Lunchtimes
I lived near school. I used to get dinnermoney (a quid) but used to nip home, microwave some fish fingers and beans and save the quid for panini stickers.

Every now and then I'd bring a mate home and charge him a quid for lunch, throw in some oven chips and a cup of tea. This was a daily event and the mates varied.

Cut to one year later.

Service has been refined in to an extremely efficient process. The 14 of us engaged in the various kitchen processes at any one time had evolved in to a perfect little engine. There were the 'provisioners' - responsible for obtaining the basic products from the local co-op, the cooks - the operators of the hob, oven and microwave, the tea makers, and the kitchen hands, responsible for opening packages, disposing of waste, cleaning up, washing up etc. Within 40 minutes, there was a lot of work to do and Home Ec lessons had served us well. It really was quite brilliant. Other than the spiralling fuel bills for my parents, we went unnoticed for most of 6th form.

I think I was dishing out the fish fingers when my mum walked in. Everyone froze. My mum didnt blink and said "ooh fish fingers, can I have some I'm starving" and joined us for lunch. She was ace and I was gobsmacked. Surely I cant avoid the biggest bollockcocking of my life for this? It dawned on me that she thought this was a one off and as long as we cleaned up she wouldnt have minded.

Rich? I saved about £300, bought a sony hifi, and a guitar. That was rich to a 17 year old in 1989.
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Fri 1 Aug 2008, 13:38, 1 reply)

Damn you!
Now I won't rest until I've had a fish-finger sandwich.
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Fri 1 Aug 2008, 14:04, closed)