I’m a Thrill Seeker

chefs

Sometimes I like to flirt with death. I do this by throwing a verbal grenade into conversations with certain women. I don’t do it often but when I do, it certainly creates some interesting results.

Now and then I find myself in a conversation with a group of women. Occasionally during those conversations the topic of food and cooking comes up. It’s about that time that I usually lob in a comment like, “Cooking is a woman’s job. Men don’t belong in the kitchen.”

Nuclear Threat

You probably wouldn’t be all that surprised to find that comments like that create a reaction not dissimilar to starting the launch sequence on a nuclear weapon. It takes some very quick action to bring the situation back from DEFCON ONE.

That’s when I smile and mention that I previously worked in a very large kitchen. I spent four years as an apprentice chef then left the industry after qualifying. I still do most of the cooking at home. I’m not brilliant at cooking but I know my way around a kitchen.

A Lifetime Ago

I was thinking today that it’s been more than 30 years since I finished my apprenticeship. More than 30 years. That’s a long time. It seems like a lifetime ago. It’s sometimes hard to believe that it was even me who worked in the hospitality industry all those years ago.

Cooking paid the bills and gave me the ticket I needed to leave school at the end of Year 10 but it was never really my passion. I remember other apprentices talking about moving overseas to learn more about cooking. I thought they were crazy but they were just passionate about their profession.

Most of my working life has been spent working in radio. Now there’s a career I can get passionate about.

What Have You Left Behind?

I’m wondering if you’ve changed careers. What made you move from one job to another? Do you still have a dream about a different career? What’s holding you back from following that dream?

Are there other things that you left behind many years ago? A friend, partner, country or faith? Does it feel like forever ago? What are you glad to have left behind and what is there that you think would be good to re-visit?



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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He previously worked in radio for about 25 years but these days he spends his time at Compassion Australia, working towards releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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