Growing up my favorite class was always lunch. Okay I know that's not really a class, but when my stomach started to growl it was the only thing I was concerned with. I decided to go back to school to get to know a few of the women who fill the mouths of countless students, and even help them as they prepared for lunch.
Like all the lunch ladies I met, coordinator Cathy Szekeress is constantly moving. When she's not prepping food for the day she is running around placing orders and managing the rest of the employees. It takes a lot of work to feed 1,200+ students, and for her making the food is just the beginning of her day.
When she is done prepping the food she spends the next few hours preparing the serving area for the students. This includes getting utensils our and bringing carts of food over.
The job may be a lot of work, but the ladies do find time for fun. I helped them as they wrapped sandwiches for lunch. For them being able to get together and talk, even for a little while, makes the day more enjoyable.
When the lunch bell sounds, the hungry students pile into the cafeteria. With that many mouths to feed it takes every lunch lady doing separate jobs simultaneously to keep the food stocked. I did my best to keep up with the mass of students, but I was amazed at the ease the ladies had in handling the crowd. With so many different tastes to appease, the lunch ladies tell me they can't always get what all the students like. It's situations like these that tend to give these ladies a bad reputation. The lunch ladies say that they are all very friendly, and feel that if they treat the students well, the students will treat them nicely as well.
All of the lunch ladies I talked to they said the best part of their job was interacting with the students. They all became lunch ladies because they enjoy talking with students and helping them have a good day with a full stomach.
