Essay #2 Draft

Kristine Obert
kmobert@mail.usi.edu
English 201.022
Word Count: 963


Get Out The Way, Its Chicken Nugget Day!

Tick tock, tick tock, time slows as I watch the clock strike down. As the big hand on the clock gets closer and closer, everyone in the class inches near the edge of their desks. Hearts pound and bodies anxiously prepare for the race that will soon begin. It seems that years have passed while waiting for the clock to strike twelve. The classroom is so silent a pen could be heard dropping to the yellowing tile floor.

Ding, ding, ding, and their off to the cafeteria. The hysteria has begun. Like the running of the bulls in Barcelona, Spain, students race down the hall to be the first in line. “Chicken Nugget Day, its Chicken Nugget Day!” people exclaim as I run down what seems like a mile long hallway. I pass, dodge, spin around, and jump past anything that blocks my way to the prize. Will this hallway ever end? I run past a teacher who has just decided to give up on controlling the chaos, who knows that all rules of order are thrown out the door on Chicken Nugget day.

The hallway is filled with an aroma that is only experienced in a high school cafeteria. I cannot say if the smell is good or bad, but it makes everyone in the school actually excited to eat a school lunch. The smell wafts through the corridors, luring the students to the cafeteria. Most of the time the smell coming from the kitchen turns people to run in the opposite direction of the cafeteria. But like I said, its Chicken Nugget day and all rules have been thrown out the door.

When I finally reach the cafeteria, I stand in line for hours just to get a tray of five or six little pieces of chicken, one scoop of dry boxed mashed potatoes, one scoop of watery green beans, and a roll that can take someone out if used as a weapon. I grab a chocolate milk to finish off the meal. I would usually gag at the thought of chocolate milk and green beans but Chicken Nugget day would not be complete without it. To most this is the worst possible meal, but to the typical high-school student, it equals pure happiness.

On Chicken Nugget day, the lunchroom is packed. I have to inch my way through a maze to find my table. There are kids floating around that I have never ever seen before, and I thought I knew everyone at my small school. There is always a rumor on Chicken Nugget day that kids from other schools sneak in just to get our lunch. That cannot be true, right? But after looking around the packed cafeteria and seeing every inch of the room occupied, maybe I can believe it.

Lunch time at a high school is usually a time to catch up on the gossip, relive the previous three hours’ drama, and find out who was mad at whom. But Chicken Nugget day was different. It was not a conscious thing but things were different. I would look around the tables and see more people smiling, laughing, and having fun with each other. The whole school was in a great mood. The typical trials of high school life were forgotten for a short twenty minutes while we all enjoyed our school lunch.

I loved to hear everyone’s ‘war stories’ of getting to the cafeteria on Chicken Nugget day. We could all relate and sympathize with each other.
“I had to run over three freshmen to get here in time!”
“Well I was at the front of the line but then Mrs. Nelson and Mr. Groner cut in front!”
“Mr. Moman was going to make the newspaper staff work through lunch but then we reminded her that we are having chicken nuggets today and she let us leave class a minute early!”

In elementary and middle school, we had Chicken Nugget day also. It was still the best meal the cafeteria made, but the excitement was not close to what I would experience in high school. Everyone older than me would always say, “High school food is awful, you do not know how much better you have it in middle school.” When they told me this, I was so surprised. I thought to myself, “I will never get to have a wonderful chicken nugget day again.” Well thank goodness I was wrong. And was I ever surprised at how much better it got at high school!

When I was a junior, one class sold shirts as a fundraiser dedicated to Chicken Nugget day. They said, “Get out the way, its chicken nugget day.” This became the slogan of the day and could be seen on countless people on Chicken Nugget day. We even had a special page in the yearbook dedicated to the most fantastic day in high school. There were pictures of everyone in their shirts, eating their favorite meal, and sharing special memories in the school cafeteria.
Now that I am in college, I miss those special chicken nugget days. I have yet to see anyone running throughout campus yelling, “Its Turkey Bacon Wrap day!” I do not see anyone wearing special shirts representing their favorite item on the lunch menu. When I was young, I never imagined that I would miss a dish out of the school cafeteria as much I do. Or the way it brought my school together. This special day was just a few times a month, but it gave many memories I will always love, laugh at, and think about with fondness. I will never look at a chicken nugget without thinking of the precious times I spent with my friends, racing to be first in line for Chicken Nugget day.