Mark Morales
Cook, Bar Louie Arena District
Columbus, Ohio
I met Mark in late September of last year during my first day working at Bar Louie. He introduced himself to me and told me that if I needed any help getting familiar with the bar to just ask, which I really appreciated, seeing how it was all new to me. As a server, I wanted to make friends with the kitchen staff and I can say that Mark is very easy to get along with and is always working hard. He lives by himself in a quiet single apartment next to the airport. He has a tattoo on his forearm, which tells the story of his conviction and his experiences with prison. I knew Mark was from Arizona because we would have debates this past fall about how deep the Arizona Cardinals would go in the playoffs. He obviously knew his home team better than me as I was proven wrong each week. I was interested in how Mark came from Arizona to being a cook in the city of Columbus. I asked him if I could interview him and after work one day, we sat down in my living room and I started the recorder.
_________________________________
My name is Mark Anthony Morales. I’m 32 years old. Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona and Mexican-American. I had a good home I grew up in. I had both my parents, I have two brothers. I dreamt of being a fire fighter. When I was going to school, that was actually what I wanted to be. My father was a big influence, well my mother too, but my father was because all his life he’s been a hard worker. When I had dreams of being a firefighter, I would want to be a strong, hard working person like my dad, even though I had a different dream. Growing up my parents always taught me to respect one another, and there was always a lot of respect in the household, and between my friends and I.
Back in Arizona, I used to do a lot of construction, which was good because we don’t ever get snow, so there was always work all year round. But here in Ohio, the construction, outside construction, is very scarce around winter time. I didn’t want to have to work construction during the summer then find another job in the winter, so what I chose, was something that I could do year round, which is what lead me to be a cook. I’ve always enjoyed cooking and watching my mom cook growing up. Learning from her, she taught me a lot, and a lot I learned on my own just from watching. But I like to learn new things, new ways to do things. Most importantly, there’s a lot of good chemistry in the kitchen, people I work with, my co-workers, and you’re never to old to learn because I might do something one way, then someone may have an easier way to do it you know. And that would be something new for me and sometimes can make it more exciting you know, depending on what it is you have to cook. And sometimes I teach other people stuff. And it’s always enjoyable just getting the orders you guys give, like the modifications constantly, laughs, and then so its really never the same thing everyday. You can always upgrade or downgrade something.
When I was sixteen, my first job was a dishwasher in a restaurant. After that, I had a friend who used to do demolition work, so I got into that, and following that, I got back into the restaurant business, for a Chinese restaurant back in Tucson, which was different because I had to learn to cook something different, the Asian foods. Then I went over to Olive garden, I started off as a dishwasher there and moved myself to prep cook, then up to line cook, which was an experience you know because I got to climb up the chain you know, got to meet a lot of fine people, and I enjoyed it. I love my job, I love to cook and hopefully someday you know I’ll have my own restaurant. I’d say I’ve had about five years experience in the kitchen. But right now I’ve currently been working at my present job for a year and a half. Hopefully I could come up for a management position soon. I get along with everybody. I do what I’m supposed to do, and a lot of time I do a lot of stuff that’s extra as a matter of fact. That being said, I’m not the only hard worker there, just I know I put in that extra effort, to make sure that I’m never overlooked, for when the opportunity comes, and there’s a manager position. I don’t believe in being lazy. It’s just in my blood, just like my dad, a hard worker! I’ve strongly been considering enrolling into Columbus State for cheffing. I figure if I could further my education in both the restaurant business and with myself mentally. And someday, hopefully become a chef, and who knows maybe someday I’ll have my own show like Chef Ramsey you know! Laughs. In the kitchen you know. Laughing.
I was fascinated by some of the things my friends in the neighborhood were into. My friends, you know, sold dope. And I figured I could do it too. To live that lifestyle, and it went fine you know for a few years, until I got arrested and went to prison. Now, I’m starting from scratch again and I’m happy where I’m at now. I’m worry free right now. I just wish I could be back home and move close to my family, my parents. Living in Columbus, Ohio is a new experience, just a whole lot of other cultures that I wouldn’t see back home, it's interesting. After Tucson, I lived in St. Louis for a year, then moved back to Arizona. Then I moved to Akron, Ohio. Lived there for about fifteen months. Then I was incarcerated for three years, three months. Which bumped me around everywhere, you know, North Carolina, Kentucky. But now I’m living here in Columbus, Ohio and I’m trying to make the best of it.
