Here's an interesting and true story that happened to me, that I should have blogged about a long time ago. If you're not a former or current Oberlin students, reading the bits in the parentheses would probably be a good idea.
Three or four weeks ago, back when Old B (the student run cooperative I eat in) was still in interim (the process of figuring out who will do what jobs for the semester), I was KPing (kitchen prep, before a meal) for lunch. The other KP wasn't there yet, so I started chopping eggplants (the head cook leaves instructions for the KPs).
Now, I was not very familiar with eggplants, as I don't think I'd ever eaten one, and frankly, we don't chop large amounts of vegetables at my house. At least, we stick to things like tomatoes and bell peppers, which are a bit more tedious. Also, at my house, we have really good, sharp knives. So I'm don't have to worry about distinguishing the sharp ones from the dull ones. YES FOLKS, you are correct. That is foreshadowing.
As I was merrily chopping along, several eggplants in, I got down to the last couple of slices on this particular eggplant, and OUCH. I slice one of the fingertips on my left hand. It seemed relatively small at the time, though perhaps a bit deep, and it bled quite a bit. Of course, I stopped slicing eggplants, switched knives and threw those couple of slices out, which = no contamination, and washed it at bandaged it with the first aid kit in the hallway. I stood around for a few minutes, not sure what to do, waiting for the other KP to show up. She came, and I told her what had happened, and she seemed to think I was quite the trooper. She said I should go to Student Health (known for being not extraordinarily helpful) Really, there was no need for a butterfly closure; I think she was overreacting.
I went to class, and went about my day. I was late to lunch, and actually missed the dish that involved the eggplants, but I've had the chance to eat them since then. Fried eggplant is mightily tasty on pizza. ANYWAY, during my afternoon classes, the cut seemed to be bleeding again, underneath the bandage. Why it chose to do this I have no idea. A friend in my Russian Visual Culture class said I should go to Student Health.
Being without Neosporin, I decided going to Student Health was probably the smart thing to do.
In short, I did, and they were helpful. They gave me some packets of Neosporin-like substance to put on it, and some more bandages. It stopped bleeding, and it's completely healed to the point where I can't remember/tell if it was my middle or index finger that was cut.
But by far the best part was in the waiting room. I was flipping through People Magazine, and saw a book review. The book? Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant.
You can't make this stuff up.
3 comments:
Wow, student health didn't tell you that you were pregnant? Amazing.
Here's a bit of information that significantly ratchets up this story's you-can't-make-it-upness:
We received the new issue of the Oberlin Alumni magazine in today's post. Under the notes for the Class of 1995, is this item:
Jenni Lapidus Ferrari-Adler is the editor of Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone (Riverhead, 2007). Contributors include Ann Patchett, Haruki Murakami, Marcella Hazen, Nora Ephron, and Oberlin Professor of Creative Writing Dan Chaon. "In the book's introduction, I describe learning to cook in an Oberlin co-op," writes Jenni.
www.aloneinthekitchen.com
whoa.
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