Are You My Trough Helper?

In the lunchroom the majority of teachers and students get their food items plate by plate, possibly in multiple trips. This is because our school no longer uses trays in an effort to be more "green." (I guess the idea is that if you don't use the trays you don't have to wash them.)

However, the balancing act is too much for the Kindergarteners so they do use trays. The Kindergarteners also need help separating their trays, paper trash, silverware, and plates at the "trough." There is always a teacher on trough duty when the Kindergarten is getting done with lunch.

I am assigned trough duty on one day of the seven day rotation beginning in January, so I have not had the pleasure of this experience yet.

I say all this to explain what happened earlier this week when I went to eat lunch at a slightly earlier time than I normally do.

I finished eating at the same time as the Kindergarten students. As I put my dirty plate on the conveyor belt I was surrounded by zombie children wielding trays. "Where do I put my tray? I don't know what to do with my tray? What should I do with my tray?"

Somehow I was the only adult around and something was amiss with the set-up for the trays. Telling them, "I don't know, I'm new at this" wasn't really cutting it.

I looked one child in the eye, partially shaking him out of his zombification, "What do you normally do with the trays?" He pointed to a low wheelie cart (I think they are normally used to transport things like milk in food service) that was just inside the door to the dish washing room.

"You put them on this cart?" I asked. He nodded. The children crowded closer.

I stepped into the room and started wheeling the cart out. The zombies descended on me, setting their trays down.

"Let me out!" I cried, trying to wheel the cart out into the cafeteria. Inch by inch I got out the door, all the while collecting the trays of tiny zombies.

"Where does it go?" I asked, hoping someone, anyone, would answer.

One zombi looked up, shaken from his mission of depositing his tray on my cart for one moment. He pointed beside the conveyor belt and continued moving toward me. I slid the cart over to its place and darted from the cafeteria.