A ladle of love and laughs from the lunchroom ladies


Nov. 8, 2002, midnight | 21 years, 4 months ago


Behind the steel counters and display cases filled with apple juice and club sandwiches, Food Service Manager Maddalena Bianchini is busy preparing salad cups, cashier Debbie Davis is wiping down her station and cashier Jennifer Morgan is swiftly stocking the snack stand with Ho-Hos and Twinkies. And it's barely 9:00 a.m.

"You got to start early," says Davis. "Geez, you got 3,000 kids. How many eat hamburgers? How many eat nuggets? You got to figure it out."

Each week, the 13 cafeteria workers churn out 320 hours, serving food at lightening speed. The job is more intense than some imagine. "People think, ‘Wow, you only work at lunchtime? You got it made,'" says Davis, straightening the snacks. "But it's tough."

Davis elaborates by explaining what happens when the team is understaffed. At some schools, fewer workers would mean limited quantities of nuggets or fries. But Blair isn't just some school. Instead of cutting back on meals, each staff member increases her workload.

As if on cue, Morgan rushes to the cash register. She's performing a balancing act of restocking the snack stand and baking 120 of her famous gigantic chocolate chip cookies by 10:30 a.m. Much is riding on the staff's shoulders. "We have to serve at least three things on the menu, but we're free to order more, and we do," explains Bianchini, who has been with Blair for six years. "Blair is a closed campus, so we need to put out the best variety we can."

If there is one thing that the cafeteria staffers share besides their work ethic, it is a deep love for Blair. "The first day I came here, I knew this was where I wanted to be," says Davis, who used to be an MCPS bus driver.

Davis is not alone in her fondness for Blazers. Morgan, a former aeronautical cartographer and computer graphics employee, initially began cashiering for the benefits. But it was Blair's environment that kept her here. "The people are the best part of the job—staff and students," she says.

Junior Tiangay Koroma, a frequent lunch buyer, says that the staff's warmth makes her purchasing more pleasant. "They're friendly, and Debbie is really nice," she says. "She never has an attitude, and when you ask her for something extra, she always gives it to you."

Bianchini says that Blair students return the kindness. "One time, we had five staff members out, and students were volunteering to serve the food and manage the lines," she recalls. "They did a great job."

Despite the demanding work schedule, the staff has managed to keep interactions from becoming all work and no play. "Our relationships have moved out of the workplace and into our personal lives," says Bianchini, who says the staff occasionally meets for dinner or shows.




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