Excerpts from the First Interview
C:
How do you feel about this job? Do
you like it, or . . .
S:
I like to cook. I love my job. Some
of the people I could particularly do without, but (p) other than that I really
do like my job. I like the fact
that Mr. Rowan gave me the opportunity to learn, and advance myself, and to
learn to do more things, um (p) anything that has to do with cooking—if there
was a class I wanted to take, that had to do with cooking he would see to it
that I could do it. Take time off
work to attend the classes. I took
Wilkes cake decorating class, learn how to decorate cakes and stuff, so (p) it
really did give me the opportunity to advance myself.
C:
That’s great.
S:
It is, it is, you know. I
like that. I just wish there was a,
you know, culinary school nearby, ‘cause I would be going.
C:
Yeah.
S:
Just to get that piece of paper. You
know, that piece of paper means a whole lot.
Makes a lot of difference, although I know how to do the work, you know.
It’s just that paper that just says so much more.
(laughs) I don’t know why,
but . . .
C:
Yeah.
S:
I think experience is more than anything, other than teaching it.
Chef Howie was chef here, when I first came, and he taught me a lot. He taught me a lot about baking cakes, doing breads and
things from scratch, so I learned a lot from him.
C:
That’s cool.
S:
Cookie dough from scratch (p) ‘cause, you know, we used to do that when
I first worked here.
C:
Really?
S:
A lot of stuff came from scratch, mmm hmm.
C:
Wow.
S:
Breads was made from scratch, the cakes—some cakes he made from
scratch, you know. Cookie dough,
the big cookies you used to get in the snack bar, that you get in the snackbar—they
used to be made from scratch.
C:
Wow.
S:
So now, you know, a lot of stuff has become pre-packaged.
C:
Yeah.
S:
And ready to go. So it’s
all ready now. But when I
first worked here, I mean, it was wonderful.
Everything. You know.
We didn’t have a lot of the frozen items that we do now . . .
C:
Yeah. (p)
Um, okay. Last question and
then I’m done. Do you remember
any person, or event, or experience that really affected your life?
S:
(P) Hmmm.
(p) Um . . . I guess I just
don’t. (p)
I can’t—you know, that really affected me, I guess . . . (p)
I guess it was when my uncle died. We
were really close. I was very close
with him, you know, I used to go stay with him all the time . . . He was—he,
you know, never married, he lived by himself.
And I think that, that, did more to me than anything else.
We were—we were best friends, he was my best friend. Every time I needed something I’d talk to him.
I could always go talk to Uncle Eddie.
And he’d make it all right. If
I needed anything, I knew I could get it from him.
(laughs) I was spoiled
rotten; I was the oldest girl.
C:
Yeah.
S:
And my grandma spoiled me, so you know . . .
C:
When did he pass away?
S:
Seven years ago, because (p) because it was before Marquel was born.
About seven years ago.
C:
Okay.
S:
(p) And you know, I knew it.
I knew it. I had a
feeling. ‘Cause I had dreamed about him this particular Friday night
(p) and that Saturday morning my sister came over and she said, “Oh, I got
some news for you,” and I said, “What?” and she said, “Uncle Ed’s
dead.” And I’m going like, I
just dreamed about him! You know?
And in the dream, he told me that everything was going to be all right.
And he said, “Don’t you worry, ‘cause everything’s going to be
all right.” And he said, “I
don’t want you to cry,” and I’m going like, “Cry for what?”
And I was having this dream, and it was so real.
It was like he came to me in a dream and told me that everything was
going to be all right, you know?