What We Have Here Is A Failure To Publicly Commiserate

Sometimes, you gotta take a stand. Do what's right. Step in to defend the downtrodden. UNLESS...that means going against a member of the custodial staff! Mrs. Hillbilly Mom's mom didn't raise a fool. Mrs. HM knows that she does NOT want to ruffle the feather-duster of any member of the maintenance team. No sirree, Bob!

I was leaving the cafeteria yesterday, the last of the Newmentia Lunch Time Think Tank, what with me having plan time right after, and in even less hurry than the others to get to class. I waited until the straggling lunch-eaters had their turn at the tray-deposit window. No need to jam up and get whacked with a book bag as the dervishes whirled around to leave.

Custy was standing right beside the left trash can. Custy, who cleans the cafeteria between lunch shifts. Right beside the big gray plastic trash can on wheels, lined with a black trash bag. The kids, maybe five or six of them, stepped between the two giant trash cans, thumped their trays against the side to unstick any uneaten delicacies, as instructed forever by the lady who wields that shower-sprayer thingy.

"Don't you people know enough to even out your trash, and not put it all in one can so it's too heavy?" Out of the mouth of Custy.

Seriously. I don't think that ever crossed those kids' minds. I never thought anything about it. As long as the trash wasn't over the top, it seemed fair enough to dump the trash in. That's what a trash can is for, right? Besides, most kids are right-handed. So they're going to whack their trays against the side of the trash can to their right. Maybe that's why it fills up more. AND, let's not forget that Custy was standing right beside the left trash can. Nobody would want to splatter foodstuffs onto Custy while whacking their tray. Our kids have manners like that.

Did I stick up for those kids, when they looked perplexed at being called out for doing something wrong that they didn't know was wrong?

You can bet your bottom dollar I did not.

I've got another year to go. No need to set myself up for a war with the custodial staff. Especially so soon after that Cus thorn was removed from my side.