29 year old corn scars

[fbhjr]

I’ve never found this time of year romantic, despite the holiday that tries
so hard to make it that way.
Bad things happen for me, and others I care about, at this time of year.

Back in 1984 I worked in the dish room of my college’s dining hall. The
job paid minimum wage and involved a lot of time cleaning garbage. But, it
worked well with my school schedule and was close to where I lived.
One night around this time of year, I forget the exact date, I was cleaning
up after the evening meal. One of the things on the menu had been a corn
chowder. It was not popular and there was still an immense amount of it
left.
I was told to carry the pot of it out back and pour the 2 or more gallons
of it left down the drain.

I unplugged the electric warming pot and started carrying it to the drain.
I did not notice that the electrical cord fell behind me and was dragging
on the floor.

Then, the cord caught on something, the pot tipped and a couple of gallons
of near boiling corn chowder tipped out.
It ran down my leg and filled the boot I was wearing, overflowed and went
all over the floor.

Having your foot unexpectedly immersed in very hot corn chowder is quite
painful. I ran outside and stuck my foot in a snow bank, but still ended
up with second degree burns over most of that foot. The places were the
burns were less were where the corn kernels had been pressed against my
foot. They were a bit cooler than the liquid around them, so didn’t burn
as much.
The scars on my foot have little square corn kernel shapes. Most of them
have faded away over the intervening time anyhow.

This part of winter has also seen me break toes, ankles, teeth and my chin.
Those scars have also faded.
That’s what scars do.

There are scars in my life a lot worse than those corn burns, even if they
can’t be seen.
Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the worst of them.
3652 days later, I am happy to say that it has also faded. It will never
be gone. But, faded is good. I’m pretty happy about the fading.

Comments

[ravena-kade.livejournal.com]

Glad the scars are fading. Time does make things easier.

[uawildcatgrl.livejournal.com]

Um...happy valentines day??

(and who throws out perfectly good chowdah...of any kind!)

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

It was the food service "circle of life".
What started out as dinner Monday would be lunch Tuesday. Wednesday it would be in some sort of sandwich and by Thursday a soup or chowder. (Friday's meal would supply Saturday and Sunday in a similar way.)
So, if by the chowder point the students didn't eat it, it was sent down the drain. They had already been given 3-4 chances to eat it already...

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

Wow, I'd be a touch wary of this time of year, too, if I'd had those experiences. I tend to be wary of early and mid-December for similar reasons.

[endlessblush.livejournal.com]

Wow ... that is quite a story. I can't imagine anything worse than a burn. You are fortunate that some of the scars have faded.

Happy Valentine's Day?

[zitronenhai.livejournal.com]

I have been visited by misfortune this time of year, too, though not severe bodily injury. Fading, in this way, is good.