The Big Church Day Out - Part 2

Switchfoot live

 So, where was I. Mix, roll, cut, cook, cool and then slice, jam, cream, plate, serve just a thousand times over. I did mention that Joe cut himself, right? Well, that happened during the 'slice' bit. Imagine us, as short staffed as we were, being a highly indispensable man down! I just remember turning around, up to my elbows in scone mix, to see Joe with his hand in a jug of water with the contents turning quite rose. We had to rush him to the first aid tent where he got taken care of. The knives we were using were good and sharp so the cut was clean and easily dealt with but this limited him as to what he could do kitchen wise. These sort of things are nearly unavoidable so you have to work around them, no matter the circumstances. I know one of the girls making the teas and what not got burned from an urn and so I had to stop to make sure she was okay but apart from that, I don't recall any other injuries so someone was definitely looking after us.

Toby Mac crowd surfing

 In this kind of environment stress is unavoidable too. For us it wasn't so much of a problem, in fact I felt fine, however, I don't think I could say the same for the tea people. I remember  when we were setting up at the start of the day, the two lady organisers gave my boss, who certainly did not have any spare time on his hands, a good ear chew over a few really trivial things. This event was the third in a row that the tea people had done in the past fortnight so it was kind of understandable in hindsight but even so, we just did not need anything like that. If you are working in potentially stressful surroundings then it's hard enough keeping yourself calm and level-headed. However, when you are put in a position like mine, then it is your job among the other thousand things to not only ensure that you are cool, but everyone working with you is too.

Now those are scones!

  Now, it wasn't all work and no play. I did get a chance to see some of my favourite bands in well earned breaks such as Switchfoot who I was really looking forward to seeing. I wasn't disappointed. They were absolutely great and I got to hear some of their then new stuff from the album Hello Hurricane. We couldn't stay too long so it was a rush back to work. When I got back, I was trying to relay to Joe who also likes Switchfoot how cool it was and our boss who was there kindly took me by the shoulders and turned me round to my station. It was so funny, I'll never forget it. I desperately wanted to tell Joe everything but you've got to concentrate. Back under the whip I went! You didn't necessarily need to go down to the main stage to see Toby Mac though, we could hear Boomin' vibrating the site from the tea tent! 

Jon Foreman doing his thing

 The day was filled with lulls in which you could take a breath and gather your thoughts but there were other times, when you least expect it, that it's a man rush. Some of these we could predict due to the schedule of the event using deduction. (Which I am quite fond of.) Although, when the day is coming to an end and you are constantly telling yourself that you are nearly done, last push and you can walk the two miles, (which it always feels like when you are camping), and crawl in your sleeping bag, you don't really think its real when you look through to the tent and see hundreds more people now queuing for cream-teas! Why would anyone all of sudden have a craving for scones at half-nine at night when I've spent all day cranking out the darn things? Anyway, your body goes into overtime and eventually your not quite thinking about what you are doing anymore because it is now muscle-memory. 

 We eventually got the kitchen closed around ten and then we sat down for the first time in fifteen or so hours. Sitting down, however, just doesn't seem to do it as you need to be lying down with your feet up or you get this strange, dull ache in your lower legs. My boss had this griddle which is awesome. We did cheeseburgers on it and then navigated those 'two miles' in the dark to bed around one in the morning knowing that we would have to do the same thing all over again in only five or so hours!

Looks like there's going to be a part three...