I worked in a Middle school lunchroom for three years. This was my first real job. I had just turned thirty. My youngest child was now in school. It was time to get a job. This was the hardest, dirtiest, and most unsafe job I ever worked. My body ached until after midnight every night.
But, working in the lunchroom was one of my favorite jobs. The ladies I worked with were amazing. 90% of them were at least 25 years older than me. But, we were a team and knew how to get things done. Miss Jewell, my partner in crime, recently died. This hurt my soul. She taught me how to make 700 yeast rolls that people WANTED to eat. She taught me a lot. She was a kind woman, even though she told everyone exactly what she thought. I will always remember her fondly.
Our group of ladies ran one of the better-run lunch rooms in the county. We made suggestions on how to make things run more efficiently and easier on us. Of course, our suggestions were always ignored.
There was an online threat made against the school. Every entrance was locked down, except the lunchroom. We routinely kept our doors unlocked so we could accept deliveries. Every staff member was notified about the threats. Except for the lunchroom staff. We only found out when a teacher popped in during her free class period. We were amazed at the ignorance. The spot in the school where it would be easiest for any intruder to enter hadn't even crossed the administration's mind.
But, my fellow lunch ladies were, and still are, some of the best people in the world.. We worried about the teachers, other support staff, and of course the students. We saw these people five days a week and got to know them. It felt like a family.
But, as I said this was back-breaking and dirty work. One rule of the lunchroom was people were to stack their trays when returning them. Most did, and some didn't. It was always the same people who just slung their trays onto the counter. Spilling leftover food everywhere, especially splattering the lunch lady. This slowed things down and made a huge mess. The tray return was one of the hardest spots to work in the lunchroom. You had to move very quickly and efficiently or the line would run out of trays, silverware, and glasses.
On the days that I worked in the tray return area, I soothed my aggravation by imagining I was writing a book. A beloved senior was murdered on school grounds. It was a mystery. Who would want to kill sweet Jimmy Johnson? Jimmy was in all the clubs, mentored students who needed help, he stood up to bullies. Just a great person.
It was Blanche!?!?! The sixty-year-old lunch lady. What!?!?! Blanche taught Sunday School. She delivered Meals on Wheels. She knit blankets for every new baby in town. What could possibly have caused Blanche to do this??? Blanche was just exasperated that every school day since Jimmy started as a Freshman he slung his tray willy-nilly onto the counter. She had told him over and over to stop. He didn't listen. Blanche was tired of having half-eaten Jello or mashed potatoes slung on her every day.
So make sure to be kind to any lunch ladies you come across. They are wonderful people. But, they may harbor dark thoughts about people who exhibit bad lunchroom behavior. So.....smile, call them by name, and ALWAYS STACK YOUR TRAYS!
No comments:
Post a Comment