Wednesday, April 9, 2014

The Cold Milk Caper

In Pieces of a Life John Kellogg's autobiography sketches various jobs he took while working his way through the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the early 1920s.  When he was waiting tables at the Keeler Klub one hot day, he swigged a cold glass of milk right before the guests started to come in.  Eating before they did was against the rules.  As he heard someone approaching, he poured water into the milk pitcher to make it look full.

Sure enough, the guest was at one of John's tables.  "...the first thing he did was pour himself a glass of milk.  All he got was the water I had poured in and lacked the time to stir in. He drank and then said, 'They sure loaded this heavy today.' 

Silently, I agreed.  Student waiters, like the paying students, could eat anything they wanted and there were few restrictions.  But they were supposed to eat after the guests.  And they had to have all of the dishes off of their tables before they ate.  Never again did I break those two cardinal rules."

"I heard this story many times as I grew up, usually punctuated by my father's laughing so hard that the tears streamed down his face.  He'd remove his glasses to wipe his eyes, his cheeks - and sometimes start to guffaw all over again.  He was puzzling in some ways - so work-focused, but loving a belly-laugh that came from something close to slapstick comedy."

The photo of John is probably his graduation picture, taken in 1924.   

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