As mouth-watering as chocolate

"Hello, my name is Forrest Gump. You want a chocolate?," says Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump in the 1994 Forrest Gump movie which earned for him his second consecutive Oscar.

However, these are not the lines that welcomed me when I recently met the "other" Forrest Gump and mascot-endorser of Bubba Gump Restaurant in Greenbelt 3, Makati City. Instead, I saw a warm, friendly man just like the famous Forrest in the movie.

His name is Steve Weber.

"I represent the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company (and its restaurants around the world) as Forrest Gump," offered Steve when asked to describe his profession. "I’m a mascot or figure head. Someone who puts a face to the restaurant. I’m the lucky person who gets to be that face and be that representative."

For 10 years, Steve has been playing the role and is excited to wear the white suit, blue shirt and carry a box of chocolates every single day of his life.

Although the character has given Tom a fortune, Forrest has brought Steve to 22 different Bubba Gump restaurants around the world – 17 in the US and five outside the American territory. This is his second visit to the country. The first was in January of 2003.

Prior to becoming Forrest, Steve worked as salesman for a decade. He sold hi-tech cards, custom-made clothing and office furniture. Playing Forrest as a profession never crossed his mind. However, a tell-tale sign happened in Halloween of 1994, also the year the movie was shown in theaters.

Steve dressed up as the character and pretended to be one. One and a half years later, the first restaurant of Bubba Gump opened in Monterey, California and Steve, in a Forrest Gump attire, checked out the then new dining place.

As expected, he elicited smiles and attention from the customers and owners of the restaurant. He was hired for a weekend, then for the rest of summer. The second branch opened and Steve was still Forrest. It became his passport to Hawaii and a TV appearance as well.

"It was not something we planned," says Steve. "It just happened and people loved it. The rest is history."

As Forrest, Steve works thrice a week in Monterey and San Francisco when he is not traveling. He considers the stores in these areas his homebase. Steve sits on a bench in front of the restaurant and offers chocolates to guests. They can even have souvenir pictures with him.

Away from Forrest’s shadow, Steve is a happy single man. He has a big family which consists of brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. In his spare time, he dabbles in wood working and restoring old houses.

"My work is a lot of fun," says Steve. "It makes people smile." Just like him, Bubba Gump is a fun, lively place. The servers are energetic. It serves scrumptious seafood like shrimp and delivers service like a first-class restaurant.

Asked to describe his life, Steve replies, "It is like a box of chocolates. You’ll never know what you gonna get it."