![]() ![]() I stuck to my plan of just grabbing a coffee, but I tried to sneak a peek into the prep area, too. Instead of the slop I remembered from high school, plates were piled high with fresh and colorful foods-today's menu was 'tandoori chicken with roast vegetables' or 'vegetarian lasagna with chopped greens.' Both meals included fries and a drink. I'd underestimated the number of researchers at the facility: workers with rubber gloves and hairnets scurried between the huge tables, carrying trays of food. It didn't have that harsh chemical smell so common in facilities like ours, but the stainless steel surfaces practically sparkled. It seemed clean at least, and I liked that. With a final deep breath, I left the restroom and pushed open the door to the laboratory dining hall. I didn't even have to eat anything, I told myself. Besides, the whole lab went to the cafeteria: if I didn't join, I'd never get to know any of my coworkers.Īnd so I found myself washing my hands twice, sighing, trying to make my reflection in the staff bathroom mirror look less paranoid and strange. I didn't want to be known as the weird new guy who ate his sandwich outside with the seagulls every afternoon. Ridiculous, I know-even hospitals full of infectious diseases have their own cafeterias, right? But even after a week of working at the facility, I still hasn't set foot in the dining hall. In theory, I know that the food stays separate from our preserved cannisters of deep sea creatures…but in practice, I can't stop imagining slimy black eels in the gallon-jugs of ketchup and dead anglerfish floating in the soda machine. Secondly, cafeterias attached to laboratories-like this one was–had always grossed me out. You can get used to the smell (brine, formaldehyde, dead fish, cleaning solution) but you never really get it out of your nose. I wasn't enthusiastic about eating lunch there…for a number of reasons.įirstly, my work: I cut up fish corpses for science. It was the question everyone had been asking me since I started work at the facility. "You're new, right? Well, we're glad to have ya. ![]()
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