2020 has been a crazy year for a lot of us. Social distancing, mask requirement, possibly being asked to wear gloves, places that are either closed or only partially open, work hours reduced or possibly laid off, so many crazy things... I hope everyone is faring as well as possible.
I started off the COVID shut down being an assistant at the Hospitality Center in a different way than what I was previously. I ended up being the "chef" on Mondays & Fridays with bringing in my son on Thursdays since the senior employment program that supplied the cooks for those three days were not allowed to come in due to the fact that many of the participants are in the high-risk group, whether it's due to age, other health problems, etc. It was a learning experience for sure since the number of people I was going to be cooking for was 80+ back in the middle of March. Previously, my highest number was 35, for a picnic-style open house for my son's graduation party in the back yard, but as for regular gatherings at home, my highest was more like about 20. I wasn't sure I could do it, and the first couple of weeks, I ended up short, but was able to punt to ensure that everyone who came to the door got a to-go lunch that was well balanced. Eventually, I grew into the job and was easily able to meet higher demands, which grew to feed 100 people, to 120, and by the time August came around, it was normal to get numbers anywhere from 150-170 hungry people.
The adjustment to doing it this way had changed, because before March 16, the Center was open for people to come in from 8:30am - 2:30pm M-F and whether it was the occasional hot breakfasts or the basic pastries, cold cereal, bottomless pot of coffee, and then a healthy hot lunch, with a full staff of volunteers to fill out the serving line cafeteria-style. Starting then, we had a smaller staff, and rather than being able to serve it inside, everything was packed into 3 section styrofoam to-go clamshells, which were packed in the kitchen, to go onto long tables in the hall to be packed into bags with other goodies like water or juice, fruit, chips, dessert, etc. and then went to another table just inside the front, to serve one person at a time to get things to-go, including coffee-to-go. It's definitely a process, and it was an adjustment. Lunch is still served this way from 11:30-12:30. A paper sack breakfast is also served the same way from 7:30-8:30, and about 3 people are responsible for getting a balanced breakfast of a hot main breakfast entree (scrambled eggs or quiche or breakfast sandwich), fruit, granola bar, and a pastry item. It's not an easy task, but we're pulling it off.
Unfortunately for me, I had a pinched nerve issue that was gradually making it more and more difficult to do the task, and 7/19, woke up thinking I just slept on my shoulder wrong and figured I'd work it out over a couple days, went in the next day to cook my Monday meal for over 150 people, to Tuesday, not being able to even get dressed by myself and needing help making a pb&j sandwich. It was scary & very painful... From my shoulder blade, all the way to my elbow on my left arm hurt. An entire band going all the way was feeling permanently flexed, while the rest of the arm didn't want to work. I have a high tolerance for pain, but this was seriously ungodly.
After several trips to various doctors, some E.R. appointments, and various specialists, I had spine surgery on my neck on 8/20 to un-pinch the nerve that made it so my left arm could start being used again. During the month I had the problem, I had a difficult time sitting at my desk or at the table to eat. As time went on, the pain went halfway down my forearm and started getting tingling and numbness in my hand. After surgery, that pain was pretty much gone... But, now had the problem of the nerve not communicating properly with the muscles, and have been going back and forth to follow up appointments, physical therapy, and I'm probably about 1/3 of the way to get my strength & coordination back in my arm.
I'm not in the clear yet, for now, I'm fortunate that everywhere I need to go, I have a couple of people who can take me. My son, husband & roommate have all been totally cool about helping me at home. I'm now starting to be able to cook for the household, but will be at least a couple months before I can think about cooking for over 100 again... I miss being able to do that.
But, of course, with the pandemic reducing people's work hours, our cash flow has greatly reduced, and on one hand, sure, we are lucky that the guys still had their hours, but, on the other hand, because of greatly reduced hours (and not able to claim unemployment), I have to think about possibly doing something to get some cash coming in to pay for everything we need. I'm not sure what I can do yet, since I'm not medically cleared to go back to work nor drive, and while I do have some cool things to be able to sell, (Packer coats, a Harley leather jacket, complete Sony stereo, video games, and more) everyone else seems to be broke as well. I hope to be able to figure out somethings... I can help write your resume if you need to update it so that the online process will score you a few interviews. I guarantee it. Please comment below, if you're interested.
Anyway, I'll leave you with this - if you or anyone you know is food insecure, the Hospitality Center is the place you can go. Breakfast - M-F from 7:30-8:30. Lunch - M-F from 11:30-12:30. The closer you show up to the beginning of the time, the more likely you'll get the best stuff, though anyone who comes to the door hungry during those times will get fed something to-go.
