I bring my lunch to work--the lunch that Joe packs for me each day. It isn't a very exciting lunch as I am forever watching my weight--it consists of a cut up apple, a bag of carrot and celery sticks, a Weight Watcher's yogurt, a peeled orange, and a cheese stick. Yum. Yes, I am the envy of hamsters everywhere with that delicious fare.Apparently other humans don't think this is a very good lunch, because Office Attitude Lady decided to clean out the refrigerator at 9:00 AM on a Monday morning (Who the hell cleans out the fridge in the morning?!) and promptly emptied the contents of my brown bag directly into the garbage. When I asked her why she would throw out a perfectly good lunch, she replied that my apples looked brown. (Has she ever seen an apple 1/2 hour after it's been cut?) Whatever. But instead of apologizing, she had even more attitude that I would dare question her. She's an idiot. An angry idiot. I dug the little baggies out of the garbage, washed off everything and ate it all anyway. I think she silently freaked out. I smugly smiled and chomped on my germy lunch.
So, it's the same routine, day after day. At approximately 11:23, every single day, I get my lunch out and eat at my desk. Since the lunch rarely changes, I don't even look at what I'm eating. I just start with the cheese stick and move forward--moving onto the yogurt, and drag out the rest of the day loudly munching on the carrots and celery. I didn't realize I was "loudly" munching until Irene made some comment about it on her side of the cubicle wall. I ignored her because I think she is secretly jealous of my lunch.
Wednesday of this week turned my lunch life around. I was opening the cheese stick when I looked at the packaging.
"It's a commercial!" I'm saying out loud to nobody in particular.
"Hmmm?" Esra half-asks from Cube 4.
"My cheese stick has a freakin' commercial on it!" and I kinda hold it up for her to see.
On the top of my cheese stick is big giant letters reading "High School Musical 3"--which is a lot of words for a little cheese stick. And then it goes on to have a trivia question from the movie--like the whole cheese-stick-eating-world has all seen this movie?! Fortunately, I avoided seeing any of these movies, although I have heard some of the songs.
Okay. I'm up for the challenge.
"Hey, Irene!" I yell over to Cube 2, "Are you up for a little Cheese Stick Trivia?".
"Oh yeah." she says. Irene is a hoot--always up for some kind of fun.
So I read the question and it was something stupid like "What did Bobby (?) ask from Troy in his senior year?" I don't remember the exact question or names, but you get the idea--these are really lame questions and I think you'd have to be 9 and seen the movie like a zabillion times to answer these things. Me and the 20 and 30 somethings in the office don't stand a chance in hell to answer these things. But we try anyway.
Irene was all like "Can I borrow your cell phone" or "Do you have any drugs" and random stuff like that. She was guessing apparently. Esra was just looking baffled and didn't know what to make of all of this. I think she was still wondering if I was serious or not. (Esra is from Turkey and sometimes I confuse her with my terminology--no fault of hers--just mine, as I tend to be a little wacky.) But, she chimes in with a "Can I have your lunch?" just to play along.
So, there we sat, the back room basically shut down of any productive work while we labored on what the hell went on in High School Musical 3. Our answers were creative and stimulating to say the least. I finally figured out that nobody knew the answer, or saw the movie for that matter, so I read the answer ("his locker") and we all moved on to finance or HR or whatever we do there for all those hours. It was all very exciting.
Thursday comes, and yes, I was working again, and I brought my lunch--again. Yes! Another Cheese Stick Trivia question!
"Okay! It's Cheese Stick Trivia Time folks!" I'm yelling over the cubey walls. Irene yells that she's ready and Esra pulls out her chair so that she can see me reading the question. "Okay, Leen" , Esra's in. Great!
"What did Mikey (?) bring Susie (?) for dessert when they went on a picnic lunch?" Yeah, like we are going to know this one. And Irene starts shouting out answers like we are on Jeopardy--except she doesn't put them in question form. And she's not clicking in.
"Ice cream. No...that'll melt. Uh....Chocolate cake! Twinkies! Cookies! Uh...." Irene was really into this.
Esra is a little more subdued. "Strawberries. Hmmm....pie?" She's into this too.
I yell hints to them, like "Combine your answers!" and finally Esra gets the win with "Chocolate covered strawberries" and we were all very excited that we actually got the answer.
It doesn't take much to entertain us, but we are a fun group. Who would have thought a cheese stick could provide so much entertainment at lunch? Such small joy in everyday boredom. That's what life is about, Charlie Brown--finding fun in the mundane.
I'm off today, but I'm seriously thinking of emailing their trivia question to them.
21 comments:
Ha, that does sound like fun trivia. We were sharing the knock knock jokes off of a popsickle stick yesterday, we're equally as amused.
Did you know if you put a few drops of lemon juice on your apple slices, they won't turn brown? We do this for my kid's school snack to keep them fresh.
Hey girlie! I gave you a RAOK award over at my blog. Go grab it and display it proudly! You're also one of my Top Commenters, so grab that one, too! :)
Do you have any openings where you work? We don't do anything nearly that fun during lunch around here...
And by the way, thanks for being so excited about me being back. Now if I can just get back into WRITING...
*sigh*
It's bad enough that I have no High School Musical knowledge, and now I realize there has been 3 of them. I have no idea what a cheese stick is, either. Now I feel like a total loser.
Casey--It's good to know that there are other weirdos out there. At the price of popsicles and cheese sticks, they had better provide some entertainment too! I knew about the lemon juice, but if I was willing to dig my lunch out of the garbage, do you think a little brown was going to bother me?! Hee! Hee! You should have seen her face. (snicker)
Sherrie--I am so HONORED! I'm excited to post that baby!
