25 Reasons I would never own a restaurant

Let me first start by saying I asked permission from Naill Harbison one of the contributors from the blog over at ifoods.tv to repost this here.  Naill has put together 25 reasons he would never own a restaurant and I would have to say 99% of the reasons are the SAME reason why I struggle with thoughts of owning my own.

Just last week (or was it 2 weeks ago?) I emailed a friend (thanks for the info Bobby M. !) about zoning issues and building.  (Bobby's one of those architectural type genius's)  But before I get too far off the subject here is Naill Harbison's post that I can wholeheartedly agree with AND this may explain a few things to those people who think us Chefs should always 'open our own place' - sometimes it's better as a dream in our head, than a reality:

Nov 17

25 Reasons I would never open a restaurant

Funny, Pictures, Uncategorized, food, reviews

Posted by Niall Harbison

Being a chef and having worked for some pretty famous people one of the first things I am always asked when I meet people is why would you not open a restaurant? I have even been made offers by people willing to put up the money to open here in Dublin and although usually politely declined here are the real reasons why I wouldn’t open a restaurant……..

1.  Having worked for Paul Allen I have seen how wealthy technology can make you. I have never seen a restaurateur with a boat like this……

2.  We are entering into a massive recession and there are far better restaurateurs out there than me who will fail.

3.  Over a third of restaurants close within the first year of business

4.  I don’t want to my busy time of work to be Friday and Saturday evenings when my friends are all out having fun.

5.  Having a Monday and Tuesday as days off is not that appealing either!

6.  I don’t want to spend years of my life working in an aggressive and stressful environment.

7.  I don’t want to spend my life in fear of getting slaughtered in a restaurant review

8.  I don’t want to work in a business where staff turnover is so high.

9.  I don’t want to spend 70% of my time in a place that has no natural light.

10.  I don’t want to worry constantly if I am going to go out of business just because business has been slow for 1 week.

11.  The customer is not always right when it comes to food and I don’t want to have to pretend they are just to keep people happy.

12.  I don’t want to smell like fat all the time.

13.  I would rather not injure myself using sharp knife/hot oil/ovens etc

14.  If I invested the couple of hundred thousand needed in AAPL and GOOG stocks instead I would be considerably richer in 3 years time.

15.  I love what I do at the moment too much to sacrifice that for anything.

16.  There are a lot of chancers working in the restaurant business.

17.  I don’t want to stand on my feet for 18 hours a day.

18.  All of friends would be expecting freebies when they came in. It is very hard to say no to friends but this kills a lot of restaurants.

19.  I would drink too much of the amazing wines we would have in the cellars

20.  Unless I sold cookbooks and had a few restaurants (thus losing quality) I would not be very wealthy in 20 years time.

21.  I don’t want to spend 80 hours a week behind a stove.

22.  Cooking can become a chore instead of being something that you love doing when it is mass produced.

23.  I don’t want to have to wear a hat for 70% of my life.

24.  Being in a large freezer first thing in the morning is one of the most horrible experiences in life and one I don’t want to repeat until I am dead.

25.  I would end up washing dishes/cleaning toilets/scrubbing floors when somebody phones in sick at the last moment!

Yep, that about says it! (and sums it up quite nicely) ~

Coffee Night

Last Friday night our Queens lounge was transformed into a Coffee House.  My dear friend Selina and I did the baking and Karoline did the ambiance and that room was transformed. It was so nice to hang out with the other ward nurses in a relaxed environment and enjoy some coffee and yummy snacks. The lights were dim we had candles (battery powered of course) and there are new wall-mounted fans that kept the room cool enough to enjoy our hot coffee. The night was a success, yay ward nurse activities team.

Passed

Last weekend the girls came for a visit on the ship again. It is so fun when they come to visit us at our "home". Their visit was short but super fun. They wanted another tour of the ship so we did that then we ate African food from in town and we did what we always do... laugh. I love them so much. They are truly lovely.

This week when we went out for Bible study we heard wonderful news, Annie (the oldest) passed her entrance exam for nursing school. I am so excited for her. She still has an interview in January and needs to be accepted, but passing this test has really given her a sense of hope. She is a woman of integrity, honor, and compassion and so badly wants to be a nurse. Please join me in prayer for her. Please pray that she will be accepted into the program and that she will be able to achieve her dream.

The Secret Place

Yesterday Tyrone and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. We wanted to go away for a couple of days, but it is not so easy here in Liberia to find a place that isn't saturated with NGO workers and that is safe in this war-torn country. We recently heard of a place called Thinkers Village, a beach about 1 hour from the ship that has decent accommodations and food. When we got there we were so excited (partly because we didn't have to travel in a crowded taxi for 3 hours) when we saw the accommodations and the lovely, clean beach. We spent 2.5 days hanging out, reading, listening to music, and enjoying each others company, and most of all we were away from the ship.

This weekend I read Psalm 91 and all I could think of was how I was so excited to find this sorta secret place to have a small get-a-way with Tyrone. I got so much joy and rejuvenation from our little vacation and then to think of the secret place of the Most High and the stability that only comes from being under the shadow of the Almighty. This is where I want to be, the secret place of the One who is my Refuge, my Fortress, my God.

Psalm91:1-2

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him, I lean and rely, and in Him I confidently trust.

no, no, yes...

It has been a wild ride for me this past year. I came to the ship arrogant, to be totally honest. I simply thought I had something to offer to the community of the ship and also the people of Liberia. Yes, I have skills, gifts, and talents that the Lord has blessed me with but I thought, Stephanie Ruth Barton could make a difference.

It all changed on February 18th. It was screening day and definitely the worst day of my life as a nurse. That one day of seeing the true needs of Africa (not just what is shown on Western television) showed me that my abilities, or even the most talented, helpful person in whole wide world is just a small, small piece of this incredibly large need.

On screening day we spent the majority of the day saying "no" to people with medical problems that we do not specialize in, in order to have room for the patients that we can truly help. Screening day was just the beginning of this process. (In Liberia there are no specialty surgeons other than the occasional NGO surgeon that sets up shop in the local hospital, but there is still a problem, there are not really any skilled anesthesiologists either. So even then the surgeries performed are only simple, for the most part.) People come to the gates of the port begging to be seen by a Dr. desperately hoping that they can board the most technologically advanced hospital in all of West Africa (aka their only option for their medical problem).

Kwelywan is 7, his father has brought him to the ship 3 times now in hopes that his son would get a "yes". The first 2 times they did tests and conferenced with Doctors around the world and the answer was no. Kwelywan has an encephalocele. An encephalocele is a birth defect where a piece of the skull doesn't close completely, therefore brain matter seeps out and forms a bulge usually in front of the face, between the eyes. The surgery is very complex, requires a lot of care, can have severe complications including death. These are surgeries that are rarely done in the States, so doing it here seems unreal. Dr. Gary has done 2 already this outreach and has had good results both times.

The third time that Kwelywan and his dad entered the ship they received the long awaited "yes". In my heart of hearts I feel conflicted. I am so excited that he may have the chance to live a life of acceptance in his village. However, I am worried that we may have bitten off more than we can chew. (can I say that?) This is the Kwelwan that I remember.

He is playful and silly. Now he is laying in bed with a bandage covering 2/3 of his whole head, so miserably uncomfortable that he can't help himself but to just thrash around in bed (not the best thing for a kid who just had brain surgery). This is where the arrogance comes in. I as a nurse want to come on to a shift, get report on my patients, then fix what is broken, but I can't. I can do my best. I can use the skills, abilities, and gifts the Lord has blessed me with and I can trust in the Lord to do the rest. That is my part of this big picture.