Sunday, April 29, 2012

The Spring Roll Twins

   Every few weeks or so, we serve Sweet & Sour Chicken as an entree' in our cafeteria. Each serving also comes with one veggie, or spring, roll. The 700 or so students that we serve would have you believe that these veggie rolls are closely akin to manna. They rave about these hors d'oeurves. They form long lines for this dish, while the normally-popular sandwich and pizza lines stand nearly empty. Every other child begs for one more veggie roll with his or her lunch, just as they begged the last time we served this meal. If these students applied this same effort to their school work, no matter what subject, they would all be honor students.
  Once we have served all the students, we gather together all the food that we have left over. If we have leftover veggie rolls, they are all transfered to one pan and brought out into the eating area for students to come and take more, if they wish.
  The duty fell on me to take out the pan of extra spring rolls. I felt all eyes on me as I entered the lunchroom, and in that moment I understood how a gazelle must feel when it spots the lioness in the brush. Before I'd even set the pan on the table, I was surrounded by kids. The pan was half empty by the time it was fully resting on the table. It was completely empty by the time I had returned to the kitchen.
  Several minutes went by, and as I was sweeping up, I was approached by two girls. Despite the obvious fact that these girls were not related, they had gone to every effort to look exactly alike. Remember, if you can, that Junior High Fashion Rule #1 is this: you must look identical to your best friend. If you don't, then you're lame and none of the boys will like you. Girl 1 pipes up:
  "Are there any veggie rolls left?"
Me:  "No, sorry, we just gave the last of them away."
(Girl 1 and Girl 2 both pout and huff as if someone just told them Justin Bieber endorses individuality)
Girl 2:  "Well, can you like save some for us next time?"
Me:  "Oh, sure"
(note: the likelihood of me saving spring rolls for two girls out of the entire student body was nil, but why crush their poor little tweener spirits?)
Girl 1: "What's your name?"
Me:  "I'm Bonnie"
Girls 1 & 2 simultaneously: "K thx bye!"

  Moments later, the twinner-wannabes approached me again, carrying an elaborately folded sheet of lined paper. After unfolding -- a task 56x more difficult than it should have been -- I found a short note, scrawled in an obnoxiously large and overly flourished hand, addressed to "BoNnIe ThE lUnCh LaDy".
  "HI! Plz save us some veggy rolls next time! Wed like 3 each at least. Thx! XOXO Ellie Francom & Amber Mason" (sic, flowery drawings and scribbles omitted)
  Oh, my dear girls. While your efforts are  recognized, I will not,  in fact, "save [you] some veggy rolls next time!" Perhaps if you were to be alert, like your predator-like peers, you would snatch up your extra veggie rolls before they were gone. However, I would like to thank you  for the good hearty laugh I enjoyed at your expense. Take care!

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