Metro Maintenance BBQ

One of the benefits of loving food is once in while, you get invited to a meal that is truly a members only type of event. Perhaps it's a tease to put this on my blog but I only hope that it inspires all of us to invent such feasts for our friends, family and co-workers. Case in point, there's a magical land in the City of Vernon where the maintenance geniuses for Metro hold their office. Their workshop is a phenomenal facility where any hardware store enthusiast would reach nirvana. It so happens that the crew that works the morning/day/evening shifts are food enthusiasts. These are the folks who help us install everything in our system like artwork, benches, map cases, etc. I have worked with them for over a decade and many of them have told me of their mega BBQ's. Well, I finally got invited to one and it was like walking into a dream-state for me. The celebration was due to the fact that they received a system-wide award for safety. BBQ ribs, Korean BBQ, some the most delicious sausages I have ever had, fried ribs (yes, that's right!), homemade BBQ beans, mash potatoes, salads and my friend Bernard's infamous Banana Split Cake. These folks are the coolest and funniest guys to hang out with. They are constantly ribbing each other (ha, ha, ha). They have always been great to work with in the field, whether it's an installation of artwork at a station at 1:00 AM or cleaning a sculpture from it's decay of "urban patina". I have always appreciated their temperament and heartfulness. After having lunch with them today, that appreciation has taken a quantum leap.