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From: Mom of Six
Date: 09-15-2006, 08:36 PM (1 of 10)
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They revamped the elementary lunch program to save money. So now instead of heating prepackaged meals we have to prepare the lunches from the food sent to us a day ahead. & then guess how many pounds of chicken nuggets,tater tots, French fries, etc. are in a pound so we cook enough but not too much. & then make sure it is done by 11:20 for the first group to come in & not burnt or cold by 12:00 when the last group comes. Then while scanning all the student #'s into the computer make sure all the kids get served & now they get to choose 3-5 components of the lunch so it is my job to make sure they take the right amount but not too much. & they threw in a cool kid lunch consisting of yogurt,cheese ,bread,fruit,& milk they can choose 3-5 of those instead of the hot lunch. Since they haven't hired a server yet I am helping to serve & then have to hand enter all 200-250 students after lunch. & I am supposed to make sure that they aren't charging more than 2 lunches. I have to collect the kids lunch money & enter that into the computer & then send bills to anyone who owes money. & do the banking & figure out where to store food in our small kitchen, & listen to the parents complain that they turned in their form for free lunch (but haven't been approved yet) so they don't have to pay. I am probably forgetting a lot But this is all supposed to be done in 3 1/2 hrs. It is taking me 5-7 hrs. Our union Pres. said we will get paid until they hire an assistant or figure out how it can be done in less time or they will make us full time employees with benifits & then they will privatize next yr. & we will go through the summer not knowing about our jobs again. They still haven't trained any subs for us so if any of us get sick the people from downtown have to come out & do our job. I hope we don't have an epidemic. There are only 3 of them & 1 is retiring in 4 weeks. I just had to vent! It is Friday & my son's 20th Birthday & I haven't had a chance to go to the store for a present yet this week. Lucky for me we are celebrating tomorrow for him & DD turning 15 tomorrow so I can go out in the morning after the kids bowl. He only wants a gift card to buy himself clothes or a snake. He is getting the gift card! Now I am going to go relieve some stress at the sewing machine. Barb
Happiness is having time to sew!! |
User: Mom of Six
Member since: 11-03-2001 Total posts: 1115 
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From: Chrysantha
Date: 09-15-2006, 10:00 PM (2 of 10)
Clothes or a snake ??? LMAO !!! I don't know why but thats making me laugh...(I actually have tears running down my face.... ).I'm sorry...but ^ thats funny... No thanks...I don't want your job. I had your job, but we served adults (ie. older kids...20-70). I used to work for Marriott Food Services. I was the baker/cake decorator (after someone opened his big mouth and told them I was a pro decorator.), line server and cashier. I've had food thrown at me, been cussed at, been poked with forks, been yelled at by cooks, blew cocoa and flour all over myself (at the beginning of my shift), because one of the cooks thought it was funny to turn the B I G mixer on high to see what would happen. ( I got in trouble, he didn't). Had my aprons tied to the table I was working at, because I had my hands in dough and couldn't defend myself. Got bitten by ants, that came in the 'patio' door, right near the cash register. Not only was I allergic to ants, but I also got an infection from them too. (that was wonderful my whole left thigh blew up to twice it's size and turned a lovely shade pf red/purple. I couldn't work for 2 wks., but that was MY fault too.). I could never do enough to please anyone, my bosses or the employees we served. I cried every night I worked there. (2, 1/2 yrs) Then my husband got orders and we got to move. (and thanks to Marriott I didn't get my last check or unemployment. Cause I quit my job I wasn't fired. I had too many sick days. (because of my leg infection.) And my boss didn't like me. (because I would point out his short commings and wouldn't knuckle under.) So I know how you feel... rotten and stressed... [[[ ]]] is all I can offer...if I was closer we could have a yelling , screaming, crying fit together. (my neighbor across the street and I get together and do that once-in-awhile.) Hang in there kid...and know that we're all on YOUR side. Chrys
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User: Chrysantha
Member since: 09-06-2002 Total posts: 2414 
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From: Mom of Six
Date: 09-16-2006, 07:11 AM (3 of 10)
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All the cashiers (25) are talking about getting together after work some day soon to compare notes. The problem is We are all so exausted that we go home to take a nap. Our poor families don't get many home cooked meals anymore. Barb Barb
Happiness is having time to sew!! |
User: Mom of Six
Member since: 11-03-2001 Total posts: 1115
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From: DorothyL
Date: 09-16-2006, 10:13 AM (4 of 10)
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I worked in food service once. It sucked. Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: SummersEchos
Date: 09-16-2006, 11:10 AM (5 of 10)
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Nope I don't want your job. I work retail and the same type of thing is going on there too. Less people to work and more jobs for one person to do.
