saving the bacon

It seemed to happen in slow motion.  My life passed before my eyes in what, to the outsiders, was probably a second or two. One minute, I was dutifully rolling a large cart out of the walk-in freezer.  The next, I was battling for my life.

Okay, that's a bit overly dramatic, but still.

I've mentioned I've been working part-time for the food service provider for our school district.   I'm a lunch lady.  Several factors landed me there:

• I took a job at a high school that assured me a math teaching spot for next year.
• During my time there, I realized I have no desire to work at a public high school.
• In the meantime, I also realized I'm getting burnt out on tutoring.
• I finished my graduate degree in 2016, but it's difficult to pop right back into the profession I left
• I haven't worked in the field for about 20 years
• The bulk of positions where we live are government defense related, in which I'm not interested, nor do I have required clearances.
• We're seriously considering moving in a year or so after our nest is emptied, so I'm not sure I want a "Real Job" right now.

So, part-time lunch lady it is for now.  The schedule is ideal, commute is great, co-workers have similar backgrounds to mine, keeps me productive, provides some fun money...

As expected, life in a commercial kitchen is quite different than the kitchen at home.  The main thing is that everything's bigger.  Bigger ovens, bigger fridges, bigger volumes of food being stored, cooked, and consumed.

Enter the freezer cart.  Put cold stuff in there, and it stays pretty cold throughout the day.  It's basically a narrow fridge on wheels

A representative freezer cart.
Our story's is about a 6 feet tall, 2 feet wide steel monster

The cart was full of bounty for the next day:  chicken patties, tater tots, french fries, bacon... typical diet of the standard North American middle schooler.  I had stowed it into the walk-in freezer earlier.  And then...

Sysco guy showed up.  Sysco guy showed up, leading to my near-demise

I was asked to remove the cart from the freezer for Sysco guy to load his delivery.  It was late in the workday, so we were hurrying... *music of doom goes here*

There is a small ramp leading into and out of the freezer.  At the top of the ramp is a strip of metal reinforcement.  A strip of metal reinforcement that has been bent upward over time, and mainly  serves as an unplanned speed bump / tripping strip.  

Because of said tripping strip, I typically back the cart out of the freezer in a slow controlled motion.  But Sysco guy showing up late in the workday wasn't typical.  

I backed the cart out willy nilly (pardon the technical jargon) rather than slow and controlled.  Freezer cart then did a nice demonstration of the laws of physics.  One wheel caught on the tripping strip and stopped its forward motion while the rest of the cart tried to continue on its way.  

This sent the whole kit and caboodle tipping over, heading straight for me in an unfriendly downward motion.  Several pounds of cart, chicken patties, tater tots, fries, and bacon.  The event took about one second, but for me, time stood still while I was all...

...except less attractive and wearing eyeglasses.

I managed to catch the cart with my hands, but also with my face, while it managed to continue to push me backwards and became free of the tripping strip.  Somehow, we both made it out of the freezer in upright positions.  My eyeglasses, however, were forced into retirement.  No damage to the lenses, just totaled the frames and left a slight war wound/goose egg on the right side of my face.  Slight goose egg was gone by morning, and I'd gotten my frames replaced.  

Like I've told my tutor students, mistakes are a good thing.  They're one of the best ways we learn.  I'm ready for that cart now.

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Linking up with Mama Kat this week for the prompt

5. Tell the story of a mistake made in the kitchen.