I originally moved to Akron, you know I moved out here with the dream of selling dope. There’s a lot of money to be made, you know, if you’re willing to take that risk. I was already involved with it back home in Arizona, in my mind it was about bigger things you know moving up as a petty hustler to moving some weight. Instead of selling a dime bag here and there, it was about a kilo here and there. In my line of work at that time it was moving forward, bigger things, and it didn’t work out like that. It was all fun and games, until the day came, when I was arrested, and things turned. I was in a relationship at the time, for four years, and I lost that due to my incarnation.
There were a lot of people in there, repeat offenders, coming in and out, a lot of first time offenders, people with regrets. I just laid back one day and thought, the phone calls, you phone calls home, on holidays, hearing my mom cry, and just being away from family and friends, not being able to do what you want to do you know and just saying, this isn’t what I want, you know? If I have to work you know and break my back, to live happy than that’s what I’m going to do, because you know I don’t want to live in prison. I can see it hurt my family, put a lot of stress on them. Worrying about me, it really gave me a lot of thought about what I was doing and what my family thought, and I just didn’t want to put my family through any more pain like that. Or myself for that matter, because I love myself enough to say, hey you know, that’s just not the life for me. Live at a home with a nice big TV, you know, with a woman by my side. My present girlfriend at the time, she’s always telling me how proud of me she is from getting out of prison to like about getting ready to be thrown into a homeless shelter. Now I got my own place, you know?
The proudest moment in my life was seeing my son born. Being a father to my son, was a good experience, although I know I’m not in his life right now, it was being with him day in and day out, watching him grow, watching his habits that he had, why he did things and how he did things. Sometimes I would just hide around the house and sneak up on him to watch him. And even if it was something bad, I wanted to see him just to watch how he did things. I was fascinated; it was a wonderful experience for me. My sons mother gave me an ultimatum, either you be here for your son, or I’m just going to take him away from you. I was selling dope and it was perfectly fine you know up until we had my son, which I think she regrets, and she told me this isn’t the type of lifestyle I want for my kid.
Unfortunately it wasn’t a wake up call and I lost my son. I took him for granted and now he’s out of my life, I took my freedom for granted and I went to prison. It’s just a matter of whether or not you want to wake up to reality or not, a lot of people take life for granted, don’t realize what they got. You might have a simple life, but as long as your alive and healthy, than you got a lot to be grateful for. If I had made better chances back then that maybe I would have had a better chance of being a firefighter you know, who knows maybe I would have been a Columbus firefighter, a Los Angeles fire fighter, any where in the U.S. If there was one thing I could change it would probably be that, to go back to when I was young and choose a different side, the right friends.
I’m proud of my brother because he went to school and graduated from the University of Arizona and he made my parents really proud, he was the first one out of the family to ever go to college. My older brother graduated, I did not unfortunately, I got my GED, but like I said my younger brother went to college and I respect him. There were times when he kind of wanted to follow into my footsteps but I did what I had to do to change to make sure he followed his dream. Because sometimes people do just lead the wrong life, just by following someone else, and luckily I changed for him enough so he followed his dreams. My parents would never tell me to go sell dope. I would always hide it from them; they knew what I was doing because I wasn’t working. I had a nice car I had an infinity, my dad was always working, he’s over there making monthly payments on vehicles, and he’s buying them with his hard earned money, I mean like I said we were all happy.
My family was still there for me, they weren’t like hey congratulations you went to prison, actually they didn’t even say like I told you so, they were just like were here for whatever you need. They would write to me, and call me, and in my time of need they were there for me, even though they didn’t support what I did to get there, they didn’t just forget about me and count me out you know because they are my family and right or wrong they were always there for me. They are proud of me now I’ve been released, I’ve been doing good, no violations, and they just want to see me keep doing good, they want to come back home, there excited to meet my new girlfriend. They have been really supportive to me.That was my dad’s dream, my father is from Mexico, so I figured his dream was to move to America, work hard, build a house, and raise a family, it’s the most important thing anybody has, its family!
