Nate,
Not too far from reality, you opening a real Nate's cookin' corner. I'd come for darned sure! So just today, I went over to a nearby artsy-fartsy farmers market sort of place to score some seasoned olive oil. Well there in the corner of the building is a new barbeque place. The guy doing the cooking outside notices me sniffing and yells out, "Smells good doesn't it." To which I responded with a north/south head shutter. After the olive oil thing, I march over and notice a pic of a young Marine. I compare the facial features with the guy behind the counter. I figure this is the same guy, a few decades removed.
"Marine eh?" I queried. He says yep, you? I said Army and before he gets finished saying whatever he was conjuring up, I say in a very loud voice, "I pulled more Marines out of a jam than most of you jar heads can count so save it sarge, and get me something to eat!"
That got a good laugh and he and his wife fixed me up with like $50 worth of pork, brisket, smoked eggs, coleslaw, beans, and who knows what.
I was right, retired Marine NCO! I thought of you, Nate...Could be you...