Monday, August 10, 2009

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.

8 comments:

  1. I must agree with you about factory work. I tried it...I really did...I gave it my best shot. It lasted ONE shift. One. That's it. One graveyard-shift. But unlike your job, the pay was crap. It was waayyyyyyy back when I was in college. The osha safety requirements were non-existent! I feared for my life! (and I'm not being overly dramatic AT ALL! Well maybe a little...) I decided after that night that my summer break must be spent waitressing (another glamorous job, but it paid better).

    What's up with Charlie Brown not knowing any Lion King songs? Those are the BEST Disney songs!

    YOU had spicy fish? C'mon...really?

    Nice to know the two most interesting facts about eggs. It's nice to know that I don't have to do any further research, because all other facts are boring. Thanks for the time-saver!

    Blog on!!!! Or should I say Blog Out?

    Tess

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  2. i love it. i wish i could meet those people. and you know i would keep pestering charlie brown until i realized if that was his real name or not. in the middle of it, he would get frustrated and say, "good grief," and i'd give him a hug.

    spicy fish, huh? what do you mean by "spicy"?

    i ditto mom's comment about the time-saving egg information. i really feel relieved about that.

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  3. Hehehe, I LOVE these comments! I actually read them right after work while walking through the building putting away my stuff and I was laughing out loud. I actually had to stop reading them because I was acting so oddly happy and people were staring.

    Oh, and I guess the "spicy" fish was according to Frank, "a little bit spicy, because I made it for my kids"... but he's from South America, guys, so I still thought it was spicy, okay?! :)

    Hehehe Tess, I'm glad you too have suffered through factory work. Well, for one day at least. XD

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  4. okay fine. maybe it was spicy. blah blah blah.

    and what's this: "XD" ? is that a person squishing their eyes while laughing? KIND OF LIKE YOU SCRUNCH YOUR NOSE WHEN YOU LAUGH? IS THAT YOU????? i knew it.

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  5. Oh Christie I love reading stuff you write! You are so random and funny.

    I was wondering about the 'spicy' food too. How spicy could it be??? But I bet I would think it was spicy too!

    Since you were sitting in the room you know that Marina and I were laughing out loud as we read about your new friend Charlie Brown. I'm glad you are making friends honey (hahahaha)

    Keep on writing!

    Mom

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  6. So I worked in a box factory one summer. And to make it worse, it was second shift too. So from 3 to 11 pm I packed boxes (like cereal boxes, etc) into shipping boxes. Some nights I got to check the color grids on the label to make sure the printing was right. Every once in a while I got to help on line! Wowser, that was fun. But you are right the pay is good. And it makes going back to school seem all the better!!

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  7. Hi Kathy! You should follow my blog so that I have more than 3 followers ;).

    Gross, a box factory sounds like one of the most mind-numbingly boring things ever!!

    And it's so true, I am unbelievably excited to go back to school now :).

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  8. Also, mom, I'm glad you and Marina liked my blog so much! I was worried it was going to be boring.

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