A writing prompt for this week was “mustard”. How in the world could I write about mustard?
It’s yellow. It will stain your clothes. It is great on a sandwich. I use it a lot. Not exactly a glowing recommendation. If I were really serious, I’m sure I could churn out something that would sing the praises of mustard. You’d grab your keys and rush to the store trying not to squirt the bottle into your mouth before purchasing.
Instead, I’ll tell you about one of the times I got burned at Hardee’s. Yes, it involves mustard.
Front and Back
Working in the foodservice kitchen, you are going to get burns and scars. It is a fact. They don’t tell you this when you get hired. It would be too much of a deterrent.
Generally, in the restaurant industry, there is front of the house and back of the house. Front of the house is your manager, servers, cashiers, etc. If you interact with people, you are front of the house. Back of the house would be cooks, chefs, prep, expo, dishwasher, etc. (Remind me to tell you about washing dishes in a restaurant).
At this time in my life, I was front of the house. We could help back of the house by helping to fry items. The cashiers would help “drop fries”. You’d rip open a bag of frozen fries and dump them into a basket. Then put the basket in the fry vats to cook. I did it this time and got splashed with the grease onto my hand.
Burning Sensation
My manager thought my arm was going to melt off. He takes me to the break table and then brings up a pickle bucket filled with ice and water and tells me to put my hand in it. Do you know what a pickle bucket is? If you don’t, here are some pictures:
After that, he grabs a jar of mustard and proceeds to slather it all over my hand. I keep insisting that I’m fine. But he keeps telling me no, I need to rest and treat the burn. The theory is that something in the mustard draws out the pain and irritation.
If I look hard enough on my hand I can see the scar on my hand from that burn.
Mustard for Burns
In writing this, I looked around on the internet for using mustard for burns and I found this!
https://mustardmuseum.com/burn-relief/
I also did not know that there was a mustard museum.
“So, why all the fuss? Well, with more than 6,090 mustards from all 50 states and more than 70 countries (and counting), our collection of Mustard History is a sight to behold. From the exquisite Gibbons Collection of mustard pots to antique tins & jars and vintage advertisements, the National Mustard Museum is truly a shining temple to the “King of Condiments”.
Mustard Museum Website
I guess I was able to write about mustard after all. I’m suddenly hungry for a good sandwich.
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