A Day in My Work Life. Or, How the Shamrock Run Brought 2 Vegans Together.

When I first started my training at the airline, I found out one of my new coworkers not only had the very same water bottle I did (a very Portland-specific Shamrock Run Camelbak bottle) but also a camera lens coffee cup! When talking about how similar our tastes ran, my trainer said, "oh, but she probably isn't vegan." To which I replied "OH MY GOD YES I AM!"

And that, my dears is how I found my first vegan coworker.

A couple of you have asked me to write about my daily work life. The angle I thought it best to attack would be that of food. See, my shifts are not normal shifts. While I have held several jobs at a time for the last ten years, my hours (for the most part) were between the 7am-6pm range. My body was set to specific meal times.

Now, since I managed to bid a morning schedule, my shifts start between 4am and 6am. To give myself time to get to the airport and ready for work (airlines are incredibly strict about on-time performance) I have to get up at 2am most days. Dudes, this is not an ideal meal time. I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone shove food in my mouth. However, my job is physical! I'm on my feet all day long, bringing planes in, pushing planes out, sorting baggage, greeting passengers, etc. I barely get time to sit down, which is quite the change from an office environment. Don't get me wrong, I love being active and physical, but it's definitely been a learning experience.

ANYWAYS, back to the food. Most mornings I can handle coffee and two pieces of toast with Smart Balance and nutritional yeast. I find that much like how I fuel myself for running, the less on a sleepy stomach the better.

Lunchtime is different. Usually, my lunch takes place around 8am. What is that even?! Time for pancakes? Tempeh bacon? I've been working at making food ahead of time so I don't have to buy lunch at the airport—which, considering it's the airport of the vegan mecca, is not so bad.

Just this week, I tossed couscous (it's almost instant!) with sauteed 'shrooms and tomatoes from my vacant neighboring apartment's tomato plant.

Delicious, yeah? I chowed down on that food so fast, it was ridiculous. Apparently planes = hunger.

Now, eating lunch at 8am brings up a conundrum. When is dinner time? After failed "snacking sessions" I've decided to enjoy the hobbit way of life and call lunch "second breakfast" and it solves all conundrums AND throws an extra meal in my day.

Unfortunately, by the time actual dinner rolls around, I'm either conked out on the couch or too tired to cook. My poor husband has been eating a lot of baked potatoes lately.

Here is a bonus, grainy, very early morning shot of that blue moon some weeks back: