VIEWS OF A YOUNG CUTTER

By Club member John Melnick   

A thoughtful inquiry into the standards and quality of the modern meat industry.

This piece will be short and brief, and mostly to hold the older audiences attention for purposes of education, this is the story of a young cutter attempting to explain his attitude(s) towards the aggression of the older generation on the younger, and attempting to dispel “rumors of laziness”

My experience with butchery is something unknown, something more so of the retail cutting variety, but even in it's little towns, and grass roots, the spirit of the young love to be encouraged to take on greater challenges. Our abilities while flaked and almost seamlessly intelligent, have a way of rustling up older workers, and enlightening them to the communities of 2013.

Take for example this community, the generation of the honored cutters, and the under-experienced coming here to learn and appreciate the awesome amount of skills effort and energies required to do this type of work.

For modern youth, common incidents occur from the lack of sunlight, and an “okay” living environment, issues with “bones” and “arthritis” are more then just mental concerns for young men trying to engage this trade. It's with a great level of intrigue to admit I've spent almost 15 years gaming competitively, not for fame, certainly not for fortune, but when a young man steps into this trade, it's very hard to be palatable to the minds that have already settled in their ways.

You move into an environment of the drab, and weary that have already accepted “this is it, for me!” and the reality of 2013, is one of mental ambition, and finding success by any means necessary.

An act of kindness for your younger team members is to understand their obvious under-experience and encourage them, most modern facilities have a way of efficiently tracking inventory, and helping us younger minds who grew up with “gadgets” understand the fascination of the meat industry. Products that ultimately have a “due date” and need to be placed “timely” and “specifically” in relation to the market place.

For young people, this level of natural intuition isn't something that should fall on the deaf ears of the old. Anyone older of this trade knows the value of passing knowledge, in fact I would argue it was my original rationality of joining said members of a “meat department”, getting to hear old stories, and feel a bit older soulfully, and spiritually, trying to see why they live in fear... or why they seem so hopeless consistently.

Most butchers have plenty of ways of saying “We're depressed, suppressed, pressured” but very few have the audacity to speak to anyone about their ills, and with the software and technology of today, both in relation to spreadsheets, and in relation to mobile technology, Butchery is something that can ultimately finely hone it's technological assets and fill the role more of “finesse” with mobile adaptations, and mobile placed orders.

These days of a butcher just being a butcher, and essentially being “paid by the hour to freeze” are things that nobody should inspire to do, not that they aren't honorable, nor am I encouraging everyone to run away from the industry like a bat out of hell, but... The reality of this business and trade is to think of each and every product as something equitably homework.

From the service end, to the business end, butcher's catch bad wraps for their attitudes, told their spirits aren't worth the effort to keep them, and always threatened with being replaced. What did any of these older spirits lack that this younger generation of cutters has? Balls too big for a world that doesn't realize it's shrinking! Don't fret, and don't fear, there's a perfect harmony of young and new, and all young minds that settle in the cold regions of this industry, love all of you guys, probably more then you guys and gals would truly appreciate.

When your younger generation employees are lashing out, it's not because they are “heathens” it's because the nature of this business is something everyone tries to keep in “silence” and, it's 2013, that motif isn't something that applies, there's a level of transparency everywhere. And for the older generation that's teaching the younger generation, it's very important to understand when a young man comes to you, especially one who is excellently gifted, he is looking for opportunity, and struggling difficultly to prove his worth.

I may only be 24, but there is wisdom in pain, and suffering, and for those of you have been practicing for more then 40 years, tell me how many apprentices stayed on the path of this industry? Some love it for the ambiguity of a hard, simple life, others enjoy it for whatever reasons get them through the day... Things of paying bills, and making their families and lives greater.

The younger generation has been cooped up, and held back by businesses across the board for being over eager, yet so few industries have attempted to listen, and hear the younger generation, especially for it's worth and knowledge.

The Amish speak of a very interesting concept of Adults raising Kids, and Kids keeping Adults in their old age, and this is the level of the concept, that I admire most about meat cutting. Not because all of you are very “good shepherds” some of you... are distinctively your own characters for sure. But there are plenty of beautiful stories as well, and getting those to the light is the hardest part of our work.

Whether your story not be so eloquently wrote as this, doesn't matter, the grammar, the English, the participation and practice of English, isn't something “mandatory” for a “good story” merely having the audacity to look around for a pair of ears willing to listen to your stories regardless of where they come from isn't something anyone should be “in fear of”.

This is 2013, and the younger generation is coming to your door step, feel free to encourage them to learn, they spent their lives and youth dreaming of a place to matter, and exist. Especially those of the 90's generation. Some of you older ones can relate having kids that you took good care of in this industry, others... wrappers, etc. You can relate to the youth struggling in these environments. It's painfully obvious to see why a young man, would have such a hard time with this line of work, especially in areas that lack some modern emphasis on “finesse”.

Be kind, and in return receive kindness, feel free to tell us old tales, and wow us with your stories, the ones you've been saving over the decades of your work, the ones that paint up men that we'll never see, but would have loved to have known. The ones that encourage us to keep to this industry not so much for the work, not so much for the labor, but for the love of brotherhood, and sisterhood, a level of encouragement for those of us who are thoughtful enough to always care. Even if our ways in showing it, are gingerly.

The market place will inevitably change and adapt to fit the times, and it's in my humblest opinions. It's about damn time.

If you see a young man struggling in the cold, feel free to enlighten him. To show him, he'll resist, He'll be stubborn, but it's a matter of conveying the message, Old to Young, that matters most.

If anyone took the time to read this endless wall of text, I appreciate your support, and I would love to hear from you, and your own tales as well. My Email is John.Daniel.Melnick@gmail.com ;; or feel free to find me on facebook at "John Melnick" follow the face and the slavish nose :P. Any language is appreciated and approved, with Google translate technology I would love to hear some “global” market stories.

I would also like to thank Leon Wildberger for his efforts, and legacy in producing a “better younger cutter” and, to all of you, God bless.