Speeches

Throughout high school, I took a series of Culinary Arts classes. The teacher, Mr. Streu, was the only reason why I continued to take the classes. He was a great cook, a pretty good teacher, and an expert speech giver. He would go on the the craziest tangents, and just when you thought he was completely weird and had no meaning to his stories, there would be a moral lesson or some kind of culinary arts significance.
One time he told us this story about a family (his friends) who went to a small country in Asia (which I can't remember) on vacation. They decided to go to this extremely nice restaurant that the locals all loved. It was a fancy –wear your nice clothes– kind of place. Although the family only knew English and it was very hard to communicate, as soon as they walked in the door the hostess greeted them, took their coats for them, pulled out the chairs for them, and they even took their brand new, expensive puppy to watch for them while they ate. After the family had finished eating they were very amazed at how incredible the food was; it was the best they'd ever tasted. They left a large tip and shook the chef's hand many times. When they asked for their puppy back, the chef had tried to explain that it was gone. The father was infuriated and asked where it was. The chef pointed to the leftovers on the plates. They had eaten their new dog.
Mr. Streu then explained differences between cultural behaviors and diets.
He always gave me and other students advice about general things like school or dealing with friends. I looked at him like the father figure that I never had, and I actually miss his speeches.