My School Lunch

Hey, look! Another food post! Maybe food is easier to focus on food than real life lately. So, without further ado, I’d like to share…lunch.

Wow. This totally sounds like I’m Instagramming my life away. Ha, suckas, fooled ya — I don’t even have a smartphone (yet?) let alone Instagram. Neener neener. Still, it seems like a pretty dull post, right? Again, I need me some dull lately! Things have been too (literally) crazy! Last Thursday was the day that the shooting standoff ended, and since we hadn’t slept home, I didn’t have a lunch to bring. Unimportant details in the midst of important happenings. But, isn’t that life?

Usually, I bring any combination of items to make a full-blown meal (or snack-from-10:30-til-1-or-’til-I’m-not-hungry). Always an apple, probably a granola bar, usually some yogurt and an organic cheese stick, then something leftover from dinner (or some all natural lunch meat and chippy chips). Whatev.

This particular day, I finally partook in…dun dun duuuuuunnnn…SCHOOL LUNCH!!!

Why was I so nervous?

Maybe because the previous school I worked for had what can only be described as the Lunch Nazi (in relation to the Seinfeld comparison, not REAL Nazis. You don’t wanna get me started.) He withheld food, referred to students in inappropriate ways and generally produced mild anxiety attacks everyday when lunchtime rolled around. I used to eat school lunches everyday, and it was amusing to compare with my friends/colleagues who received a larger lunch and who got gypped. ‘Cuz someone ALWAYS got gypped.

I think the cafeteria ladies thought I was nuts for falling all over myself to get a simple meal. I was even shocked when they didn’t blink over my handing them a $10 bill (the only bill I had on me). That would’ve produced a major eye roll and even some ribbing in the good ol’ days.

SIDE NOTE: Mind you, I LOVED my old school. Don’t get me wrong here. Okay, back to the regularly scheduled program.

Here’s what I got (aside from a crappy cell phone picture):

My School Lunch - image  on https://megactsout.com


From top left: Apple (wrapped in plastic…wasteful, but I’m assuming there’s a state mandated reason for it), chocolate milk, fruit punch, burger with the fixin’s, sweet potato fries (with ranch).
Sure, the milk had salt, cornstarch, carrageenan and “vanillin” (why?!) but the fruit punch was all juice (albeit concentrate) and generally speaking it was a healthy option. I loves me some SP fries and the bun was whole wheat (which I hear lots of kids gripe about these days). I could get nit-picky and complain that nothing was organic and the meat wasn’t grassfed (or probably free of hormones, ick), but on a day like this, beggars can’t be choosers.

And, y’know what? I lied in that picture. I totally had a “Little Debbie” peanut butter wafer snack thingmajigger, too. ‘Cuz, y’know what? We’re alive and I can.