Oxo Dixon's Incident In The Kitchen World

When chefs are constantly working fast, unexpected incidents often happen but chefs are expected to continue through these times. In the kitchen, physical health problems do not serve as an excuse to stop cooking. Dixon describes an incident that occurred in the kitchen when he burned himself:
“[I] reached for a new pan and pulled it toward me. It had been out of the oven for barely sixty seconds. I felt a sensation that I described later as being “blue” and a scream run from my fingers up my arm. I tried to let go of the handle, but my skin stuck to it. I thrust it loose and looked at my palm. It was a gleaming red. A lot of skin was gone…Perillo called out for three orders of shrimp. I wrapped my hand in a towel and kept cooking. The pain was grotesque…I kept cooking. I didn’t get why; this was a student kitchen, not three-star dining” (2012: 235) …show more content…
Even though Dixon briefly questions why he continued to work, he nevertheless persisted to work because the rules of the kitchen have become a part of his taken-for-granted world. Rather than stopping to ponder the question extensively, Dixon continues to work because he knows that it is the expected action in the kitchen world and is compelled to follow the kitchen rules. Dixon is compelled to follow the kitchen rules because he successfully internalized the ceaseless attitude that the kitchen world values and consequently performed according to what he has been socialized to do. The rule that chefs should move fast and continue to cook even through periods of disturbance transcends beyond a kitchen rule and creates a work culture where vulgar language and rude attitude are