Raining Petals

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Mrs. Powell's: A Memory




Lately it is really hard for me to wind down and fall asleep at night. My mind goes a million miles an hour. The other night I found myself deep in a vivid memory of my days working at Mrs. Powell's Cinnamon Rolls in the Magic Valley Mall.

I was sophomore in high school. My friend, Kristal, worked at Mrs. Powell's and told me I should come apply. So I did! And I got the job. I cannot remember how often I worked but I think it was a couple times of week. Josh and I were dating at the time and he would take me to work after school and I would work until the mall closed and then my mom would be there to pick me up for the 20-some mile drive home. Bless her. Maybe she didn't mind so much because she became a hero in the teacher's lounge the next day because she would take all the leftovers from my shift to school. I believe the teachers weeped and wailed and gnashed their teeth when I decided I no longer wanted to work there.

I always closed by myself. On weekends I usually worked earlier and loved when I got to work with a friend and have someone to talk to. It got really boring by myself sometimes. These were the days before smart phones and Wi-Fi! How did we survive??

We sold cinnamon rolls, cinnamon rolls with raisins, caramel sticky buns with pecans, cinnamon twists and raspberry cinnamon rolls. There was ALWAYS tons left over. I would usually fill 2 garbage bags full of them at the end of the night to either throw away or take with me to give away. Back then I didn't really care for any of it and rarely ate them. Another popular item was called the "Fresh Lime" which was Sprite with Cherry Syrup and a wedge of fresh lime squeezed into it. They were only $1.00 and we sold a ton of them. For some reason it always really annoyed me when people would come and order them. We also had some loaves of bread and bread sticks and stuff that didn't sell all that much. And then we had soup...usually 2 different kinds. There was one particular soup that I loved, it was a cheesy ham soup and I always picked that one to make if I was working. Then I would get a little bowl of it and dip bread sticks in it.



Closing was not fun when it came to cleaning. I had to clean all the displays cases and used trays and big soup containers. Then I had to mop everything. I did not like it. I did not like it Sam I am. Then I would count the money in the till and hope I didn't mess up somewhere. I used to try and get the soup cleaned up and put away an hour before closing because it took the longest to do and the pots were the hardest to clean. However, there was a lady who worked somewhere in the mail you had a radar when I did that and would come down and order a bowl of soup. If I told her it was all gone for the night she would get upset and threaten to tell my boss that I was closing everything up too early. Boo for that lady. No soup for you!

I think I only worked there for a couple of months before realizing working cut too much into my social life;) However, thinking back on it, it is a fond memory. Life was exciting and simple. I worked only to make extra money for things I wanted and not to support anyone else or to pay bills or anything like that. So I hopped around from job to job, quitting when I got sick of it and wanting to try something new. The luxury of being a teenager in the U.S.A. ...well at least a teenager from a fairly sleepy town with two parents working for your needs and willing to shuttle you around.

Part of me wants to go back to Mrs. Powell's for day. I think I can remember how to do everything, except now I bet they have a computerized register that makes keeping tracking of money and inventory so much easier.

Oh my gosh...now I want a cinnamon roll!


2 comments:

Lisa said...

I loved Mrs. Powell's! I was one of the people ordering a lot of fresh limes. Anna and I had a tradition to stop there for rolls after we finished our Christmas shopping each year. She always got a cinnamon roll and I always got the caramel pecan sticky bun. Good memories - thanks for sharing. (And way to make an 8-month-pregnant woman have cravings!)

julie said...

Whenever I pass by there, I think of your 15 year old self working there. I think I've ordered there 3 times in my life. Once when I was like 7 with my mom..something worth journaling for sure! And a couple times ordering soup in a bread bowl with Carrie or Lance. Oh the olden days!