a whole lot of crunching going on

Being the nutrition committee liaison may never result in removing Trix from the lunch menu at Hamish's school. It did however result in my being coordinator of the Pennsylvania-wide event called Apple Crunch. This morning was the big day. After dozens of emails and phone calls with the cafeteria manager, my co-liaison, the parents' association, the Nutritional Services secretary and the principal, there were tables stacked with hundreds of local-ish washed apples in the atrium, and a whole lot of crunching going on.


The cafeteria manager is one of the hippest looking women at my son's school, a badass chick who might look more at home in a gritty artist's studio than a school cafeteria. It has caused me to sigh ruefully more than once that Hamish's school has more of a Lilly Pulitzer than L.A.M.B. vibe any day of the week. I found myself thinking, now this looks like a woman whose kids do not eat Trix for lunch. I wonder what she thinks about the extruded corn syrup offerings... Maybe one day I will ask her. Or maybe I will ask her out for drinks and a show at World Cafe.

On the other hand, Lilly Pulitzer herself was the one parent who volunteered her time and boundless enthusiasm from the beginning, holding my reluctant hand through the entire process. She arrived to school early, her three kids in tow, to help me pass out apples. I kid you not, the woman wore a bright pink tennis skirt. Lilly probably thought nothing of my black jeans, black boots and black motorcycle jacket (I dress as if to escape the confines of my suburban life). She was too busy moving product and delegating. I gaped at her while she steered the entire operation like an NFL coach and realized that I am so not a committee person. Shouting, "Hey! Have an apple! Start your Halloween with a healthy treat!" is not in my typical comfort zone, but there I was, even having a little fun despite myself.

I thanked her profusely for her help the entire time and afterwards asked where she got her incredible go-get-it-ness. She shrugged her buff shoulders and her highlighted bob shimmered under the jumbo industrial halogen lights. "I used to be in marketing," she said, and I nodded, understanding. She is a woman born to seal a deal.

Me, I'm a woman born to sit alone at my desk and write about it.