Summer
FREE FALLIN |
User: SummersEchos
Member since: 09-29-2004 Total posts: 884 |
From: DorothyL
Date: 09-16-2006, 01:08 PM (6 of 10)
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More work but no more pay. Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: Bama
Date: 09-16-2006, 07:14 PM (7 of 10)
I already have a job like that. I understand your frustration.  Feel free to vent!!What is prepackaged meals?? We've always had to cook everything. I guess each state is different. Wait til the women at work hear that there are pre-packaged meals. We even make made-from-scratch rolls and sometimes cakes and brownies. We have home-made spaghetti sauce, taco meat, vegetable soup, chili, baked chicken, etc. The hardest day is a special lunch the week before Thanksgiving. We have home-made turkey and dressing, sweet potato fluff, mashed potatoes (at least those are instant), green beans, yeast rolls, fruit salad, and cake. We get between 300-400 visitors on top of the teachers and students that day. We have to start baking turkeys 2 weeks in advance and freeze the meat or we would never get it done. We also have to make sure we give the correct serving size, make sure each child gets at least 3 items, etc. We have a large percentage of free or reduced lunch kids so we get alot of commodity foods from the government that have to be made from scratch. (bread flour, milk powder (we bake with it), roasts, hamburger, chicken, turkeys, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.) We also offer a salad bar for grades 7-12. In the winter time we also have home-made soup on the salad bar alot of days. To make it even harder for us, our dietician had a fruit juice slushly machine installed this year. The kids loove it but it's more work for us with the same amount of people. Only 6 of us cook for 1200. Cheer up.  You could be at our school. We serve k-12 (about 1200 kids) and start serving at 10:20 a.m. and end at 1:10. At least we're getting a raise next month.  And I do love the kids. Most of them anyway, so I guess it's worth it.
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User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116 
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From: Mom of Six
Date: 09-16-2006, 10:58 PM (8 of 10)
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Most of the meals were not bought prepackaged . There was a food line at the middle school & they paid about 10 people to package the food for the elementary schools. We would get 1 hot pack & 1 cold pack per student each day. We would heat the hot packs on racks in the big oven. Everything would heat at the same time & temp. The bad thing about that was you never had enough for kids who came in late & didn't order that morn. or spilled/burned food. the other up side to the new program is kids get a choice & only have to take the food they will eat. The down side about choices is I had a kindergartener the other day who took applesauce& milk for her lunch or the 1 who took nacho chips, corn & milk. If I was a parent paying for this I would be upset. Most of my kids parents have no idea what their kids are eating & the federal Govt. pays for their food. I talked to the lady who does our payroll this morn. (our grandkids bowl together) she said they were told to pay us for a while whatever was on our time sheet as long as it doesn't go into overtime. But it is not going to last after they hire assistants & since most of us have a volunteer helping until the assistant is hired I don't think it will make it go faster. That is where our union is supposed to come in. So I just have to make sure I don't have more than 8 hrs. a day on my time sheet which should be OK since they fixed our computers it only takes me 7 -71/2 each day with breakfast & lunch. I am going to try to hang in until Jan. they should have a private managment co. in place then & we'll see what happens. If it doesn't get better I will start looking elsewhere while I use up some sick time. Barb
Happiness is having time to sew!! |
User: Mom of Six
Member since: 11-03-2001 Total posts: 1115
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From: Mom of Six
Date: 09-16-2006, 11:16 PM (9 of 10)
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Chrys, I ended up buying 2 polo shirts & a gift card to JCPenney. I was going to give him a gift card towards the snake until I realized that he would also have to have mice to feed them. Mice & snakes are my 2 least favorite creatures. I told him when he gets his own house I will give him the certif. & then he can hide them if I visit.
Barb
Happiness is having time to sew!! |
User: Mom of Six
Member since: 11-03-2001 Total posts: 1115
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From: Chrysantha
Date: 09-16-2006, 11:45 PM (10 of 10)
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LMAO !!! I'm sorry for some reason thats so funny to me..I talked to my sister tonight and she laughed like crazy too...clothes and snakes...they have nothing in common... I'm glad you didn't get him the snake...they really aren't my fav as a pet either. I'd rather have the mice. (but then the ferrets would kill the mice.) As long as you got to relax a bit...and have some cake ! [[[ ]]] Chrys
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User: Chrysantha
Member since: 09-06-2002 Total posts: 2414
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