Preparation for ‘The Empirical Dinner’

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 @ 12:22 am | *all*, daily life, female*male, myself, philosophy, work, wtc

This time I started earlier thinking about what to cook. All the way to the supermarket I made plans for my Canada Day dinner. I knew it will be chicken this time. How ever this likes to be prepared…

In the supermarket. First of all I was looking for some vegetables. I also knew it will be potatoes again - I need to practice! But this time I took the ‘for mash potato’ kind of potatoes, because they look more like to ones I know from Germany. After this I went to the carrots. I wanted to make something like mixed vegetables but since I couldn’t find the other stuff I would need for it I decided potatoes and carrots is just fine. A strange situation happened there with a girl in around my age.

I was heading in her direction, she was heading in my direction and then we both stopped in front of each other. I was looking at her without saying anything and she was somehow looking at me without really looking at me. She did this kind of absence thing that just womens can do. This was wired, I had to do something and so I just turned to the left and grabbed another kind of carrots and checked very professional the quality of them. The ’situation’ was still present and I was looking at her reaction. She seemed pleased and liked this situation as much as I did. She checked some vegetables behind me and then we both left for our primary destination. This was in my case the potatoes I was talking about earlier. I liked to think and pretend I’m this kind of successful and cool active guy who’s cooking every day direct when he comes from the fitness center or something like that. : ) I tried to catch another glimpse from her but she was already leaving the veggie section. It was already over anyway. But back to my dinner.

Next was the chicken. I found quiet quick something I liked, so I ended up with five Chicken drum sticks for a reasonable price. Now I needed some kind of sauce. I went to the instant sauce section again, even if I actually had no good feelings with this. I actually had no good feelings with my whole plan. Plain carrots and potatoes, chicken and some kind of sauce. I don’t know. I found a kind of chicken sauce, it was the same brand like the one I had before, just for chicken. It wasn’t to bad, but do I really want to do this again? I just run over the instruction as I saw to my right blue boxes with different kind of chicken wing preparations printed on the cover. Mmh??

This looked good, it looked actually exactly like that what I had in mind. Cool! I grabbed on of them, some kind of spicy mix but I didn’t want this, then I saw a kind of BBQ mix and this was almost exactly what I wanted. I remember I had BBQ wings at Hooters as we went with Staples one day to the ‘all you can eat chicken wing’ special. It was good but I felt sick next day, after who knows how many wings… So I remembered that was good, I should do this. The box landed in my basket.

Well but know all my plans changed. Since my own plans for the Dinner where so uncreative. In a few seconds I knew exactly what I really wanted to do! This are very rare moments in life! Because I know exactly what I would like to do one day but what to do know?? It was almost a philosophical thing. Since it seems that I can’t create anything creative - ‘a priori’ I have to use all my ‘empiric’ experiences. That means I can’t make anything up, I had to do something that I already experienced in life, something I saw, heard, made myself.

So the BBQ chicken similar to the one from Hooters was number one.
Number two I saw on the chicken sauce package. I decided to make French fried potatoes! That meant I had to change my potatoes.
Number three was again something that my Captain made on the boat from time to time and he was not just talking how good it was, it was also very good and should fit perfect. Number three will be fried tomatoes. Sounds simple but is much better then plane boring carrots and can be a surprise if I get it done right. And the carrots went back right away.

Finally I took a bottle of natural oil, salt and pepper. Unfortunately at the cashiers I had to find out I didn’t have enough money with me to pay for all my dinner and my normal groceries. It took over half an out to cancel some product from the receipt! Finally the manager had to come because the cashier couldn’t do it right. I had to leave the salt and pepper as well as the oil and some other stuff behind. That will mean I need to ask Clem again…

I finished working around 7pm and came home past 10pm, but I was in a good mute. Even if I had to find out that I’m not as creative as I wish to be. Just today I was talking at work to one of our customers about this. He was a blind piano teacher buying a printer. It was a very interesting experience to ’show’ and explain him the printer. He needed a good laser printer to print envelopes. I had to lead his hands to the important parts of the printer and showed him how to do all the adjustments. Finally we found the right printer for him and he was very thankful for my help. He was impressed from my clear way to explain him all the functions. He said that’s typical German and that was what he expected.

On the way to the cash register he asked me a question. First he started to tell me that all Germans are so straight and exact and that we build good products and so on but on the other hand we have creative musicians like Beethoven, Bach etc. with so many emotion in the music. How is this possible?

I said to him that not all Germans are that straight (anymore?). Then I said let’s say in Germany 99,9 percent of the people are like that - typical Germans, but the other 0,1 percent are the ‘rebels’, the ones who swim against the stream, even if they just swim with their creativity. Maybe it needs millions of stereotype German people to bring forth a few of the ‘exceptional’ - in this case exceptions.

But let’s say this, as I said it’s just a stereotype point of view anyway. That means (to clean up with the German facts), besides that we aren’t that exact and straight:

Germans are funny! Our humor is just so language related that it is not possible to translate it into another ’simpler’ language without loosing the point. Every language has it’s strong and weak side. One of the strong side of the German language is that you have a much richer vocabulary to express little details. And yes I have to agree, one of the weaknesses is that especially the spoken German word sounds almost emotional dead! If you compare it to Spanish or Italian, actually you can’t.

The next fact, not all Germans are Beer drinking, sausage eating, leather pants wearing BMW driver! … Some of us drive Audi!

The next fact comes from the US. Not all German girls are pretty and not all of them are easy to get (especially if they are the pretty ones)! Trust me, I’m sure! I saw and experienced both facts! : / … ; )

Not all Germans are Nazis, just the ones who can’t afford BMW or Audi!

Not one German likes David Hesselhof! But we all adore Juck Norris! As half Europe and North America does as well. “When Chuck Norris falls in water, Chuck Norris doesn’t get wet. Water gets Chuck Norris!“

and there are many more unresolved facts that need to be straighten out!

Hope that wasn’t too much about the German race.

Bye the way, I’m 24 years old and I feel free to say what I want! Sometimes direct, sometimes somehow different.

But back to the blind piano teacher. I was also impressed that he was so in the life and active. He gets my great respect for that. Afterward I was thinking that I would ask him a question as well but it was to late. I wanted to know if he had a happy life, if he enjoyed his life. I don’t know but it seemed so. Before he left somehow the topic helping came up. Somehow he misunderstood something I mentioned and he started talking. He said that some blind people are offended as soon as you ask them if you can help them. But he said that’s a gift if someone helps him. It’s all a gift and not many people can feel compassion. Compassion is something that needs to be trained like other virtues. Then he looked inward before he continued. “It’s also my gift to others to allow them to practice, perform there compassion.”

I knew already what he meant as he was speaking. I had to give him right. It’s not just that we do good for him, that I did good for him. He also gave me the gift to let him help and let me be – good.

I felt a little angry as he left because of what he said. I couldn’t explain it to myself but I understood it. I understood me anger. He really got me in this case. This are thoughts you just can’t clothe in words.

It was an interesting day. I don’t know right now if I’m in the mute to prepare my ‘Empirical dinner’ today on Canada Day or a few days later. I might join Clementine later for the fireworks at the beach. I’m excited to see a second firework with Clem together, but this time it’s supposed to be a real one and not her anger. : ) Let’s see… I will tell you about.

Have a nice day and enjoy life!

Marco