Working in the kitchen for a number of years taught me a lot of things, including how to cook a good meal with on-hand ingredients. It also taught me organizational skills I would end up using in my businesses, and helped me understand how to manage people.
The similar pranks we played in the Army from finding a box of grid squares to collecting exhaust samples, to tapping to find soft spots in the armor on a tank.... it goes on and on and on. Oh, and yes, the pranks in the Resturaunts are legion too.
Once, I worked in an open-concept cubical world we were on a kick for while where we’d plant fake spiders or rodents (think cat toys) around someone’s work area. Like under the handset of their phone, in a crowded junk drawer, in a plant, etc, Thanks to the open concept design, and depending on the persons jitteriness, it was usually pretty obvious throughout the area when it was discovered. The stoic victims, who made not a peep, were the stealthiest in their paybacks. Ah, cheap laughs!
When I was younger we'd have parties on the beach and would build big bonfires. Usually there were bottles of cheap wine being passed around, the kind with the screw tops, and I learned one of the best pranks from a guy a couple of years older than me. He finished off a bottle, screwed the cap back on tight, then winked at me and said, "Watch this!" as he tossed the bottle into the fire. He said, "Wait!" and we waited; eventually the liquid in the bottle must have boiled off and the glass got soft enough so the bottle split open; the escaping hot gas blew sparks and cinders out all over one side of the fire scaring the be-Jesus out of everyone! It was awesome! From then on whenever I finished off a bottle of cheap wine I never let that bottle go to waste!😂
Ha! Sounds terrifying... and very much like something I might have done. Are we talking Boone's Farm? Maneshevitz? "Cheap wine" is a very big category!
When I read on Medium regularly, there were a couple of authors I liked who respectively were a chef and a restaurant proprietor, and the stories they told about their work had stuff like this involved.
The similar pranks we played in the Army from finding a box of grid squares to collecting exhaust samples, to tapping to find soft spots in the armor on a tank.... it goes on and on and on. Oh, and yes, the pranks in the Resturaunts are legion too.
I had forgotten about the grid squares one. Classic!
Nice, exhaust samples is a good one!
Once, I worked in an open-concept cubical world we were on a kick for while where we’d plant fake spiders or rodents (think cat toys) around someone’s work area. Like under the handset of their phone, in a crowded junk drawer, in a plant, etc, Thanks to the open concept design, and depending on the persons jitteriness, it was usually pretty obvious throughout the area when it was discovered. The stoic victims, who made not a peep, were the stealthiest in their paybacks. Ah, cheap laughs!
Oh yes, I can imagine being a victim and not saying a word, not wanting to give my enemies the satisfaction... but plotting.
oh. my :)
100% in the voice of George Takai
When I was younger we'd have parties on the beach and would build big bonfires. Usually there were bottles of cheap wine being passed around, the kind with the screw tops, and I learned one of the best pranks from a guy a couple of years older than me. He finished off a bottle, screwed the cap back on tight, then winked at me and said, "Watch this!" as he tossed the bottle into the fire. He said, "Wait!" and we waited; eventually the liquid in the bottle must have boiled off and the glass got soft enough so the bottle split open; the escaping hot gas blew sparks and cinders out all over one side of the fire scaring the be-Jesus out of everyone! It was awesome! From then on whenever I finished off a bottle of cheap wine I never let that bottle go to waste!😂
Ha! Sounds terrifying... and very much like something I might have done. Are we talking Boone's Farm? Maneshevitz? "Cheap wine" is a very big category!
Boone's Farm mostly; some other Gallo brand would have been in that category too…
Euphoria at night, vomit in the morning. There's nothing like being that age!
This turned out well. Ice cubes in the fryer is a classic, nice one.
Sometimes I realize how lucky I am to be alive.
Very lucky for sure.
I thought "Kitchen Lokis" were some mythical creatures that allegedly lived in people's homes and made random cooking tools disappear (a la Domovoy).
I guess I wasn't too far off. Except humans were the domovoys all along.
Well played.
I just learned what a Domovoy is!
You're welcome. Enjoy your nightmares!
Can't wait to try these with the kid.
I doubt I'd be able to resist the temptation. Not all of us should have kids.
Amusing stories! Also, I love the title. It takes imagination to work references to Norse mythology into a tale of modern kitchen tricksters.
These were both fun for me to read (Brian's) and fun for me to remember (mine).
When I read on Medium regularly, there were a couple of authors I liked who respectively were a chef and a restaurant proprietor, and the stories they told about their work had stuff like this involved.
You might really like Brian's stuff! I get little waves of nostalgia any time I read his stuff.