Everybody needs somebody eventually

Over the years, I employed many A-level students to help us run our restaurants, giving them just a couple of shifts a week so as not to hinder their studies. It did not take us very long to train them as they were pretty switched on despite a marked lack of common sense in a few. 

One such young man who left his mark on Portofino is Darren. He worked as a kitchen hand back for a couple of years in the late nineties. From the start, he proved a handful, often challenging the head-chef, forever teasing the waitresses and occasionally trying to tweak recipes to his own liking. The kind of behaviour that would normally get the culprit sacked without warning. Yet, Darren seemed to get away with murder! He truly exasperated me and the management team. We gave him numerous warnings. He promised to change his ways but then turned everything into a joke. Once, he suggested that, to speed up preparation during a busy service, we should premix a few of the ingredients used for our most popular dish, the Paesano. I was quite impressed with the idea and adopted it. I have lived to regret it. Nowadays, he claims to have personally invented the dish and singlehandedly popularised an already popular Portofino.

After his A-Levels, Darren studied Computing at Leeds University. He then came back to Hartlepool to open a PC Laptop and Apple Mac Repair shop called Kingfisher Computers on Church Street. 
For the last few years, despite his relaxed approach to work, people keep going back to get their laptops, mobiles or tablets repaired at his shop if only to listen to his grandiose schemes and off-the-wall ideas. For me, personally, Darren has always answered my calls for help whenever my limited technical knowledge has failed me. I paid him with the odd meal out. When I still owned Portofino, once he had finished the repair, he never failed to waltz into the kitchen to brag to the young commis-chefs that he had personally created my recipes while at the same time, helping himself to the food. Noel, the head-chef, who now owns the restaurant, laughed it off and just told the kids to ignore his patter.

Over the years I was in business, we went through all sorts of emergencies such as the Salmonella scare, the Mad Cow Disease, Foot and Mouth, Black Friday, etc… In this instance, this Coronavirus epidemic is proving to be a lot more serious than all the health problems we came across. I fear for all businesses and especially hospitality and tourism that may suffer through lack of customers. This may become a sad case of natural selection where only the strong will survive.

I do hope that we will all get through these very worrying times without too much harm. These life trials come to remind us that what matters most for Humanity is a little more humanity and kindness. 

And PLEASE remember to wash your hands!