The following is a very dramatic life take in the form of a Korean BBQ restaurant.

You ask the hostess for Hot Pot and Korean BBQ. Not one, or the other, but both.

The place may smell like it’s on fire. Everyone might be running around like chickens without heads, holding sauces or raw meat or yelling “HOT GRILL!”. But no worries, it’s all very normal. 

You sit at the table and order an assortment of uncooked things, excited to prepare a meal, hoping it turns out exactly the way you want it to; the way you expect it to. Because you know what you’re doing and you have a plan. And everything always goes according to plan. Right?

The grill is strategically placed in the center of a too-wide table in a way no one can really reach without slightly getting out of their seat and almost popping a shoulder, but this is okay; a slight nuisance you can overcome. 

Except the oil and butter you pour in its center won’t stay in place. The steak you placed on the grill is now sticking, the steam from the hotpot making a b-line for your nostrils.

You’re determined, with a detrimentally positive attitude. You don’t change strategies, instead repeating the same steps, over and over, hoping your food won’t burn. Yearning it works out in your favor. Wishing it not to ignite, to not set this restaurant you have chosen–along with yourself–on fire. 

The smoke from the grill is rising into the air circulator above. It doesn’t work. The grill burns over slowly, transforming into a venom-like black, similar to the fumes rising around you. You should probably tell someone, or simply leave.

Except you can’t.

You had prepared. You had a plan. It was supposed to cook well, and you were supposed to be full and happy at this almost-on-fire restaurant you’ve chosen to sit at.

It’s burning regardless. 

It didn’t matter what you did or didn’t do. The fire was too hot. It was never going to work out in your favor.

All you’re left with is a charred grill and the smell of smoke permanently stuck to your being. You are glued to this restaurant, doomed to contemplate how you could ever expect any other outcome, and your stomach probably hurts.

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Song Of The Day:

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A Recipe for K-Pot Sauce That Will Make Your Burnt-To-A-Crisp Steak Taste Slightly Okay:

• Scallions
• Lots and lots of minced garlic
• Sesame oil
• Sesame sauce
• Oyster sauce
• A decent amount of soy sauce
• Hot Chili Oil if you’re feeling crazy
• Mix well.

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On My Mind:

Waiting till February to be one of the new gym babies with a New Year’s resolution, so all of the regulars hate me slightly less than the ones who joined in January.

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Podcast Of The Day:

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Acknowledgements:

Today’s post was inspired by Reneé Rapp, Taylor Swift, a desire for K-Pot Korean BBQ, and all of the “Help, I’m Stuck At The Restaurant” tiktoks on my For You Page.