Watched the " testimony " yesterday. I'm not even going there this morning. I haven't decided if that was supposed to be testimony or a tribute show. More time was certainly spent singing her praises than anything else. Now I'm not saying she doesn't deserve whatever accolades she was given, I don't know her, but after listening to that I wonder if she just walked across the ocean on her way home. But enough of that.
A friend of mine on social media reminded me of my school days. More specifically of school lunches. When I went to elementary school Mom packed our lunches. I remember having a lunch box that was shaped like a traditional red barn. It had a matching thermos of course. Strange the things you can recall at times. In thinking about that lunch box I can even smell it. You know the smell? A mixture of old sandwiches and waxed paper. No matter how much or how often it was washed , the smell remains. My sandwiches were always wrapped in waxed paper. It was from that I learned how to wrap Christmas presents, it's the same technique. Sometimes I would use that same waxed paper to lubricate the slide on the playground. Remember that? Well, all that was a long time ago.
At some point I did begin to buy those school lunches. I remember a few of them, welsh rarebit was my favorite. We didn't have pizza as a choice. I do remember the trays, they looked exactly like the ones tv dinners came in, only sturdier. One compartment always had a salad in it. There was one cafeteria monitor that insisted you eat that, it was like having your Mom there. I would stuff it in the empty milk carton when she wasn't looking. That milk was an extra, cost three cents. At least that is what I remember. Those trays resurfaced when I joined the navy. It is what our " chow " was served on, in line, just like elementary school. The motto on the wall read, " take all you want, but eat all you take. " At one time in my Navy career I even washed them. That room was called the scullery and that's what you did in there, wash the dishes. But I'm wandering around a bit.
In middle school I was allowed to leave the school grounds during lunch. I seldom went to the cafeteria, in fact I barely remember the cafeteria in that school. I went downtown to eat lunch. There were several small restaurants that were ready for the lunch crowd. I suspect a great deal of their business depended on that. I usually went to " Speeds ". I guess that was the name of that place anyway. It was owned by a man named Speed King. At least that it was he was called. He drove the ambulance was my understanding, maybe that's why they called him speed. Sky King was on television then but I don't believe they were related. Anyway, my lunch normally consisted of French fries and a coke, a fountain coke. My last year of high school was in the new school. I don't recall the cafeteria in that school at all. I ate lunch in my car most of the time is my recollection of it. I believe we could still drive downtown if we wanted to, of that, I'm not certain.
Well om the downside I did have to practice hiding under my desk in case of nuclear attack. It was the Russians. The Russians now just meddle in our elections and there is no hiding from that. Ukraine was just another part of Russia back then, a place they sent people they didn't like was the impression I had. A frozen wasteland. A lot has changed in the last fifty five years or so. Kids still take their lunches to school, in plastic bags but that might change to save the planet, maybe waxed paper will make a comeback. I hear breakfast is available in most schools these days. I know that pizza is on the menu at the high school here, several varieties in fact. The school doors are locked and you need to be buzzed in through the security area. I don't believe the students can leave the building without being signed out, they are basically locked in. I was free to come and go, only consequences for unauthorized absence retained me. I was responsible for me. Yeah, things have changed. Guns were in the parking lot and students were in the school. Students were free to leave the school and the guns stayed in the trucks. I wonder if any of this is related to waxed paper and smelly lunch boxes. Something to think about.
PS: did you know that to KOWTOW is the name for when you touch your forehead to the ground before a diety. That's where it comes from. Learned something new this morning.
A friend of mine on social media reminded me of my school days. More specifically of school lunches. When I went to elementary school Mom packed our lunches. I remember having a lunch box that was shaped like a traditional red barn. It had a matching thermos of course. Strange the things you can recall at times. In thinking about that lunch box I can even smell it. You know the smell? A mixture of old sandwiches and waxed paper. No matter how much or how often it was washed , the smell remains. My sandwiches were always wrapped in waxed paper. It was from that I learned how to wrap Christmas presents, it's the same technique. Sometimes I would use that same waxed paper to lubricate the slide on the playground. Remember that? Well, all that was a long time ago.
At some point I did begin to buy those school lunches. I remember a few of them, welsh rarebit was my favorite. We didn't have pizza as a choice. I do remember the trays, they looked exactly like the ones tv dinners came in, only sturdier. One compartment always had a salad in it. There was one cafeteria monitor that insisted you eat that, it was like having your Mom there. I would stuff it in the empty milk carton when she wasn't looking. That milk was an extra, cost three cents. At least that is what I remember. Those trays resurfaced when I joined the navy. It is what our " chow " was served on, in line, just like elementary school. The motto on the wall read, " take all you want, but eat all you take. " At one time in my Navy career I even washed them. That room was called the scullery and that's what you did in there, wash the dishes. But I'm wandering around a bit.
In middle school I was allowed to leave the school grounds during lunch. I seldom went to the cafeteria, in fact I barely remember the cafeteria in that school. I went downtown to eat lunch. There were several small restaurants that were ready for the lunch crowd. I suspect a great deal of their business depended on that. I usually went to " Speeds ". I guess that was the name of that place anyway. It was owned by a man named Speed King. At least that it was he was called. He drove the ambulance was my understanding, maybe that's why they called him speed. Sky King was on television then but I don't believe they were related. Anyway, my lunch normally consisted of French fries and a coke, a fountain coke. My last year of high school was in the new school. I don't recall the cafeteria in that school at all. I ate lunch in my car most of the time is my recollection of it. I believe we could still drive downtown if we wanted to, of that, I'm not certain.
Well om the downside I did have to practice hiding under my desk in case of nuclear attack. It was the Russians. The Russians now just meddle in our elections and there is no hiding from that. Ukraine was just another part of Russia back then, a place they sent people they didn't like was the impression I had. A frozen wasteland. A lot has changed in the last fifty five years or so. Kids still take their lunches to school, in plastic bags but that might change to save the planet, maybe waxed paper will make a comeback. I hear breakfast is available in most schools these days. I know that pizza is on the menu at the high school here, several varieties in fact. The school doors are locked and you need to be buzzed in through the security area. I don't believe the students can leave the building without being signed out, they are basically locked in. I was free to come and go, only consequences for unauthorized absence retained me. I was responsible for me. Yeah, things have changed. Guns were in the parking lot and students were in the school. Students were free to leave the school and the guns stayed in the trucks. I wonder if any of this is related to waxed paper and smelly lunch boxes. Something to think about.
PS: did you know that to KOWTOW is the name for when you touch your forehead to the ground before a diety. That's where it comes from. Learned something new this morning.
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