Diane--You gotta make your own fun, I learned that a long time ago. I'll send you some cheese sticks. It helps to have some other pallies to go along with the fun, and Esra and Irene are a hoot.
Old Man-What?! So my whole story was wasted?! Ugh. Cheese sticks are an evil plot by parents to get their kids to eat healthy by making little string cheese sticks individually packaged for lunchtime enjoyment. Now they are putting ads on that too to add to the mind-altering magic. You aren't missing a thing with HS Musical as far as I can tell. Maybe you are happier being naive to that. Enjoy it!
Lin, You really are a Whacko Gal! No wonder everyone likes you so much. I love the way you handled the situation when your lunch got trashed. Reminds me of the story . . . On second thought, I'd better not tell that one. 8D
Cheese Stick Trivia for the win!! LOL Don't you love how it is the simple things in life that can bring such great joy?
Oh and for the record I think that DH could answer those questions - Should I be scared??
Okay, I just read this, and sooo funny. And -- come on...you need more protein girlie! :)
I have to ask...since you mention Esra is from Turkey. If that's her real name, do you know her last name? I only ask b/c there was once an Esra here from Turkey, and she moved. She has a son, and her hubby is AF. Is this the same person? Probably not I know...but I had to ask. LOL!
At the real estate office I used to work at my supervisor used to ask trivia questions about old movies and movie stars all the time. (Even back then we were bored out of our minds.) I usually got them off the top of my head. If no one got it, the second round we were allowed to use the internet. Since I typed faster than anyone else and knew how to search online better I always won the second round.
Chuck--After she tossed my lunch, Attitude Lady said to me "Just go buy yourself a lunch" all flippant like, that's why I made a point of washing it all and eating it. She's a big giant crabby jerk. She sits waayy on another side of the office and I don't see her much. I like sitting by Irene, Esra and Jim--they're a hoot! Oh, I want to hear your story, you've got me intrigued.
Stephanie--That is scary that he knows those movies so well. I think Kraft makes those cheese sticks, maybe you could treat him with a package!
Sherrie--Not the same gal. Maybe the name Esra in Turkey is like Kathy or Lori here. This Esra has a little girl. That's funny that you know an Esra too!
Lola--Yea for Office Trivia fun! Beats the heck out of working, doesn't it?!
Lin, you are sooooo crazy but I love that in you.
Oh, don't you just love office life! It's the funny little jokes over the cubicle walls that get you through the day. I have a hillarious email I'll send you. It's an HR notice asking people to stop cursing at work. It offers alternatives. Instead of, "She's a f____'n b_____ch" you say, "she's an overly agressive go-getter." There's a whole bunch of them like "I wan't involved in that project" instead of "tell someone who give a sh__." For the past week a group of us have been talking in this code. It's so funny!
I love the cheese stick trivia. Good for you for keeping it light at work. As for the Attitude Lady, she owed you lunch for trashing yours. I would have pulled it out of the garbage and eaten it too. She needs to get more cheese sticks in her life.
Lin~ I cannot believe that you ate your lunch out of the trash... wait a minute... yes, I can! I saw the photo of dad's barn and expected to read about the farm/barn or how much you love the Ostlers... but I can see the connection between the barn and the office... hee, hee. Miss you! Wish we were back in Florida!
Much love~
Veronica--And to think I have two counterparts at work! It's no fun being silly all by yourself.
Daughter--Oh, please send it. I'm part of the HR dept and they would get a kick out of that one! It sounds great!
Merry--The room we sit in only has 4 of us and we've sort of bonded. There are other peeps spread out around the office, but we are a fun bunch in the back room! I'm glad I'm not with Attitude Lady everyday--I'd quit.
ANGIE!! - I miss you too! What fun Florida was!! Sorry I let you down with the photo. I was thinking Farm = barn = cows = cheese = fun at work. It's a stretch, I know. As for the lunch, it was still in enclosed baggies or I would not have eaten it. I think it was more for effect than anything. I wanted to make her feel bad for being an IDIOT. I don't think that's possible though. XOXO to you!
I'm down for all trivia, except, HSM. I have never seen anything HSM. But what the heck is wrong with Attitude Lady and throwing out your lunch? Funny thing is you retrieving it back and eating it. LOL. hey, you gotta eat. Write on your bag: Do not discard *** ****.
How come no one at my lunch--and I have age appropriate lunch company, with cheese sticks--plays cheese stick trivia with me?
I'm jealous! LOL
Casey--Lin can toss her apples in lemon lime soda and get the same effect on her apples.
Natural--She is an angry, angry gal for absolutely no reason. Some people are just that way. You should have seen her face with me digging my lunch out of the garbage--and I left the mess for her to clean up! It was all in baggies anyway, so it wasn't like the fruit and veggies were really in the trash. It was all for effect!
Jodi--Well, I think you need to start something over at your workplace. Mix it up a bit. Work kinda sucks anyway, so any fun would be an improvement, don't you think?! Let me know if it works. Thanks for the lemon lime trick!
Lin, I wonder what would happen if you started taking a single piece of taffy to work as well? Double trivia?
Boy, that sounds a lot like my lunch when I used to be on WW. But I also saved my cheese stick until last and got the carrots and celery out of the way first.
I'm dieting again (not WW) and I think I need some string cheese, especially now that I know about the trivia questions. TOO FUN!
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