Scooping Sheros

The ice-making / water dispensing machine at Planet Care has been non-functioning for about a month now.  This is a machine where customers usually engage in the process of self service and fill a cup with ice or with water or with both.  Since this machine does not work, people ask me for ice. There is a larger ice-making machine behind the juice bar where I work.  It does not make crushed ice, though, like the self-serve machine makes.  It always disappoints customers who love the crushed ice to receive little blocks of ice when I scoop it for them.

Here's what my day looks like.  I get to work, usually 6 minutes late.  I clock in and note what needs to be re-stocked at the juice bar. I initiate the process of re-stocking. When a customer comes up to the counter, I must stop whatever I'm doing and take their order.  If it's their first time getting a juice or smoothie, then I have to play part doctor, part chef, part psychologist, part motivational speaker.  This can take a while.

After I take their order, I must create the desired beverage.  This takes anywhere from 2 minutes 53 seconds to 3 minutes 47 seconds.  I've timed myself.  As orders start stacking up, I tell people how long they can expect to wait based on an average of the times I recorded previously.  When the coffee runs out or gets cold, I have to brew more.  When the ice tea tastes too sweet, too watery, too strong, I have to fix that.  When the water dispenser that we're using while the ice-making / water dispensing machine is broken, I must re-fill it.  When I don't have the supplies needed to make a drink, I must run to the another part of the store to fetch them.  Ultimately, I establish a flow for myself, though it is a bit chaotic.  However, when a customer approaches the counter holding out an empty cup, I must stop everything in order to scoop ice into their cup.

Today, an older woman, possibly in her seventies, held out an empty cup and made smacking gestures with her mouth, licking her lips in between.  I gathered she was extra thirsty.

I always apologize to customers for being forced to beg for ice.

This afternoon, a woman remarked in a frustrated yet light hearted tone of voice, "What?! This machine is still broken?!  Wasn't it just fixed?  I rely on this machine."  I told her that for the time being she can rely upon me to scoop ice for her.  She explained that after she finishes teaching school (High School special education - reading), She goes to the park for a good long walk.  Then she comes here, thirsty, hoping to serve herself some ice and some water.  I told her that I am happy to serve her and grabbed a cup and filled it with ice.  I told her that the water in the self service container was our reverse-osmosis filtered water and she was impressed.

I liked this woman very much so I started asking her questions.  In which park did she take her walks?  How does she motivate herself to go after work?  When she mentioned she was a teacher, I asked where and what subject she teaches.

At one point, she made a comment about how only the people that really love to teach can handle teaching these days.  I told her that I knew of several teachers who love to teach but are completely frustrated with the whole system.  And she began to tell me about how the schools want her to test her kids and fudge numbers and make it all seem like everything's roses roses.  "It has nothing to do with teaching my students to read."

Then, she leaned towards me and said, "Do you know how I teach my students to read?"

"No."

"I have students in high school that are reading on a second grade level.  But I'm teaching them to read by reading.  We read in class.  We read aloud.  We read to ourselves.  We talk.  We ask questions about what we've just read and we learn from each other.  If someone says, 'What does that word mean,' I say, 'Let's look it up.' And we look it up and we talk about it and we read some more."

Then she told me that she currently has a class that is crazy about ancient Egypt.  "All they want to read about are mummies and the pyramids.  So we find books on Egypt.  Did you know that the creation of mummies was an accident? We learned that today.  We learned that the bodies of the Egyptians were buried deeply in the sand away from the reach of the Nile.  And the grave robbers who looked for treasure, unearthed these bodies which the heat of the sand had somewhat preserved by dehydrating all the body's fluids. We learned this today!"

She went on to tell me about a class that only wanted to read about Rosa Parks.  And another that was fascinated with the Underground Railroad.  And she told me about how she bought, over time, a Kindle a month until she had enough for every student in her class.  A Kindle.  For every student in her class.

I was in love with this woman.  I said to her, "You are a Shero!"  She laughed and made a dismissive movement with her hand.  "No! Really!  You bought every student in your class a Kindle?!  That's unheard of!!!  You created an opportunity for knowledge out of your own pocket.  And you love to empower your students with knowledge.  Do you know how rare that is?!  You are a Shero!  You need a cape!  And a big emblem on your chest!!!"  She laughed and thanked me as she walked away.

