'are we having fun yet?'...

...is what I have been asking myself the past couple of days at work. And I'm pretty sure I knew the answer long before I asked the question. At work for 7 1/2 hours on Saturday, and over 8 hours today, with most of that spent standing in place cutting up fruit for the BOGO of the week: mixed fruit salad bowls, consisting of cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew melon, a couple of cubes of pineapple, a smattering of grapes and one strawberry cut in half.

I spent, literally, hours and hours yesterday, cutting up, literally, dozens and dozens of cantaloupe and honeydew, and cubing pineapple, plus pulling grapes off the bunch/stem by the gallon, and quarts and quarts of strawberries halved to complete the mix. The only thing I don't do is manhandle the watermelons, which are so difficult to pick up it's like a greased pig contest (or a soapy baby in the kitchen sink) when they are wet. Plus they are just too big  and heavy for me to cut in half - so I tell 'em 'I don't do watermelons'. Which leaves me doing every thing else to prep and put the cut cubes in big containers. The bins we use for the prepped melons and pineapple are as large as you would use to store clothing or Christmas decorations in your basement or attic. When I get one full of (name your melon choice), someone will come and take it away from me, and tell me to start on a different one.It went on like that for - honestly - hours yesterday.

Alice and I agreed that we want the name and address of 'whoever' it is on a corporate level that came up with the bright idea for having the assorted fruit bowls as a BOGO item. But there is probably someone at every single one of the 1,000 plus stores that would like the same information, after nearly a week of trying to keep up with demand. It's been so overwhelming that people who never do prep stuff for the fresh fruit bar have been putting on the waterproof aprons (which are also 'stickyproof' - to keep from being soaked with sticky juice from the pineapple and melons - like small children will do to a kitchen floor with apple juice) and hairnets to dig in and try to stay ahead of the demand... which apparently we have barely been able to do from one day to the next.

Thankfully the new adv. comes out in the newspaper on Wednesday, so only two more days of that sticky mess.