Pass the Salad

When I worked in the produce area of the stores I had worked in; I prepared the produce for sale into smaller sections from the bulk produce that came into the store via truck. I remember the smells and will never forget the smells when the produce that came in mixed with some bad product. It is debatable which smells worse, a rotten watermelon or a rotten potato. They both smell pretty bad. It was my job to separate the good from the bad and to clean and package the good product to sell on the sales floor. I cleaned and prepped everything that you see in today's produce areas of stores, of course today much of it comes in prepackaged and prepped, unlike years ago when it was all shipped bulked and had to be repackaged by the produce clerks.

I remember reaching into a box of bananas and saw something jump over my shoulder, which really freaked me out because I did not know what it was. When I found it, I was able to identify it as a katydid. Another time there was a rat in the produce room that I had to chase down and get rid of, otherwise it would have eaten on the produce and possibly make someone sick. That was freaky when I saw the rat run across the floor in the corner of my eye.

During the holidays I would make fruit baskets to order and create samples to put on display. I was surprised how many of these we actually sold. A lot of people buy them.

I learned what the different types of lettuce, apples, potatoes, cauliflower, and other fruits and vegetables were, from pomegranates to kiwi fruit and many other types of produce.

I think the most embarrassing part about the produce job was the fact the smells from the produce became attached to your skin on your hands and when you were around people they would start saying things like I smell celery, or onions, or potatoes. Even though I would wash my hands and put lemon juice on them to kill the smell of the other produce smells, the smell of the various produce would still linger.

I did learn a lot about scales, packaging and weighing items, dating and pulling old produce items from the sales floor for disposal, and inventory control.