Lunchblog: I got yelled at. Again.

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
10/27/2016 at 15:14 • Filed to: None

So I sit down with some of my 6th graders, and someone doesn’t want their lunch. At this point, there’s a bun with ham and a box of raisins on the tray. I take the tray to the condiment bar and they give me some cheese and some grapes (the original owner of the tray ate the grapes) and I serve myself some mustard and some pickles. I return to the table and eat the sandwich, which is actually quite delicious. (The kids ate more of the sandwiches than I’ve seen them eat anything else since I started observing.)

Well , the cafeteria manager comes over and says that since I did not pay the requisite $2.50 for my lunch, I was not entitled to visit the Salad Bar , and she’d hate to have to have her supervisor call me. My weak protest: “But it was going into the trash...” Her reply: “It’s not for the adults. I don’t want to have to get my supervisor to call you.”

So my next attempt at rocking the boat will be to pay the $2.50, but decline the tray, then go and eat a lunch that’s about to be discarded. I’m tellin’ you, these lunch ladies are tough customers. I’ll probably wind up getting yelled at. Again. Then fired.

But lunch was good today.

DISCUSSION (56)

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 15:17

I think if you went full nuclear on a lunch lady she might back off a bit. Otherwise she’s got you by the balls.

Rico > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 15:18

School lunch is serious business. You can google many of the stories of lunch servers and teachers taking the food away from kids who did not pay or whose parent’s owed money and throwing it away in front of everyone to embarrass them.

Here are a couple to put the fear of God in you:

http://www.ktvb.com/news/education/middle-school-student-gets-lunch-taken-thrown-out/323378399

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/30/us/utah-school-lunches-snatched/

http://khon2.com/2015/05/05/school-explains-why-students-went-hungry-over-negative-balance/

Don’t end up fired over middle school lunch.

bob and john > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 15:18

next, tell her to make food worth paying for :)

WilliamsSW > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
10/27/2016 at 15:19

That sounds like Mutually Assured Destruction though.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 15:21

Just say “You’re not my supervisor.” works most of the time.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 15:22

I remember when school lunches at least included some greasy pizza or a frozen hamburger and fries. WTF is this crap that they’re serving?

Batman the Horse > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 15:22

When people make impotent threats I like to respond “you’ll do nothing at all.” Of course this hastens them taking action and just makes things worse but it’s fun for a minute.

Textured Soy Protein > Rico
10/27/2016 at 15:26

The one lunch lady who bucked this trend got fired .

Rico > Textured Soy Protein
10/27/2016 at 15:31

Rightfully so, get that commie pinko “everyone gets everything” bullshit out of here!

If we can’t rip food out of the hands of needy, hungry and defenseless children then I don’t want to live in this country anymore! /s

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > WilliamsSW
10/27/2016 at 15:32

What’s wrong with that? It’s how most countries operate each other.

WilliamsSW > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
10/27/2016 at 15:34

Sigh, unfortunately you are correct...

Textured Soy Protein > Rico
10/27/2016 at 15:35

In some school districts, they give the kids who can’t pay a plain cheese sandwich. Like literally 2 pieces of white bread and 1 slice of American cheese. Some folks say these cheese sandwiches also unfairly shame kids for their parents being poor, and gives the other kids something to teast them about, but I suppose that’s slightly better than throwing out their lunch.

Wacko > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 15:43

Kinja'd!!!

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 15:46

Throwing away perfectly good food is just stupid. It’s already paid for. If anything just credit that child back since they didn’t eat the food, then you pay for it.

facw > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 15:47

Wait. Yesterday you had grapes and brand-named dried grapes. Today you have grapes but also generic Sysco dried grapes. What happened to the Sun-Maid?

Frank Grimes > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 16:15

Here is how at least in my mind it would all work out.

Call her bluff and tell her to call the supervisor to call you. Explain the situation to the supervisor. Eat all the pickles and mustard you want for the rest of the year because by the end of the phone conversation you and the super will be laughing about how ridiculous that lunch lady is.

crowmolly > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
10/27/2016 at 16:35

Healthy options

Die-Trying > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 16:43

you have to beat the lunch lady to the punch........ go above her head, and have a casual conversation with THEM. “yeah, so the lunch ladies dont like me, keep giving me a hard time. all that I am doing is eating a lunch someone else doesnt want. WHERE IS THE HARM??” , and leave it at that.........

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 16:44

Friend of mine is one of the executive cheff/coordinators for the local school lunch system, sometimes I forgot how good we have it here...

http://burlingtonschoolfoodproject.org/

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 16:46

When I was a kid, the lunch ladies were miserable old hags, save for one who was an absolute sweetheart, surrogate grandmother for everyone.

And if a teacher gets axed, or even a talking to, upon the protests of a lunch lady essentially wanting you to throw out food as opposed to eat it...I don’t even know.

