Don’t ask why, but the other day, I started thinking about how chefs and food writers are alike, how our similarities may outweigh our differences. Maybe I was hoping both sides in this parasitic relationship could see each other with more clarity. Or maybe I was just looking for another blog item.

Whatever, below are a few of the similarities (add more in the comments section, if you wish or, conversely, explain the differences). Chefs and food writers both:

• Are only as good as our last meal/column;
• Have to find new ways to do the same thing over and over again;
• Would rather get properly pissed than work on a Saturday night;
• Have more competition than ever;
• Enjoy increased public visibility in recent years;
• Hate the increased public scrutiny in recent years;
• Listen to people who think we have the best jobs in the world;
• Listen to people who think they can do our jobs better than us;
• Cuss more than the average person on the job;
• Get yelled at more than the average person on the job;
• Have some form of alcohol within arm’s length at our work spaces;
• Don’t have to wear a suit or dress to work;
• Wasted too much money on education for such low-paying work;
• Dream of becoming a best-selling author; and
• Understand that our work becomes “waste” the next day.

Photo by Barto via Creative Commons, Attribution License