Yesterday five of us went to St. Louis to do some dry packing of a large food order. It was a new experience for me to go do that . Because we have to drive three hours to get there, and it was a pretty big order, we called ahead and had a set time to do this. We arrived a few min early-yay for us! Because we planned it to be able to get out of there by noon. so we could be home by 3. I agreed to feed the missionaries at 5 and Mary had to be back for a wedding at 5:30.
We went inside, visited the ladies room and went into the packing room to discover that some people just walked in ahead of of and they did not have a reservation. That delayed us a bit. When we finally got started on our order it was going pretty well, we were getting the hang of it, and then we notice that the items we are canning are not on our order. We discover that some people from the area stepped in and put their order in the middle of our order and had us canning their food! (Now, before I start sounding uncharitable, I really was having a good time, but they were not really doing any of the work for their order.) They filled their order and left, we were back onto our order, for a little while. We noticed that some things we had already done were going through the line again….Some other group showed up and started filling their order in the middle of our line again!
I looked at a clock, and at this point, had we left right then, we would have made it home just in time for me to help Jacob finish cooking. However we still had quite a bit left in our order, and then there is the time it takes to check out. So we made a bit of a stink (to the people who actually work in the store house) about being the only ones who had called ahead, having to drive 3 hours to get home, that a couple of us were late by this point to get to our commitments, and how we were using our time not working on our order. So the guy that works there made it clear that we were already late, and needed to get our order done to the third group that came in while were filling our order, and made it clear that we would finish our order so we could get on the road.
It was after 2:30 by the time we got to leave. I missed supper with the Elders, they were just leaving as I got home. Mary was fashionably late to the wedding.
However, I did learn that if I ever go again, I will make sure I have all day to spend doing the canning, and I will take a face mask to wear cause some of the stuff has lots of dust that gets into the air, and at this time I am coughing so hard it hurts to breath. And I have been drinking lots of liquids trying to get my throat all cleaned out.
Before you all go thinking that I am just a whiny person that won’t help other people, let me state that I would have enjoyed staying all day doing that if I hadn’t made other plans (but, as it were, we barely got to leave when we expected to be able to get home). And (this is the grumpy part of me) I think it was very selfish of people (not just one, but three groups did this, not counting the one that got there just before us making us start late) to come in with out making plans ahead of time, jumping in in the middle of our order-having us can their stuff, and then not stay and help us finish our order when they live in the area, and we had 3 hours left on our trip home.
Now, with the complaining out of the way, here are a few pictures of the trip.
Here is a picture off our group (we are smiling because we haven’t started yet) Mary, Karen, Annette, Mary, and myself in the little box, I was the photographer.
This is a pretty picture of Mary, but the purpose of the shot is how empty the shelving was when we started.
First you take new cans
Place them in tubs to be filled
After filling them, place an oxygen absorber in each can (by the way, it was one of the “cut-in” groups that tried to mix the cans together….I bet you can guess what that did to my OCD*)
Put a lid on it and Seal the can with a big noisy machine
Each can gets a label with the date of packing on it (this is why it is important to keep the same food going with out mixing in a different kind of can) This picture does not do her justice, she is beautiful, but the baggy coat and hair net cover that.
Here are 3 of our carts, yes, we had more that wouldn’t fit in the picture
And the Shelves as we left them
*I have not been diagnosed with OCD, though I wouldn’t be out of the running for it, perhaps I am a Type A personality, nah, probably not.
I am so glad you blogged about that. I would have loved to go and help. I do really well with tasks that include doing the same thing over and over. Sorry about all the trouble but sadly it doesn’t suprise me all that much. Some people just don’t think.
I am curious…what did you gals go “can” food for? Where did you take the food or what did you do with it when you were done?
We canned the food to have for food storage. In case of an emergency or if somebody looses a job and does not have the money to go purchase more food. It is a precautionary safety net in the food department. In general we try to set a goal of having a year’s supply of what we use/eat, and then use the oldest first and replace it with new. That way it keeps from getting too old, and we can keep track of what we have to use for food. The cans are a pretty convenient way to store food and they are sealed so no bugs can get in.
I have always wanted to actually do this, too! What a pain, though, having to deal with such inconsiderate people.