I am do something good.

So. I work at an eating disorder facility, and first I need to take a moment to brag. I don't do this often but I am very proud of my work last night.

I am the cook and I have to get dinner out for all of the clients and direct care staff by a certain time. I also have to have things prepared into the correct portion sizes, set the table, and prep breakfast food.

And I do not make easy food.

Last night I made Au Gratin potatoes (two pans, from scratch), Chicken Cordon bleu, steamed veggies, vanilla bread pudding (which mostly just needed to bake. But I had ONE average sized oven in which to do all this.), prep the melon salad for this morning (six melons in total), set the table, prepare seperate things for our full vegetarians, half vegetarians, and our celiac. I also served a total of 17 people last night.

I did this in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

That is not easy to do.

So, the thing that really made my night last night was after I joined the girls for dinner. As the cook I am the last person to eat. I have to make sure all the girls are plated, and then direct care staff, and also make sure that the kitchen is cleaned up enough and the dishwasher is empty so that girls can take care of their dishes after dinner.

Then I can eat.

If it is a night where we are serving dessert, then I also can't plate until after the girls have dessert.

Last night was one of those nights. And the fact that it was dessert night made the following comment make me feel even better about myself.

So, I decided when I started work that I would always refer to the girls as "lovely Ladies" (Not the Les Mis kind, but as an actual comment to these girls). I know they have self image issues, one because they are teenage girls and two they are at a treatment facility for girls with eating disorders. Not hard to figure it out.

So whenever I call down for them to come to dinner I always yell "All right Lovely Ladies, it's time for dinner!", and when I write up on the whiteboard, which is every meal, I always write "Good evening Lovely Ladies."

Point being, I make a conscious effort to call them lovely.

I assumed this fell on deaf ears.

I also have been stressed and having a hard time at work because one, I'm the cook so I already am not the girls favorite person; but also the direct care hasn't been very appreciative of my efforts to make sure dinner is out on time. WHICH IS HARD TO DO AND I BUST MY BUTT TO GET IT OUT!

But mostly I just felt like I haven't really been doing a great job and that the girls didn't like me, and just stressed because it is a hard job.

So after I sit down and I start eating, one of the girls turns around and looks at me and says "We were just talking about how we like you because you always call us Lovely Ladies."

To which I responded, "Well you are lovely ladies, and I never lie."

But what she doesn't know is how incredible that comment made me feel.

They have noticed that I always call them lovely, and they appreciate it. I am doing SOMETHING good. I wanted this job to try and be a positive influence on the girls and I just felt like I had been falling short.

But now I know that whenever I work, they are going to be called lovely, and they notice it.

My job now just seems so much better than it did two days ago.