She is a Shero.  Maybe I should make a cape for her.

Scooping ice is the way I met my new Shero.  I am grateful.

Ponderance

A morbidly obese man comes into Planet Care from time to time. There are periods in which he comes regularly.  Then there are stretches of time in which I never see him.  For a while, he came in nearly every day.  He would be wearing workout-type clothing and look flushed and sweaty as if he'd been exercising.  He would carefully select food from the salad bar, purchase it and sit in the cafe to eat.

Over time, I could tell that he was losing weight.  I knew it was an immense challenge for him.  But he seemed to be on the right track. I felt compelled to tell him that I noticed the results of his efforts.  But I never found the courage to do so.

He came into the store the other day.  He looked as if he'd gained some weight since the last time I saw him. He seemed to be having trouble walking.  He leaned onto the shopping cart in front of him, walking slowly through the store.  He came up to the juice bar and I was overly nice to him.  He would not look at me.  He pondered the selections and asked for a sixteen ounce vegetable juice containing carrots, kale, beet, cucumber, garlic and ginger.  I promptly made this juice for him and handed it to him with all the love I could muster. He never looked at me. 

I watched as he walked to the nearest cashier.  He wore shorts which revealed the dark red of his calves from above his socks nearly to his knees. I know this to be a bad sign.  One of the many complications occurring when one's body cannot handle the excess weight.  I know that obesity could kill this man.  I know it is making his life extremely challenging.  I know that this man has a beautiful starry-eyed daughter who seems to love her father. I know he has everything to gain by working very hard to improve his health.

I know this: I am rooting for him. 

~~~

A woman comes into Planet Care from time to time.  She carries with her a dark cloud.  She speaks as if she is constantly exasperated.  She rolls her eyes in disdain without even realizing she does this.  She orders me to make her a smoothie drink.  She watches as I put the ingredients into the blender and corrects me when I put in too much of one ingredient or too little of another. I feel her exasperation permeating my atmosphere and I sigh rather loudly.  In my imagination, she feels victorious by having made me exasperated like her.  In my mind, she feels vindicated by my exasperation.  And I remember a meme I ran across recently on fecesbook: 

I delivered the smoothie drink to the unpleasant woman and smiled, graciously thanking her and saying, "I hope you enjoy that." 

~~~

An elderly man, very smartly dressed, was walking towards the doors of Planet Care.  On his way out of the store, he paused to pick up one of several free publications on display.  As he paused, I heard him sing, "Que sera, sera.  Whatever will be, will be.  The future's not ours to see.  Que sera, sera." 

For some reason, this struck me as a bit menacing.  I imagined Nick Cave doing a version of this sweet little ditty.  And I thought how very true to life this juxtaposition is.  

The sweetness and the menacing are all but a razor's edge apart.  Darkness in all its myriad forms threatens to envelop us.  But the fundamental sweetness and delicacy of Life permeates even the most menacing darkness.  

Allow the darkness.  Allow the light.  Do not deny yourself the experience of either.  There is no use pretending that darkness does not exist and there is no use pretending that the darkness never ends.  We can deprive ourselves of joy just as we can deprive ourselves of sorrow.  Both will nourish us.  But only if we can allow them to be what they are: temporary states.  And no more. 

Hold the Arsenic

Currently, I work in the juice bar of a "healthy supermarket" called Planet Care.  I put raw vegetables into a very loud industrial strength grinding-things-up machine and their juicy innards flow out of a little drain pipe and into a cup waiting below.  I then serve this cup of juicy innards to a customer who hopes this elixir of life will be the solution to the problems they face - losing weight, remembering important daily details, having energy, having motivation, having the energy to have motivation, being motivated to have energy, living a long and fruitful (or veggie-full) life.  Not to knock it: vegetable juices can be entirely beneficial.  Just not when coupled with a muffin.

