Cindy Cole, cafeteria lady/comedian, Bishop Fenwick High School
Why the dining hall for a gig: “This year, a few students gave me their senior pictures with nice notes on the back. One of them wrote ‘You made my day brighter, even though you may not have known it.’ That’s what this job is all about.”
What the kids like best: “Chicken fingers. We can serve them with tots, on a Caesar salad, or buffalo style-it doesn’t matter; the line is longest on Mondays for chicken fingers.”
Biggest gripe: “We don’t hear a lot of gripes because this is not like the school lunches we grew up with. Although, [students] don’t like anything new; they are creatures of habit.”
Having fun at work: “One day, we all wore shirts with the logo LLU-Lunch Lady University. One student asked, ‘Is there really a Lunch Lady University?’ We said, ‘Heck yeah, we don’t just know this stuff, we have to study!'”
Coworkers: “Patty and Aggie. Aggie is a Lunch Lady Action Figure. She makes the kids laugh; they took her to the senior prom this year. Patty and I made a Facebook page for her called “Fans of the Lunch Lady.” We’ve posted pictures of her at school, on vacation, and at a Bruins game! We’ve been trying to get Ellen Degeneres to log on, but she hasn’t yet.” -K.J.