Meloney McLaughlin: Lover of children
Published:Wednesday | December 2, 2015 | 10:42 AM
YALLAHS, St Thomas:
Meloney McLaughlin, a member of the canteen staff at Yallahs Primary School in St Thomas, is loved by many.
Known to everyone as just Miss Mello, McLaughlin has been affiliated with the secondary school since 1988.
"I started as janitor, cleaning classrooms, bathrooms, and offices, then a past principal placed me in the canteen," she told Rural Xpress.
The faithful worker can now be seen busily manoeuvring her small frame around the school's kitchen, getting her hands in a little of everything, from the occasional cooking to the usual cashiering and serving.
"My favourite part about working here is the children. I have always loved kids. The students and staff are really nice and I feel at home when I come here. Working here does a lot for me in that I've met some lifelong friends in parents, children, and staff," she said.
But even so, McLaughlin admits that there is one thing that she'd rather be doing now.
"I'll be 54 soon, and I'd like to go on a little vacation. In all my years of working here, I've never been on vacation. I've worked almost every day for the past 27 years. Whether I'm sick, I'm still at work. I remember only not being at work when I had the chik-V and another serious illness, but otherwise from those, I'm always here," she revealed.
attend to their needs
Always present in the kitchen, the students at the primary school can rely on their 'Miss Mello' to attend to their needs at lunch time.
According to her: "I have some business to take care of from last week, but it's like I can't get around to doing it. If I'm not here to serve the kids, then it makes me unhappy. The children respect me and I respect them. There's just something that attracts them to me and me to them."
McLaughlin said since her tenure, only a few of the teachers have tried to disrespect her, but as soon as there is view of a potential dispute, then she takes the matter to the principal before it matures into anything serious.
She said though the joy of being among the children makes her job easier, she never intended to work in the canteen of a school.
"I like to work with people. My dream job was to be a nurse or a teacher, but my mother couldn't afford to send me to be further educated. Some years ago, one of my past teachers came by the school and saw me working here and said that he thought I'd be elsewhere," she said, adding that he didn't say it to degrade the job, but because of the potential he saw in her while she was a student.
When asked about her intentions of leaving her job to seek another McLaughlin smiled and simply said:
"There's a saying that goes: 'It's better you stick to the evil that you know'."