The internet is selective about artifacts it deems worthy of coughing up from decades-past — and one of those is an Old Country Buffet training video-turned-hilarious-meme. feature a mid-90s video of a man in a chef's jacket and tall hat standing at a carving station. In it, he demonstrates to new employees the proper way to communicate friendliness toward customers.
An example is a Reddit post entitled, "The Old Country Buffet carving station is the worst place to make conversation." The video is clipped at the carving chef saying, "Try the lasagna. It's my favorite.
" Reddit users responded with hilarious reactions and more memes. One user wrote, "One of my favorite YouTube comments of all time, 'This is a conversation between someone who hates his job with someone who hates his life.'" The original Old Country Buffet training video is also posted on by a user named The Carving Guy.
The man who identified himself as "Fred" appeared on a Minnesota radio talk show known as The Dave and Ryan Show. Fred explained how the original training video was shot after the restaurant closed one night in 1996. He said they taped the whole video in a few hours.
The meme created fame for Fred, and one of his fans even offered to fly him out for a wedding in exchange for working the event — carving meat and delivering the lines. Fred declined. Nostalgia keeps the meme going.
The now-shuttered eatery was once a favorite for lower- and middle-class families who could enjoy a king's feast on.