Chapter 3: Creamy Cheddar Yellow.

Ever wonder what happens to cheese that is imperfect at the factory? Did you know it can be recycled and used over if it is expired or happened to be packaged incorrectly? Yes, all of this is true.

Recently I started working at a cheese factory in my local town since it offered better hours and pay.

The new field of employment surprised me. First I never knew that the plant can recycle old cheese, that either was expired, or packaged incorrectly. Let alone the factory could make such a mistake as often as it does. See, cheese that is reboiled and softened can join other newer cheese and be just as good. Only because it was shipped the wrong day or packaged wrong by a faulty machine, does not mean it can not be of value. Some cheese you have to do this too to gain a specific taste or style.

This experience made me think. How often do our perceived mistakes out of the expectation of perfection, do we waste? If factories raking in thousands of dollars, make mistakes why do we not allow ourselves too? Can we turn mistakes into liquid gold, or learn that maybe we like cheese need a second run through the process to mature (pun intended) and perhaps maybe be a little less hard on our selves?

Amazing how this can come out of a mundane experience of making cheese. Yet, life reflects life. In this case tiny thousands of bacteria cultures, that we consume. Yet I digress.

So my first day, I was nervous. I wanted to do my absolute best not to mess up production or cause issues. Factories in my imagination are cutthroat, highly efficient, no mistakes made monstrosities.

Yet, I was surprised, at how often the cheese would come on the line, in all sorts of odd, configurations. Sometimes not appropriately sealed, sometimes, incorrectly packaged. Yet, we just pull it off the line and add it to the next batch. Mistakes happen, it is just literally what you make of them. In this case, sharp cheddar. I noticed that if I made a mistake, we could correct it, and it was not any bigger of a deal than merely performing our required job. This put me at ease but made me think. Why do I place so much pressure on myself to not make mistakes, yet a company allows itself to gain from its own. What could I learn here?

Upon the first hour of my shift, I spent time unpacking cheese and throwing it into huge barrels. I asked someone, what will happen to this cheese and why we were doing this. One lady said, it was expired, but it would be recycled into another batch or a different kind of cheese. That stuck with me, we could salvage this fantastic cheese that just happened to be expired. The same day, a malfunction caused a large batch of cheese to spew and flow all over the line, I learned that this would be used as fish bait or recycled into another batch once inspected and the impurities and possibly foreign objects were removed. Now, this was an entire batch covering conveyors and machines. Amazing.

Also, this made me question humanity and self-worth. If expired or defective cheese product can be used and made into something of value to be sold. Can we, ourselves be made into something new, by a second run through or by being joined with other good people? The answer is an undoubtedly a yes if cheese can do it why not man. We need to remember that just because we turned out odd from our first run through does not mean it is our identity and worth. We just need more process than the rest, to become an ever better version of ourselves. It does not mean we are wroth less, just that we are a progress.

A little known fact about my new job is you also get to work alongside robotic machines. Sometimes these machines get weird, and jam up, or even cause packaged cheese to go everywhere. You have to check to ensure the packaging is right but also work quickly to remove a clog or even hand pack the cheese. Which is going as fast as it can into the said machine, throwing a hissy fit. This happens often, and that is why we are employed. Even something as simple as a box being taped for shipping sometimes becomes a human task. However, you don't see management throwing a fit because a product is not packaged right, or a machine is breaking down thus, causing problems on the line.

We see it as something that has a solution to it and something that will happen from time to time.

Cheddar yellow means, that mistakes will be made, we just have to accept them an move on. No reason to panic, and no reason to throw away the entire thing we are working on. It is the color of mistakes, and the deliciousness I enjoy as a snack. We are valued even if right now we are a little unprocessed. Now, moo-ve on outta here and go live life with out worrying on making mistakes and remember your liquid gold baby. ( man that was cheesy)