Cook, Bar Louie Arena District
Columbus, Ohio
I met Mark in late September of last year during my first day working at Bar Louie. He introduced himself to me and told me that if I needed any help getting familiar with the bar to just ask, which I really appreciated, seeing how it was all new to me. As a server, I wanted to make friends with the kitchen staff and I can say that Mark is very easy to get along with and is always working hard. He lives by himself in a quiet single apartment next to the airport. He has a tattoo on his forearm, which tells the story of his conviction and his experiences with prison. I knew Mark was from Arizona because we would have debates this past fall about how deep the Arizona Cardinals would go in the playoffs. He obviously knew his home team better than me as I was proven wrong each week. I was interested in how Mark came from Arizona to being a cook in the city of Columbus. I asked him if I could interview him and after work one day, we sat down in my living room and I started the recorder.
_________________________________
My name is Mark Anthony Morales. I’m 32 years old. Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona and Mexican-American. I had a good home I grew up in. I had both my parents, I have two brothers. I dreamt of being a fire fighter. When I was going to school, that was actually what I wanted to be. My father was a big influence, well my mother too, but my father was because all his life he’s been a hard worker. When I had dreams of being a firefighter, I would want to be a strong, hard working person like my dad, even though I had a different dream. Growing up my parents always taught me to respect one another, and there was always a lot of respect in the household, and between my friends and I.
Back in Arizona, I used to do a lot of construction, which was good because we don’t ever get snow, so there was always work all year round. But here in Ohio, the construction, outside construction, is very scarce around winter time. I didn’t want to have to work construction during the summer then find another job in the winter, so what I chose, was something that I could do year round, which is what lead me to be a cook. I’ve always enjoyed cooking and watching my mom cook growing up. Learning from her, she taught me a lot, and a lot I learned on my own just from watching. But I like to learn new things, new ways to do things. Most importantly, there’s a lot of good chemistry in the kitchen, people I work with, my co-workers, and you’re never to old to learn because I might do something one way, then someone may have an easier way to do it you know. And that would be something new for me and sometimes can make it more exciting you know, depending on what it is you have to cook. And sometimes I teach other people stuff. And it’s always enjoyable just getting the orders you guys give, like the modifications constantly, laughs, and then so its really never the same thing everyday. You can always upgrade or downgrade something.
When I was sixteen, my first job was a dishwasher in a restaurant. After that, I had a friend who used to do demolition work, so I got into that, and following that, I got back into the restaurant business, for a Chinese restaurant back in Tucson, which was different because I had to learn to cook something different, the Asian foods. Then I went over to Olive garden, I started off as a dishwasher there and moved myself to prep cook, then up to line cook, which was an experience you know because I got to climb up the chain you know, got to meet a lot of fine people, and I enjoyed it. I love my job, I love to cook and hopefully someday you know I’ll have my own restaurant. I’d say I’ve had about five years experience in the kitchen. But right now I’ve currently been working at my present job for a year and a half. Hopefully I could come up for a management position soon. I get along with everybody. I do what I’m supposed to do, and a lot of time I do a lot of stuff that’s extra as a matter of fact. That being said, I’m not the only hard worker there, just I know I put in that extra effort, to make sure that I’m never overlooked, for when the opportunity comes, and there’s a manager position. I don’t believe in being lazy. It’s just in my blood, just like my dad, a hard worker! I’ve strongly been considering enrolling into Columbus State for cheffing. I figure if I could further my education in both the restaurant business and with myself mentally. And someday, hopefully become a chef, and who knows maybe someday I’ll have my own show like Chef Ramsey you know! Laughs. In the kitchen you know. Laughing.
I was fascinated by some of the things my friends in the neighborhood were into. My friends, you know, sold dope. And I figured I could do it too. To live that lifestyle, and it went fine you know for a few years, until I got arrested and went to prison. Now, I’m starting from scratch again and I’m happy where I’m at now. I’m worry free right now. I just wish I could be back home and move close to my family, my parents. Living in Columbus, Ohio is a new experience, just a whole lot of other cultures that I wouldn’t see back home, it's interesting. After Tucson, I lived in St. Louis for a year, then moved back to Arizona. Then I moved to Akron, Ohio. Lived there for about fifteen months. Then I was incarcerated for three years, three months. Which bumped me around everywhere, you know, North Carolina, Kentucky. But now I’m living here in Columbus, Ohio and I’m trying to make the best of it.
