Random Memory: Hot Dog Days

Hot Dog Days used to be my favourite day of the month. We lived close to the school and often went home for a hot lunch but Hot Dog Day at school was special. It cost 50 cents for a hot dog, 50 cents for your choice of regular milk, chocolate milk or a juice box (I *always* got chocolate milk) and 50 cents for a glazed donut.

Mid morning on the special day, the aroma of boiled hot dogs would start to waft down the hallway. Heaven to small children with short attention spans. At the appointed time, the grade sevens (highest grade in the school) would come around with the appropriate number of hot dogs, drinks and donuts per class. Then the teacher would dole them out according to her master chart. Any kid that got more then one hot dog or donut was considered “cool”.

Once in awhile the deadline for getting our money in was missed. Those days I got to go down to the office and purchase hot dogs from the PAC parents. Then I’d take and deliver them to my brothers in their classrooms. That was almost as fun as getting your hot dog with the class.

There is something sacred about the taste of a well boiled hot dog on a doughy white bun, chocolate milk and a glazed donut. Back then I didn’t like the taste of ketchup so I would only add mustard and relish to my hot dog. Yum. When the “meal” was over, I’d take my napkin from my hot dog and donut and stuff them into the milk container. Compartmentalized garbage. A great way to finish.

In the intermediate grades they started introducing pizza day and they even experimented with cheeseburger/fish burger days (from McDonald’s). In high school, besides the regular cafeteria offerings which is another whole post, they sold individual samosas. All quite good but none of it was quite as magical as Hot Dog Day in elementary school.

~Heidi…who doesn’t actually eat hot dogs any more but who would enjoy a nice cold glass of chocolate milk and a glazed donut right now…