Username -- Lioth
Name -- Theo
Gender -- Male
Most dearest thing to them --
Here's the question everyone wants to know; what's Theo's favorite thing?
Well, it's a wooden spoon.
Why, you ask?
Because you can hit people with it.
- - - - -
The scene opens at my very first day at work. It was my first job, and I was about as excited as one could be to wake up at 3am to go to a bakery and make the bread before the day began. I trudged through the back door at exactly 3:30am, the time my new boss told me to get there so that he could run me through the process before the rest of the staff got there at 4. I pressed the palm of my hand to my eye, groaning as I shut the massive door behind me. Today was going to be a long day.
"Good morning, Theo," he said to me, shaking my hand. "Or I should say good night, don't think I didn't see you yawn."
He winked at me and laughed and I groaned again, dropping my hand by my side. I shook my head. How could someone be so awake this early in the morning? Most teens didn't even go to bed until this late. He must have been some kind of nocturnal animal and human hybrid, I decided.
Quickly, he grabbed my wrist, dragging me around the kitchen. He pointed at things and explained their purpose, rattling on and on about how you made what. As soon as he was done with the tour, the rest of the staff had arrived. He handed me off to the assistant manager, a sweet girl named Felissa, and she dragged me back to the start of the line to go through a test batch of pita bread. Admittedly, I was not very good at making bread. Felissa and my boss did cut me some slack, though. They understood what it was like to get a job for the first time.
If I'm going to be honest here, my first day at work was one of the most fun days I've ever had. Granted it wasn't always going to be like that at work but, it was still pretty great. They told stories about weird days they had at work while I listened and sometimes laughed along. At one point they had a duel with two wooden spoons we had been using (and funny enough, the boss lost).
It was at 8pm that the bakery closed. Felissa and Mark (another staff member) helped me turn off all of the machinery and leave the dishes to be done by the janitorial crew. Felissa waved to me as we parted via the front door, and despite the fact I'd have to get up that early again tomorrow, I was pretty excited to.
- - - - -
But Theo, that doesn't explain why your wooden spoon is your most prized possession.
Yes, I realize. But I never said the story was over, did I?
Calm down, don't get your panties in a twist. I was just about to get to that part.
- - - - -
The first of the next month rolled around and, thankfully, I was still working at the bakery. Felissa wasn't really a friend of mine, but Mark and I were pretty close and constantly teased her about her boyfriend (who usually showed up at her lunch break for a game of cards). All was going well and I was pretty happy to be a part of such a joyous team of individuals.
Getting up so early started to become normal for me, I usually woke up a few minutes before my alarm went off and it was pretty great. I went to work that day the same as usual, my newly buffered, trusty wooden spoon in hand. I checked Facebook for the trillionth time that morning before opening the back door and entering the bakery.
I was blinded by wood grains as about fifteen wooden spoons slammed onto my shoulders. I screamed (much like a little girl) and dropped to the floor, immediately curling up into a fetal position.
"Come on, Theo, this is just bakery initiation." Mark coaxed me into standing. I brushed off my shirt, crossing my arms and narrowing my eyes.
"Why does bakery initiation have to include hitting me with my favorite kitchen utensil," I sighed.
"We do it for everyone, hon. I got hit with whisks and Jeremy got hit with ah, he got hit with ladles." Rhonda shook her head at Jeremy. He sheepishly backed away into the crowd of staff.
Mark went to the back of the kitchen, returning again through the crowd with the largest wooden spoon in the bakery. He placed the spoon on my shoulder, tapping it and the other one. He mumbled some things I didn't quite catch and then the entire staff dispersed. Mark didn't leave, though, and instead decided to stick around and smack my butt with the big wooden spoon.
And that's where I smacked him across the face with my own spoon.