My favorite story from Girls' Camp happened when the Beehives were cooking lunch the first day I got there. Hamburgers were on the menu and they were putting the patties on the grill. One of the older Beehives noted that there was a lot of red stuff coming out of the meat as it cooked. One of the leaders told her it was blood.
"Blood?!?!?!? As in real blood?" she squealed.
"Well, um, yes. This is from a cow."
She was incredulous. "A real cow? Like the animal?"
Then she came over to where I was sitting to share this shocking news: "When they were cooking the hamburgers over there, all this red stuff came out of the meat. They said it was cow's blood!!"
I couldn't help myself. I muttered, just loud enough for one of my former Mia Maids, Leah R., to hear, "Yeah. You'd expect that, being cow meat and all."
I'm such a compassionate and caring leader...so sympathetic to a 13-year-old's naivete.
11 comments:
That's even better than a reporter from back east asking the farmer where the green mud comes from?
oh man! i really wonder about people sometimes. i guess they need to learn facts like, hamburger comes from cows, at some point in their lives.
She's 12??? Either she has never cooked in her life, or she's from a family of mainly non-meat eaters. Please tell me you have more good camp stories to share. I've been waiting patiently!
I don't know if it's an urband legend or not, but in India, everyone knows some FOB (fresh off the boat) guy who goes to McDonald's, asks if the Big Mac is vegetarian, and then orders the cheeseburger, instead.
For Father's Day, my dad made some steak on the grill and my 5 year old had a few bites. When I asked her if she liked it she said she wanted to know what that pink stuff was and I told her it was blood and she about hurled. She knows on an academic level that meat comes from animals, but this brought the reality home. Maybe I need to remind her every night I cook vegetarian (about half the week) that there are no blood-containing items in this particular meal.
She's 13, and she's the epitome of naive. Sweet girl--I really like her--but she's so wet behind the ears that she's dripping.
And not dripping blood, either, like those hamburger patties were.
So, did you swear at girls' camp?
You've already got one, Lianne. I linked to your "Excessively Diverted" blog. :-)
Oh yeah--Emily, I didn't swear in testimony meeting this year, but I was observed muttering a few questionable words (mostly audible). I caught a nasty cold just before I went up to camp, so I'm afraid I wasn't my usual "campy" self.
I remember hearing that ground hamburger is injected with red liquid to simulate more blood than is actually present because it appeals to Americans' warlike ways (or somesuch).
Also, one year at girls camp (when I was a leader that couldn't go because of wee ones at home), their menu included things such as Stuffed Shells. Yes, the pasta. Yes, with the ricotta cheese. Over a fire. Right.
And a last thought...for Em's 3rd bday, we went to the Hogle Zoo. One of the first animals we saw was a big turkey. "A turkey?" my kids asked. "Yes," I said, "you know, like what we eat at Thanksgiving?" The people standing next to us shot me a look of DEATH before covering their children's ears and running away.
Ha j! Your turkey comment cracked me up. You must have wandered in on a special day for Vegetarians Of Utah.
This reminds me so much of that commercial about the LA county fair.
Paraphrasing horribly....
The scene is a clothing store where the women are asking where wool comes from. One girl asks, "Does wool come from a cow?" The shop girl responds to the affirmative and is asked, "From the boy cow or the girl cow?"
Not knowing quite how to respond, the shop girl gestures that "It's the one with the..., you know, tusks."
The closing line of the commercial says "If anyone needs a county fair, it's LA."
I thought that they always dug latrines and things at girls camp--they always ask the men in our ward to go up ahead of time to do it. :-)
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