LESSON WITH A SIDE OF FRIES

We love our burgers and fries. It is no secret… I mean drive around LA for a day and check out the ridiculous lines at every single In & Out Burger… there is something about those beef patties and crunchy potatoes that just make us happy. And it is no different in here.

Burger day is Wednesday. And every Wednesday is absolute madness. From 8am until 12:30pm… there is a line out the door of the O.M… stacked with officers waiting patiently… well patiently-ish for their beloved burgers and fries. But this past Wednesday… was a whole different animal.

My boss calls me into the office just before we are about to leave for the day on Tuesday afternoon… “Hollywood. So… tomorrow is a really big day. The executive staff… led by the Warden is going to be bringing in about 50 outside guests and their first stop is going to be lunch in the OM. I really need you guys to show up for us… you are representing food service and also this facility. It needs to be perfect. Look perfect… act perfectly… make the whole spread… I’m talking burgers… grilled onions… sauteed mushrooms… BBQ baked beans… corn on the cob… bacon wrapped hot dogs… all the fixings and for sure your magic sauce (I make a “Mac” sauce for the burgers every week that slaps… if I do say so myself)… please make a good impression. Thanks.” No pressure right?! “Okay… so we are going to be closed for the rest of the officers and open when they come?” I ask him. “No… no… we are still open for everyone and then we will close just before 11am so no one else will be in there when they come.” “Well… sh*t.” I think to myself as I am instantly trying to mentally calculate how in the world me and 2 other guys are going to prepare and execute the normal circus of Burger Day and then be prepared to impress the “VIPs” with essentially an entire new meal right after. But… as with the past challenges that have been thrown at us… no use in worrying or complaining because nobody is going to solve this equation for us… LETS GET IT!

We immediately head into the freezer so that we can get all our protein out and ready so that we can dive in as soon as we get to work the next morning. We are now talking about serving close to 150 portions total so 50lbs of ground beef… 100 hot dogs…. 8 packages of bacon will need to start getting thawed out so we grab the load and head to the next stop. Into veggie prep we go for 35 onions that will need to be sliced and sauteed tomorrow… countless tomatoes… lettuce… mushrooms and the normal veggies that will need to prepared for the salad bar. Cheese… gotta have cheese… grab all the cheese we will need and we are “ready” (kind of) for what tomorrow will bring.

We get into the kitchen just after 4:30am and immediately start getting everything ready for the “VIPs” as I figure we should get that meal ready to go first and get it all in the warmer. Then we will prepare “normal” burger day that should be ready to serve just in time for the rush. Burger patties are made and ready to hit the fire… bacon is panned up and ready to cook… dogs are prepped for the grill… onions sliced… mushrooms panned and ready… BBQ baked beans made and in the oven… corn on the cob portioned and boiling prior to it’s butter and pepper bath and all other veggies prepped and panned.. sauce is made. I’m sweating… this is crazy… don’t know how we are going to make this happen but… just keep working. VIP meal is pretty much prepped and ready so we now move onto the compound staff meal. We get everything set up on the line at 8:05am and there are already 4 officers in the OM waiting to be served. So… service begins.

For the next 2.5 hours we run burger day for the compound… slangin about 80 platters of burger and fries before we shut it down at 10:30am in order to clean up and set up for the VIPs to arrive at 11am. And when 11am rolls around… the craziness of the morning immediately dissolved into something much deeper.

50 “civilians” from the real world filed into the OM and as they began to walk toward me and order their food… something interesting yet special happened. I was met with the juxtaposition of completely forgetting that I was in prison as I talked to these respectful and inquisitive people of all ages… feeling as though I was “one of them”… serving them food at a charity event or something… talking “normally” to another human being about “normal” things. To only be met with the smack in the face of reality that I am not one of them… not anymore… not right now. I am a prisoner… I am a felon… I made decisions and followed through on actions that landed me on the side of the counter that is serving the food in a federal prison as opposed to visiting one for the day. It was a bit of a sobering moment but it was humbling and grounding in the same breath. I did make absolutely god-awful… horribly inconceivable decisions and actions that led me here… and I am paying for those sins but I am also becoming a better man through the process. And part of becoming a better man is learning how to enjoy and recognize the positive moments that this life has to offer… no matter where we are in this life at the moment. As we finished serving our guests… we came around the counter and answered questions about ourselves… about prison… about cooking and about life… we chatted with everyone for a few minutes and just as we were asked by the warden to step out of the room for a bit… the entire group gave us a standing ovation for a job well done. Now… I understand that I am in prison and that I did not accomplish something earth shattering on Wednesday but the feeling that I felt when these people from “out there” acknowledged our hard work and treated us as equals and not “inmates”… even for a moment… was genuinely special and one that I will not forget.

I think the lesson lies in believing that no matter what you may have done in your past that found you in a hole looking up and not knowing how the hell you are going to climb back out… as long as we have air to breathe… as long as we are on this planet… there is still time to start making the right decisions. There is still time to put in the work… to make amends… to learn from your past… to focus your time and energy on bettering yourself and others… to giving back… to making delicious food for strangers to enjoy… to putting out positivity. And although these steps will never erase the consequences of your past actions… they will allow you to start climbing back up toward the light. And if you’re open to recognizing it…. life gives you small standing ovations every day when you put in the work… you just have to be present in the moment to hear the clapping.

Stay Healthy. Stay Active. Air Fry the Fries.