A certain amount of healthy ego is involved in day-to-day life. I'm not talking about outsized self-enthusiasm you see with a lot of pro athletes or Kanye West or that Gwyneth Paltrow woman, but just a sort of natural, take-pride-in-doing-your-job confidence.

Lately, for example, I've been wondering about the self-esteem in the food industry. Granted, all I have to go on is the endless succession of cooking competitions airing nonstop on food networks — since, for reasons I don't understand, watching these programs is basically all we do anymore. But it seems ALL these people — the celebrity judges, the competitors, the hosts — refer to one another as "Chef."

And it's not just a random thing. It's EVERY SENTENCE. "Chef, what have you prepared for us today?" "Chef, tell us about your old job heating up canned corn at a prison cafeteria." "Chef, those are some nice socks." "Chefs, you have 30 minutes to conceptualize and prepare a dessert involving cinnamon, honey, a blow-torch, and the abdomen of a bear."

In our house, it'd be the equivalent of addressing my wife in this fashion:

"Eileen, hi!" "Eileen, I'm gonna take the trash out." "Eileen, that's a lovely name." "Eileen, there's the dog. He just walked in front of us." "Eileen, you have 30 minutes to prepare a dessert involving cinnamon, honey, a sand-cyclone separator from an offshore oil platform, and a little sour cream."

Maybe it's just me, but the incessant "Chef"-addressing seems a bit desperate. Although, to be honest, looking back over my admittedly skimpy work portfolio, maybe I'd feel better about myself if I'd been doing something similar throughout my own life:

1. In the band I was in: "Bassist, hand me a cold one?" "Sure, French Horn Player. Ah, why are you in this band, again?"

2. In the newsroom: "Humor Columnist, you're not that funny." "Thank you, Beat Reporter." "Night City Editor? I think the Gold Star Bridge just collapsed." "Thank you, UConn Women's Basketball Writer. I'll send the Humor Columnist to cover it. He's damned sure not busy being witty."

Thinking about it, I guess I do know there's a lot of "proper title" addressing in the medical community. But I'm not sure just "doctor" is specific enough.

3. "Good morning, Gastroenterologist!" "Hi, Podiatrist." 

I dunno. Maybe this need for constant above-and-beyond validation happens everywhere and I'm not paying attention.

4. "Fruit Stand Purveyor, where are the rhubarbs?"

5. "YouTube Beauty Vlogger, I enjoy your work."

6. "Field Epidemiologist? We're gonna need you to head to New London. Some humor columnist thinks he's a Chef and somehow cooked up a never-before-seen hemorrhagic fever. Odd: the recipe included cinnamon and honey."