Last week I had the opportunity to serve at the LDS cannery for a few hours. I wasn't totally pumped about it because it meant that I had to drop off Cameron at my sis-in-law's house at 6:30 a.m., but other than that, it wasn't really a big deal. Shortly after I arrived, I watched an instructional video, was told that we would be canning beef stew, washed up and was directed to put on a plastic shirt/apron, gloves and a hair net. I had heard that canning beef stew wasn't the greatest, mainly because of the smell, but I had NO IDEA.
The lady in charge lead me to a turn table where I had to push a button so that chunks of RAW beef, cut potatoes and carrots, and a continuous stream of BLOOD would fall out of a machine above us and SPLAT onto the turn table. Then I would proceed to use my arms in a sweeping motion as quickly as possible to pull the mixture into cans, which would then rotate around the turn table and move on to the next station. It was a messy, but efficient process, that lasted 4 hours. There were three of us on the turn table with the "nasty" job, and to tell you the truth, it really wasn't that bad. Once I got my mind off the smell and the product, I was okay. It wasn't until about the 3rd hour that I really started feeling sick.
I think it was a combination of having to stand for so long in the same place and watching the turn table go around and around and around, and then the feeling that I was spinning when it stopped. Or, maybe it was the fact that I was covered in blood and chunks of meat. The smell was starting to get to me again and it started to feel pretty warm in there. Maybe it was because I kept watching Kara get splashed in the face when I pushed the button and yelled, "meat splash," to warn her. I think it was the combination of a lot of things, but whatever it was, it stayed with me for the rest of the day. When we were finally finished, my shoes and the bottom of my pants were caked so I ran to Target and grabbed a pair of flip flops, a new t-shirt and a pair of capri's for the trip home.
The next day I woke up with a RAGING sinus infection. Then we watched Contagion (which by the way, only gets a 4 on my scale of 1-10) and all I could think about was being covered in blood and meat chunks at the cannery. After last week, I think I might have to become a vegetarian. I want to douse everything I touch in hand sanitizer and forget about shaking hands with anyone. Let's just say that last week left a definite impression.
On the up side, as I waded through raw meat and avoided getting splashed in the face, I couldn't help but think of what a profound difference we were making in the lives of others by sacrificing our time and cleanliness to provide nourishment for Heavenly Father's children. There are so many of our brothers and sisters in this world with far less than we have and I am grateful that I had the chance to serve them for a few short hours. I have been blessed with SO MUCH and I will do it over and over, again and again, to help my brothers and sisters in need.
But next time, I'll remember to pack a change of clothes :)
