MCL Cafeteria

Ooooh oooh that smell, Cant you smell that smell… MCL (apologies to Lynyrd Skynyrd)

MCL was my first real job. I washed dishes. A wee lad at just 4’10” I could barely reach the rack above the feed of the washing machine. Steam was rising, food was baking and there was something decidedly different about the workforce.

The man I worked the washing machine with with would be seen spitting on a dish or two later that night. Not sure if normal or to impress/intimidate me. I fed the washing machine on the front end, he worked the clean end. We did not speak. He turned out to be the lead singer of a local punk band that made some national waves in the 90’s.

The baker in the area next to me made sure to stare me down my first night and wryly state “you won’t make it till tomorrow”. He was the best man at my wedding 11 years later. The hats… everyone was wearing paper hats, hats with hand writing. Writing that I would later learn were the lyrics from the Clash’s first album. Lyrics they made sure to sing out loud to the elderly couples getting their fried chicken mashed potatoes and green beans and jello in the line. Was a wild fun place to work.

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