Justino6969 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 16:56

I don’t know about the situation there, but I have a hard time believing that they’ll fire a degreed and certified teacher over a probably hourly lunch lady. I say call her bluff.

ttyymmnn > Textured Soy Protein
10/27/2016 at 16:59

My district offers the cheese sandwich. You also get one if you don’t make your menu choice in the morning. It is indeed the scarlet letter of food.

ttyymmnn > crowmolly
10/27/2016 at 17:00

Healthy doesn’t have to be boring, though. It just takes a little creativity, but that usually means extra work.

ttyymmnn > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins)
10/27/2016 at 17:02

She’s not, but he’s on her turf. People like that can be very protective of their little fiefdom.

ttyymmnn > facw
10/27/2016 at 17:02

Budget cuts.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Justino6969
10/27/2016 at 17:04

They wouldn’t. It’s just not a battle I’m willing to have chosen for me.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Rico
10/27/2016 at 17:04

Definitely not.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Textured Soy Protein
10/27/2016 at 17:05

None of the children pay for their lunch here.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn
10/27/2016 at 17:06

Grill it, and it’s a different story...

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
10/27/2016 at 17:06

Dude: it’s her sandbox and I’m not going to throw sand.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
10/27/2016 at 17:07

That’s how they show each other respect .

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
10/27/2016 at 17:07

I’ve just begun paying attention to what they serve. Stay tuned.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn
10/27/2016 at 17:08

I’m going to start eating daily what the kids eat.

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 17:08

But that requires somebody to do work for a free lunch.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn
10/27/2016 at 17:08

I assume that she is heavily micromanaged. It’s her sandbox and I respect that, even if some of the rules are ridiculous.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > facw
10/27/2016 at 17:09

I wondered about that. It’s too bad I don’t like raisins.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever
10/27/2016 at 17:10

Perverse arbitrariness. Sometimes it’s entertaining just to ride along.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Batman the Horse
10/27/2016 at 17:11

The mere thought of taking a call from that woman’s supervisor is not fun. I will pay and dine daily and when an opportune moment arises, I will have an informed conversation.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Frank Grimes
10/27/2016 at 17:12

I’m just gonna pay. Inform myself, comiserate with the students. And have fun.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Die-Trying
10/27/2016 at 17:12

Dude: I would lose that battle handily and be asked to stay out of the Cafeteria.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > bob and john
10/27/2016 at 17:13

The food is more than edible, generally.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
10/27/2016 at 17:14

Bizarro institutional arbitrariness. Like I said above, I don’t want to be banished from the Cafeteria, so I’m just going to ride along and enjoy the children and, hopefully, occasionally, the food.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn
10/27/2016 at 17:19

It’s interesting what the Oppos are siezing on here. Picking a fight with any of the hourly help here would be absolute madness, where if I paid for and ate 100 lunches in a row, I could have an informed conversation with, say, the assistant superintendent of beans and bullets. I’m researching, not cruising for a bruising. And believe me, I would get embarrassed -- and so might my principal — if I pushed this too hard the wrong way. I’m just going to begin buying a lunch daily. It’ll be fun, and hanging out with the kids for a few minutes at lunchtime will be huge for all of us. The rules must be followed!

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 17:22

Yup. Uh huh. That’s exactly what it is.

Die-Trying > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 17:24

ok........... then its time to ESCALATE..........bring your classic lunchbox, partially filled with candy bars, or twinkies, a McMeal or something edible worth trading for. open it next to the kids, and start trading for your new lunch. if they(lunchladies) give you a hassle, “ i TRADED for it”. or after you have traded up enough, you say “no trade backs”, grab your lunch tray haul, and make a run for the teachers lounge.........

how long before they realized it was you, do you think you could walk around with a clipboard, hat, and name tag that says “health inspector”?.......

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 17:28

If be interested in the calorie count on that tray. That number should be fairly easy to find.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn
10/27/2016 at 17:33

My guess would be 400-600 calories. I want to build some expertise on this.

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 17:37

Somewhat unrelated, thanks for being a teacher (thankless job with a profound amount of bullshit via administration and parents). I’m 37 years old, and two of my sixth grade teachers had a huge positive impact on me, Mr. Gluick and Mr. Chillelli.

Die-Trying > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 17:39

i often enjoy watching cats dig holes in kids’ sandboxes................

Die-Trying > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 17:45

i can just about see them taking a polaroid picture of you, and pasting it to the front of the lunch line “do not sell to 0.C.”.......

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Die-Trying
10/27/2016 at 17:55

LOL. No, it’ll be good when I play my cards right. Just showing an interest in the children and the food will be a disruptive force. There is so much that needs disrupting...

Die-Trying > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 18:02

i just kind of noticed........ those kids are running the whole second half of their day, on mostly just grapes...........

Frank Grimes > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 18:38

probably the sane way about it. I would buy lunch too if i was pulling down teachers salary.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Die-Trying
10/27/2016 at 19:53

Yup. Pretty much.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
10/27/2016 at 21:41

Grapes: 50

Cheese (singles): 45/slice

Pickles: 0

Mustard: 0

Bread: 150

Ham: 100

Raisins: 100-150

So yeah, right around 5-600. Still pretty pathetic, especially for growing kids.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
10/28/2016 at 00:26

Given that 90% of it winds up in the trash, we’re talking less thn 100.