The other day, a woman came in and ordered one of our house specials and this is what she said, "I'll have a Red Sunset, light on the arsenic."  I write all orders down because I am often inundated with more orders than I can fill quickly and need to keep tabs on who ordered what first.  So I was writing down "Red Sunset" as the words "light on the arsenic" reverberated in my brain.  I finished writing and looked quizzically at my customer and asked, "Did you say 'light on arsenic'?"  The woman looked at me in earnest and said yes.

I stood there completely befuddled.

I've been obsessively thinking about the coal ash spill in the Dan River.  And arsenic is a component of coal ash.  So naturally, my thoughts were immediately directed there.  To Eden and the Dan River.

~~~

Arsenic? Coal ash.  Dan River.  Eden.  We're not in Eden.  Our water isn't arsenic-laden.  Yet.  Is it?  Oh God!  Is it?!  All those poor fish.  Mussels.  Turtles.  All the plants.  The birds.  The mammals.  The people!!!  All that coal ash.  How can we restore the river?  How? Still, she wants a juice.  What does a vegetable juice have to do with water, either arsenic-laden or regular?  What is she talking about?

~~~

Coal ash is the byproduct of burning coal for the creation of electricity.  Surprisingly, it is "more radioactive" than the waste generated at nuclear power plants according to Scientific American.  Additionally, coal ash contains heavy metals such as arsenic,  and selenium, and cadmium, and mercury, and many others.  But primarily when one talks about the toxins in coal ash, arsenic is at the top of the list.  It is a highly toxic substance.  Carcinogenic even.  The EPA requires that there be no more than 10 parts per billion of arsenic in drinking waters.  And 10 parts per billion of arsenic in commercially produced apple juices, for that matter.  More on that in a moment.

The coal ash contamination of the Dan River occurred an a no longer functioning coal power plant owned by Duke Energy.  Duke Energy generates 70 percent of its electricity via coal.  It is the largest power holding company in the United States.  I get my electricity from Duke Energy.  Currently, I have no alternative energy source.  I am, therefore, responsible in part for the contamination of the Dan River.  And this realization drives me crazy.

I don't want to give Duke Energy my business.  I don't want to perpetuate a reliance on fuels that destroy the land, harm people and pollute the environment.  But I don't have a choice if I want to use my computer, cook my food, read by lamp light and stay warm in the winter months.

I launched an event via Facebook called Coal Ash Wednesdays in order to promote the reduction of energy consumption.  One day a week, anyone who cares to participate cuts their energy use back and from 7 pm til 7:30 pm EST, everyone shuts off the main breaker to their house.  This much is doable.  This much can help.  It's the only thing that makes sense in light of the senseless destruction of life and the local economy along the Dan River.

~~~

Dan River.  Coal ash.  Arsenic.  Juice.  Arsenic and juice.  Red Sunset.  Arsenic....oh!

The juice ordered by the woman wanting light arsenic is called Red Sunset.  Red Sunset contains carrots, beets, apples, parsley and ginger.  In contemplating these ingredients, I remembered a crucial element in solving the mystery of what this customer meant.

There is a misconception that apple seeds contain arsenic.  Apple seeds contain cyanide, an equally poisonous yet completely different compound.  In order for one to die from apple seed ingestion, one would have to pulverize and/or masticate the seeds to break the hard protective coating exposing the inner amygdalin.  One would need to consume a shit ton of these in this manner because the human body is able to detoxify small amounts of cyanide.

At any rate, I remove all the seeds from each apple before I run it through the pulverizing/masticating juice-making machine.

The customer may have been referring to the trace amounts of arsenic found in commercially packaged apple juice.  This is the result of naturally occurring arsenic in the soil and the use of pesticides and herbicides in orchards.  There is organic arsenic, which the human body can process, and inorganic arsenic, which it cannot.  In fact, the inorganic arsenic is a known carcinogen.  Long term exposure  to it can result in especially nasty forms of cancer. But I, the Juicer Person, do not use commercially produced apple juice in the fresh juices.  I juice real live apples.

 ~~~

"Excuse me...but you said 'light on the arsenic...'?

"Yes."

"Do you mean light on the apple?"

"Yes."

"I see.  Alright then.  I was momentarily confused."

"I was wondering....it can't be that complicated."

No.  It's not complicated at all.