Work Ethic, Education, and Molito the Great

October 20, 2013    » posted by: admin

If you are reading this you have been, like me , born into a life of privilege. Access to the internet, having time to recreationally read, and interest in a blog written by a chef who cooks in a funky, but mildly upscale restaurant are all signs that you have received a certain level of education. As much as we judge our past and the factors that influence it we have been given an education and reap the benefits daily. You have a good job, strong opinions, and a belief in a better place for the next generation based on your philosophies and values. I have my problems, like everyone else: mortgage, kids, business, aches, pains, can I make it through another day at this pace? Wait…..I own my home, have three beautiful children, am my own boss, and really only ache for my wife on a nightly basis. These things are not completely earned on my own. They are the gifts of past generations that fought (literally), earned, and suffered for the future generations of their offspring. This is the same story of a new beginning by a hard working fellow and helping give his new son opportunity that we have all been given .

I first met Molito when he helped me clean out a trash dump while renovating RnR. He dug into the work without hesitation and continued to show up and knock out whatever needed to be done. He jumped into a dishwasher job and proceeded to become the employee chefs dream about. He genuinely HATED dirt, filth, grease, and anything that disgraced our kitchen and restaurant. He was disgusted with anyone who couldn’t clean and understand that cleanliness was like godliness, and he had the tattoo to prove his allegiance to the second. He is never late, never sick, never complains, and is the best dishwasher and prep cook I have ever worked with. An absolute animal. Anyone who walks in the kitchen gives him respect at first sight of seeing the pot sink ache and moan from the punishment he unleashes upon the cookware.

Molito lives by a code of allegiance that mirrors an America that is lost but not forgotten. The post WWII generation knew that the future lied only in hard work, determination, and continuing the hard work they had expressed on the battlefields and at home. They laid a foundation for America that we still live on today, and for many, continue to reap the benefits of compounded success on those same values. If you work hard, live frugally, save, and stay out of trouble you will make a future for your children that they can build on. We are there on those shoulders. Educated, empowered, comfortable, we (you and me) build further to make ourselves, our neighborhood, and our focuses the next layer of American successes. That code of American work ethic is what we got from our parents( or grandparents, or great grandparents) and who we look to for guidance when faced with the hardships of professional and everyday life.

Example “ I can’t believe I have to work a twelve hour shift today! That shit is un- real. Plus, I didn’t even get a break. It’s not my fault that Jane, Dick, and Harry didn’t get their shit done. Fuck those bitches. When is someone going to get it that I am carrying this organization?”

Upon retrospect “ I can’t believe my luck in having such a great job in which I can give input and have opportunity to excel. My fucking grandpa worked ONLY 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week. And traveled 50% for the first 20 years of his job just to pay his dues. I got a great deal!”

Ask your grandmother and mother, they remember, but have repressed it, along with how your Dad/ and or Grandpa also worked 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, and travelled 45% of the time. = 72+ hours a week, with one week vacation.

My colleagues and I still hold these values of hard work and its rewards intact, as passed on to us, and Molito is no different. His father taught him that value in life came from hard work and nothing else. He started on a farm in El Salvador and moved to America with the dream that so many have. He has done nothing but put his head down and plow through the shit until he came up breathing, energized by the effort, and ready for anything that is thrown at you. American dream. He came to me a jewel, uncut, but a jewel none the less.

He now commands the respect of everyone on the staff. NO ONE works as hard, smiles as much, or eats as much as Molito. For example, when faced with the lazy imcompetence and disregard for night shift workers of the late service on the MBTA (a topic for another time, in the opposite direction of this piece) instead of falling on excuse and pity, bought a bike and pedals daily from East Boston, through Chelsea, Charlestown, Downtown, Back Bay, etc. to get to Rozzie. 14 miles the hard way, Have you ever riden through Chelsea at midnight? Respect.

Molito was given the greatest gift of his life this summer, a child. His son, Jason, was born in August. As he continues to work consistently, without complaint, while staying up all night with his son, I was reminded of these work values that bind us and the foundation I had that he did not. Did I forget that thought and go back to whatever “white people problems” I really feel I should focus on?

My new cabinets and how to make them fit? How my bike chain is skipping? How my three healthy, smart, beautiful children wear me out with their questions wanting for knowledge? No. I decided to help. And you can too.

Tuesday we are playing Bingo. We are selling our bingo cards for Jason. All proceeds from Bingo card sales will go to a 529 account in the name of Jason Vilorio and RnR is donating profits from the evening as well. I hope to hit a goal of three thousand dollars. This is an account where the money will compound until Jason is 18 and provide him with support to go to school after standard high school. That three thousand dollars will compound into a significant amount of money over 18 years of constant reinvestment. MOST IMPORTANTLY, it will give a young man, growing up, a focus on secondary education that he may not have thought available without it. I believe that goals are the only way to excel, but sometimes we all need a boost to achieve our goals. I know I did. I worked hard through school with the confidence that I would go to college no matter what. You did too. Jason deserves that opportunity. Come and have a good time, get a chance to walk away with some Sox gear and pickles, and help us “make it happen” for the next generation of America.