Lunch Ladies Rise up

Lunch ladies just looking for a little respect
They serve the food, monitor lunchrooms and feel invisible
June 3, 2007
BY MARK BROWN
Chicago Sun-Times Columnist

The lunch lady knows. The lunch lady knows when the kids aren't going to eat the meal she's been instructed to serve that day, and she knows when she's setting out food that they'll eat but probably shouldn't because of its negligible nutritional value.

The lunch lady knows which kids are vegetarians and which are diabetic. She knows who has a peanut allergy and who gets two meals because they're homeless.

She may not have a master's degree, but the lunch lady knows which kids mind their manners at school, and which ones go hungry at home because their parents are hooked on drugs.

'They treat us like we're not there'

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