What to Make of American Inventor
I’ve watched quite a few episodes of ABC’s American Inventor. There are plenty of people whose stories are touching or sad. There are plenty of weirdos as well. What’s rare on the show are the people whose story seems genuine and whose invention isn’t just some improvement on another product.
Maybe none of that applies to Bobby Grissett from Conway, SC. He invented a large cross-cut knife that is used to cut large pans of cakes, brownies, and other baked goods. His years of experience in industrial kitchens lead him to seek out something to make his job easier. The panel might have been right in pointing out the product’s lack of mass appeal, but what they seemed to miss was the real American part of Mr. Grissett.
A military veteran who now runs the cafeteria in a school district in South Carolina, Mr. Grissett really embodies both the greatness and the disparity in America. Mr. Grissett seems to be a man who might not have had all the finest things in life, nor all the greatest opportunities. Yet, he has worked hard all his life in what is surely an almost thankless job. He has provided for his family to the best of his abilities. There are a lot of people in America doing that. What makes him uniquely American is his lack of whining and his seemingly constant striving for even better.
Mr. Grissett hasn’t rested on just the hard work he has done, but he has vision and hope and desire. What’s more, he honestly believes that he can achieve all those things. That makes him one of the more compelling people I have seen on the show. It surely makes him a great symbol of an America that far too often gets hidden behind our minor differences. Mr. Grissett serves as a great reminder that we should never give up and never quit working for better for our families.
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