I originally moved to Akron, you know I moved out here with the dream of selling dope. There’s a lot of money to be made, you know, if you’re willing to take that risk. I was already involved with it back home in Arizona, in my mind it was about bigger things you know moving up as a petty hustler to moving some weight. Instead of selling a dime bag here and there, it was about a kilo here and there. In my line of work at that time it was moving forward, bigger things, and it didn’t work out like that. It was all fun and games, until the day came, when I was arrested, and things turned. I was in a relationship at the time, for four years, and I lost that due to my incarnation.
There were a lot of people in there, repeat offenders, coming in and out, a lot of first time offenders, people with regrets. I just laid back one day and thought, the phone calls, you phone calls home, on holidays, hearing my mom cry, and just being away from family and friends, not being able to do what you want to do you know and just saying, this isn’t what I want, you know? If I have to work you know and break my back, to live happy than that’s what I’m going to do, because you know I don’t want to live in prison. I can see it hurt my family, put a lot of stress on them. Worrying about me, it really gave me a lot of thought about what I was doing and what my family thought, and I just didn’t want to put my family through any more pain like that. Or myself for that matter, because I love myself enough to say, hey you know, that’s just not the life for me. Live at a home with a nice big TV, you know, with a woman by my side. My present girlfriend at the time, she’s always telling me how proud of me she is from getting out of prison to like about getting ready to be thrown into a homeless shelter. Now I got my own place, you know?
The proudest moment in my life was seeing my son born. Being a father to my son, was a good experience, although I know I’m not in his life right now, it was being with him day in and day out, watching him grow, watching his habits that he had, why he did things and how he did things. Sometimes I would just hide around the house and sneak up on him to watch him. And even if it was something bad, I wanted to see him just to watch how he did things. I was fascinated; it was a wonderful experience for me. My sons mother gave me an ultimatum, either you be here for your son, or I’m just going to take him away from you. I was selling dope and it was perfectly fine you know up until we had my son, which I think she regrets, and she told me this isn’t the type of lifestyle I want for my kid.
Unfortunately it wasn’t a wake up call and I lost my son. I took him for granted and now he’s out of my life, I took my freedom for granted and I went to prison. It’s just a matter of whether or not you want to wake up to reality or not, a lot of people take life for granted, don’t realize what they got. You might have a simple life, but as long as your alive and healthy, than you got a lot to be grateful for. If I had made better chances back then that maybe I would have had a better chance of being a firefighter you know, who knows maybe I would have been a Columbus firefighter, a Los Angeles fire fighter, any where in the U.S. If there was one thing I could change it would probably be that, to go back to when I was young and choose a different side, the right friends.
I’m proud of my brother because he went to school and graduated from the University of Arizona and he made my parents really proud, he was the first one out of the family to ever go to college. My older brother graduated, I did not unfortunately, I got my GED, but like I said my younger brother went to college and I respect him. There were times when he kind of wanted to follow into my footsteps but I did what I had to do to change to make sure he followed his dream. Because sometimes people do just lead the wrong life, just by following someone else, and luckily I changed for him enough so he followed his dreams. My parents would never tell me to go sell dope. I would always hide it from them; they knew what I was doing because I wasn’t working. I had a nice car I had an infinity, my dad was always working, he’s over there making monthly payments on vehicles, and he’s buying them with his hard earned money, I mean like I said we were all happy.
My family was still there for me, they weren’t like hey congratulations you went to prison, actually they didn’t even say like I told you so, they were just like were here for whatever you need. They would write to me, and call me, and in my time of need they were there for me, even though they didn’t support what I did to get there, they didn’t just forget about me and count me out you know because they are my family and right or wrong they were always there for me. They are proud of me now I’ve been released, I’ve been doing good, no violations, and they just want to see me keep doing good, they want to come back home, there excited to meet my new girlfriend. They have been really supportive to me.That was my dad’s dream, my father is from Mexico, so I figured his dream was to move to America, work hard, build a house, and raise a family, it’s the most important thing anybody has, its family!
Kenley this is really good! Very interesting and intense. Nice work :)
ReplyDeleteGreat story! You always meet interesting people when working in restaurants.
ReplyDeletehe seems like a really cool guy
ReplyDelete