Second Grade Lunch

I was in Mrs. Fuel's second grade class at CB Berry Elementary. Our room was directly across the hall from the cafeteria/auditorium. There are two events that I remember distinctly from second grade.

I didn't know the words to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer so I was not selected to sing for a PTA meeting during school. I was very disappointed. The second event was one particular lunch.

I bought my lunch at school each day. I think it cost 25 cents and included milk. When you went through the line you were supposed to take the next plate in line. You weren't allowed to look for a better plate, one with fewer green beans or a bigger roll.

On this day we were having some sort of chicken soup. As I was approaching the serving line I saw this shriveled up miniature chicken leg sticking up out of the little bowl of soup. Looking quickly I realized that bowl was going to be mine. I tried to drop back in line but couldn't do it. Then I tried to take the next bowl but the cafeteria worker hollered at me to take the next plate in line. I was stuck with the shrivelled up piece of chicken in a bowl. All the other bowls had pieces of chicken in the bowl like a normal soup. They didn't have this shrivelled up stump of a chicken leg dumped in a cup of thin gruel. I might have to take it but I sure didn't have to eat it!

I sat down and ate my lunch, everything but the shrivelled up chicken leg and hideous gruel. I started to get up and take my tray to the cleaning window but Mrs. Fuel stopped me. "You have to eat all your food," she said. I sat back down but refused to eat. Lunch period was over but I hadn't eaten my shrivelled stump so I was not allowed to go back to class. I had to stay there and eat everything on my tray. I refused. I don't know how long I sat there, the only one in the entire cafeteria. The workers were back in the kitchen cleaning and getting ready to go home. I sat there. I was not about to eat the shrivelled stick and gruel. Finally, Mrs. Fuel came back into the cafeteria. "Have you eaten your soup?" she asked. "No, and I'm not going to!" I replied. She spent a few more minutes trying to get me to eat it and I continued to refuse. Finally, she let me put up the tray and go back to class.

I think this is probably where Ben got his ability to deal with Mrs. Stanley. I didn't want to and I wasn't going to and I didn't eat that disgusting shrivelled specimen. So much for second grade lunch.