Whistle While You Work

Hello again!
How exciting to be writing this to some brand new, still in the shrink-wrap followers!

So, I bet you are just racking your brains and scratching your noggins over the origin of this title. "I Fold Omelettes," I mean (In typing this sentence I just discovered that omelette can be spelled "omelet" as well. Personally, I think the former is prettier and more French just like the original word "amelette." But I just thought I'd divulge that little tidbit for ya). Well, wonder no more, blog-fans!

...This is why: I work at an egg factory. Really, it's only for the summer, which is about two more weeks, and I don't just make omelettes/omelets but other boring things as well, from french toast to egg bits and patties (!). Come to think of it, probably less than .000001% of my life has been spent folding omelettes. But I was working when the brilliant light-bulb that is this title came to me, and I also just thought it was kind of funny. So there!

[my muse]

Factory work is one of the most boring things I've ever done with my life, ever. I mean I've had my fair share of waiting in line, completing meaningless homework assignments, and staring into space for lack of anything better to do, but this is EIGHT HOURS a day*!! Blech. Imagine performing a very easy task in a dreay warehouse-like room while wearing ear-plugs, a hairnet and construction cap, and knee-high rubber boots. Welcome to Cargill!!
I try not to complain, because I make good money for a part time job, but it can be a struggle.

So I don't want to talk about the work! I have something more fun: the people I meet!

There's Shamwatee--people call her Sham, a middle-aged woman from India who has two sons working there too. One of them is getting married soon and she told me about the special cake she is making herself and buying a dress and all the family members who will be staying over for days. The cake is black with dried fruit, and she might even bring me some to try! Also, if we have break together she always brings tons of those after-dinner mints one sees at restaurants and shares them-- "for fresh breath."

There's a guy named Charlie Brown. I really hope he wasn't kidding, he being one of those people who jokes around a lot, because that name is just too awesome for words. He loves WOW (World of Warcraft, all you parents, an intense computer game that video-gamers love) and is going to school for something computer related. The first time we worked together a whole day, he asked me what Disney songs I know and we sang them together. He knows all the words to "Part of Their World" (from the Little Mermaid) and WAY more Disney songs than I do! Finally we found that we both knew was Aladdin's "A Whole New World" and a few from Pocahontas. He didn't know any from The Lion King, my specialty. Rather unfortunate. He always visits me at break and today he was eating plain sausage patties in a tortilla. Gross.

There's Frank, a man from Honduras who is really proud of his three kids and likes to give me updates on them all the time. He also is always willing to share his food. I had some spicy fish with french fries and rice the other day. But once he told me about a fight with his wife and that was kind of weird.

I'll have to tell you about more people later because this post is getting long!

Today I learned to quickly count out 20 egg patties from a vibrating shelf, hoooo-RAH.

And, to make this somewhat worthwhile for you, I found a few random egg facts (party!):

• Chickens came from Asia. They were domesticated in India as early as 3200 B.C. ... 5,209 years ago.
• The risk of Salmonella is only 1 in 20,000 eggs. The website says you should still not eat them raw EVER, but I'd say that makes it even more worth it to try delicious cake batter and cookie dough!
• Everything else about eggs is boring.

Thank you so much for reading! I really hope this is as much fun for you as it is for me. Seriously.

-christie

*on average. Range 6-10 hours. One day it was 12. That was horrid.