In high school you had the opportunity to work in the school cafeteria. It was a great way to make a little extra cash during the middle of the day. I signed up in my Freshman year. and was happy to see my friends Margaret there as well. We soon found out that although you had to wear a hair net and plastic apron, you still were quite popular. The reason?
Tater tots.
Sometimes one of the other lunch ladies would catch you and you'd get yelled at, but most of the time they looked the other way.
My sister, Laurie joined me in the kitchen the next year and her friends Karen and Val joined her. Steve was one of the few boys that worked in the kitchen and usually was assigned to the Ala Carte line - prime spot as you got to make shakes and sell cookies. My high school had the best chocolate chip cookies ever!
In those days the bakery and breads were made fresh from scratch. You would walk in the halls of the school and smell the yeast rising. Salads were cut fresh using a washing machine sized cutting machine. Freshly made cookie dough was always plentiful. I could make this a much longer post if I went into great detail about the huge caldrons of batter, the milk jug sized measuring cup or the table of melon sized dough covered with cotton fabric to allow them to rise. But that would take away the focus of the story. Onward!
Christmas! That reminds me. One Christmas I talked the rest of the student team into dressing up as elves. We went to Margaret's house and dyed (not tie dye - just straight up dye) men's T-shirts red and green. We made felt hats and purchased red and green tights.
I can't remember if we made booties - I want to say yes, but can't be certain. We may have decided to go with white shoes instead.
The last day of school before winter break, we wore them all day at school and handed out candy canes to kids in the hallway. My sister Judy was a senior that year and decided to just ignore me. It was easier that way.
My dad saw the costume and asked us to help hand out stockings for the Lions Breakfast with Santa that year. We were all too happy to oblige, although we did get yelled at for running too fast in front of Santa when he was making his entrance - too excited.
After the breakfast we went to Southridge Mall and had our photos taken with Santa. We ran up and down the floors yelling 'Merry Christmas' and handing out candy canes to anyone that dared to come near us. It is a fun memory.
Oh well, I will say that those lunch hours were better than sitting in the lunch room talking to friends. I learned from the cooks how to make bread and watched the machines turn the risen dough into dinner rolls.
One talent I perfected by working in the lunch room was the art of eating fast. You see, we only had about 10 minutes to eat an entire lunch before we got back on the line for the next group of hungry students. This talent came in handy at home since dinner time was the biggest opportunity our parents had to yell at all of us at one time. Eat fast and get out - that was the goal.
Every now and then I would slip a piece of silverware into my school bag. I figured I would be moving out of the house someday and I would need some to start off with. You know, I still have some of the forks in my kitchen right now.
My Junior year the school administration was considering raising our pay. When word came out that we were going to be denied an increase I formed a group of workers, created a sheet outlining why we deserved the raise, and marched down to the school financial offices to debate the decision. When the dust settled we had a $.35 per hour raise. I felt empowered, maybe I should have been a union president or something.
My senior year I had to say goodbye to my adult co-workers in the lunchroom. Carrie, Joyce, Josie (who would always be yelling to 'WATCH OUT' as she carried hot fries to the Ala Carte line), Bernice, Ginny and Nancy. They were more than cooks to me, they were mentors and friends.
So there you have it. If you want to be popular all you need to do is be in the most prestigious role in the school. Caretaker to the best food and treats. I don't know how many extra cookies I handed out in that lunch line, but I can tell you this, not once did I get asked to a dance!
My adult self looks back and thinks about how hard I tried to get noticed for something other than free tater tots. Fool that I was.
One thing I can tell you, however, is that I did not get picked on once after I started being in control of snacks.
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