Day 26

Let me start off with a sincere apology. It is not very well hidden that I have not updated for 10 straight days. Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me. Julia Child may say never apologize but Julia Child did not miss updating her blog for 10 straight days, so forgive me.

Day 26 was a Saturday and a doosey. I woke up Saturday morning excited for my first real kitchen experience, I was going to help cater a wedding. However I could not shout for joy, but throat was awfully sore. Not only could my body have not have chosen a worse day to not work functionally, but I had been eating right, sleeping full 8 hours a night, exercising, and taking 4 daily vitamins a day. As I went into the restroom to shower and freshen up I realize my body was not making a false alarm. Inside my mouth was a lovely, swollen, purple.....bloody thing, it was absolutely awful- especially coming from a woman. When men seem to have disgusting injuries it is worn for pride and the young man is now seen as rebellious and socially defying. It is not lady like to have such an injury so when pity is sought it is very hard to receive when one refuses to show the injury.

The campus nurse is not open on such a Saturday it seems and the local doctor does not take small business healthy insurance, let me assure you. By the time the wedding rolled around I must face a decision. In any story telling situation, the decision is clear. I should not have gone to the wedding, that would have been the responsible decision. However, faced in such a situation it was my first opportunity, the chef had my name, canceling on the day would be unprofessional, and I needed the money. I went to said wedding.

In the email in which I accepted the position to wait the wedding the description was a paid amount per hour from 6-8. However in a phone call I needed to arrive at 3. My total working hours were from 3-1, 10 hours straight. To cater, is to fight. My respect for caterers has skyrocketed. The work is hard. There is not one single moment, or place, in which you may sit or eat (due to my throat I did not eat all day and was significantly weaker than I am in full health), and you must be as friendly as absolutely possible, especially at a wedding. Being completely new I needed to comply to all of this and never found a spare moment to drink, I was dangerously dehydrated. In a word, this wedding was hell, to say kindly. Normally this would scare me away. However I did it. I worked a ten hour shift, no break, no food, no water, no health. I worked through the personalities of the chef and the customers. I worked on the verge of tears and did not dare complain once- I did very loudly in my car later. But I did it. I am not scared away, but I am not motivated. I am curious.

I went to bed this night in the sweat and frigid shivers of a fever. My body lay motionless on my bed to await a new day.