WHAT A CROWD!

      Surprisingly, the crowd was in the kitchen! Mr. A. and the young woman working off service hours were making sack lunches. Helpful Guy was… um… well, when he wasn't trying to tell me "how" to set the plates on the serving shelf, he was reading a newspaper in the dining room. At least he was not in my face. Doug says he had a talk with him, to wit: "We need to be polite when Miss Joy's here."

       Around 11, another fellow came to work there, and I must assume he, too, is working off service hours, either as a public debt or to help pay his public housing rent. He was upscale and mature, compared to most.

       When you consider that three people are nearly too many in that kitchen, having six was almost a struggle. Doug assigned me to prepare his special potato soup. He gave me instructions and left me with the whisk. It was an arm-breaking task, but the results were so fine!

       We served tuna salad, chicken salad, and fruit on the side. There were only about 30 diners, and one of them told me that "half the people here are in the bed sick." He described it as an upper respiratory illness, but I do see a lot of green gills in there lately. Fruit seems to be the only thing some of them can get down.

       By 12:30 my back was throbbing, and my work there was finished, so I left the other five making a stockpile of sack lunches and PBJs for Doug's needs this week. He was one happy camper, getting a head start on the week. Last week, Doug and Mr. A. prepared some wonderful meals for Miss Lillian to serve out on Monday, but when she got there, she refused to serve them. "I'm not giving them that!" she scowled. I've heard her say that before. Then she made "meatloaf" composed of grounded beef on the bottom, ketchup in the middle, and cheese on top. No muss, no fuss. I think Lillian doesn't want "those people" to think she could prepare anything tasty, lest they ask for it again. Dealing with her provides the rest of the kitchen staff with days of gossip and entertainment.

       The only child at lunch was the young girl, and as promised I shopped for her last week. She was delighted with her new gift. 

       Miss Joy is tired.

This one was hard to part with.