What would you do?

Have you seen this 20/20 series on ABC? Is pretty interesting and quite thought provoking at times. Was watching last night and there was a situation where young kids were on the street in obvious distress and very few people stopped to help. Pretty scary actually.

Last Saturday morning, the wife and myself were grocery shopping and close to being done when a very uncomfortable situation transformed right in front of our eyes. There was a couple shopping and the woman was becoming irritated with her mate to the point where profanity and F-bombs were flying from her mouth; all because the man wanted a package of chicken. It got to the point that we made the effort just to leave the immediate area, just in case something really started to happen. Besides being incredibly embarrassed for this couple, I really felt sorry for this man. I would never put up with something one speaking to me in this manner, married and in love or not. All he wanted was some chicken.

So we were shopping again this morning and I thought about last weekend and what had happened. It is so easy to become cynical in the society we are living. I really feel like I should of said something of comfort to the man. But then these thoughts start to creep in: "What if she has a gun, and she is already this mad over a package of chicken?" "What if I do say something to this man, and he takes offense to me saying something negative about his mate, even though she is treating him below a third class citizen?"

What would you do?

This takes me back 15 years ago. I was driving home from work very early on a Sunday morning, 2:00 am to be specific. A car is parked in the middle of the road and a man and woman are standing in the middle of the street yelling and screaming at each other, waving arms, and something just did not feel right. I kept on driving past. Never even looked back. I have always wondered, was this a set up? Or was there a real situation going on here and he or she needed help? Did some one else stop and get robbed or car jacked? This happened in Richmond in a not so nice neighborhood.

What would you do?

After some discussion about the show last night and what happened last weekend, the wife said, "maybe we should of acted last weekend and said something; we need to have faith and the understanding that everything will work out and we can not just sit by and while something is happening and do NOTHING." What would you do?

Chef Philanthropist?

Not Really! I am not trying to save the world! I do like to do good things when I can though and this has been a good week for helping out. The main event was participating in a dinner for Saint Francis Service Dogs here in Roanoke, Virginia. This organization trains service dogs which assist people with physical handicaps. These dogs change lives and make a difference for people who struggle for independence every day.

So here is the great thing: I was one of 7 featured chefs at this fundraising event at the Roanoke country Club on April 17. Each chef prepared a course served to 180 attendees, all in support of this service dog program. I was in charge of the hoers d' oeuvres (that is the most misspelled word in the English dictionary) and got to help serve guests from platters, explaining what I had put together. I did 4 different canapes: Roasted Fig stuffed with Mascarpone Cheese wrapped in Prosciutto ham with an blood orange balsamic glaze, Black and Blue Beef Tenderloin with Blue Cheese Mousse, Tuna Tartar on Endive with Wasabi Cream, and a Salmon BLT, Salmon Bacon with Heirloom Tomatoes and Micro Greens. All extremely simple but some great flavors going on in there! It was an honor to be associated with such an event and in company with some really great chefs! I was not worthy! But it was still great and very much fun!

My wife and I also helped out a little with Oprah's "Big Give" today. I have been promoting Earth Day all month on my web site as well as at my work place. I do believe we need to start taking steps to help preserve our planet and if all of us can start doing little things right now, BIG changes can happen in a short period of time!