of a chuckle, and the kid that had wished me a good evening replied rather angrily..."I called him Chef, didn't you notice the Chef jacket?" and then the other guy quit giggling.
Apparently Chefs are no laughing matter...well, all except this one. The Statler and Waldorf quotes at the end of this one are highly applicable as well :)

The Statler and Waldorf quotes in this one are highly applicable as well :)

Vessels

I'm heading into month 4 of the rebirth of my running habit. It feels absolutely terrific. I'm back into the routine of doing my long run on weekends.
Today I went for 35 minutes, which is still nothing compared to where I once was, but it's a hell of a lot better than I was 4 months ago. Here's the thing about running in general, but about the long run in particular.
Running exercises the mind far more than it exercises the body. The mind is prone to seeking pleasure, and avoiding pain. This is obviously a good system to operate under most of the time, but there are times when it's counter-productive.
For example: Eating candy and nothing but candy is really pleasant. But in the long run it can be extremely harmful. Shooting heroin probably feels pretty good...you get the picture.
Running does not feel good. Not initially. It's the results of running, and the after effects of running that feel good. Running itself is painful. This is part of why it's such great exercise for the mind.
The mind feels the pain of running in the first few minutes after you set off. Its survival mechanisms sense that it's burning more energy than necessary, causing undue pain, and it instructs your muscles, your heart and your lungs to send you stressful warning signals. The mind begs you to stop, and it does so a thousand different ways, until it gets the response it wants. It speaks to you in your own voice.
"You can always do this tomorrow."
"5 minutes is probably good for today"
"missing one day isn't going to hurt."
And it doesn't take no for an answer. It comes back again and again because its mandate is to avoid pain, conserve energy.
The runner learns to overcome this inner voice. And in so doing the runner learns that inner voices can often be wrong. The runner exercises his willpower when he rejects his own counter-productivity and pushes forward.
Today I rejected my brain's entreaties to stop for the longest time that I have done so in ages and it felt great.
Afterwards I had something that exceeded a runner's high. I had this awesome sensation of blood rushing through my blood vessels. I could feel my blood moving in a torrent, through my arms and legs. It was the wildest feeling, like I was lined with surgical tubing and somebody had attached a jet of water to it.
I was going somewhere with this, but I'm tired now, so I'll pursue it later.

I Suppose You All Want to Know About My Shoes....sigh...Fine...

Yesterday I went shoe shopping for my next pair of running shoes. I was looking for a shoe that would deliver performance on the road and off. Currently I'm running on the treadmill, since I live in an inhospitable land where being outside can often be fatal. When the weather improves however, I'll be running a 33/33/33 treadmill/road/trail mix. In all reality a regular running shoe would probably be my best choice, since I'm not on the trail all that much. My concern is that most regular running shoes are white, and it would take only a minute on the trail and they'd be ruined as far as appearance is concerned.
However I took into consideration the cushioning that my treadmill offers, and figured that it's surface is more like a trail than a road, and I decided I wanted a trail shoe.
So last night I came home with the Adidas Kanadia TR, which is a gorgeous trail runner. I really wanted to love this shoe. It had a really unique look to it, black with some well placed red flashes, and a super aggressive tread that looked tailor made for ice and snow. It was also really lightweight, which is always a plus. When I got it home however, I found that it was a little too rigid, with almost no cushioning. For a runner that would be exclusively used on trails this is ideal. You want a rigid sole to protect you from sharp rocks and tree roots and the like on the trail. The tread on this shoe was also great for flinging off mud and water in wet conditions, another must have on an exclusive trail runner. For my purposes it's a little too specialized though. The lack of cushioning would have me nursing injuries in my first week, and the tread was so aggressive that I was concerned for my treadmill belt. Today I took the shoes back, and it was heartbreaking because they were beautiful.
I'm buying these things to run in though, and to run in a lot, and I need a shoe that's going to do it all.
It turns out that finding a good hybrid trail and road runner is tricky. Then I found the Mizuno Ascend 2.
This shoe won the Editor's Choice award from Runner's World magazine, as well as enjoying favorable reviews in Outside and Running Times, among others. As soon as I slid my foot into the shoe, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. The cushioning is as good as any runner, and the heel gives great stability, which both can be tricky to find in a trail runner. Add to that the water resistant features, breathability and light weight and the shoe is a winner in every category but one...looks. I've got to admit, this is one of the ugliest shoes I've ever seen. But I'm happy with them. They're going to serve me well for a long time to come.