A Navy Chaplain had recently been assigned to the carrier and noticed how much grief the cooks on the ship (Mess Specialists) caught from the crew and… how they gave back as much as they got.
He spoke to the Food Service Officer and together, decided the Chaplain should talk to the cooks and ask them to be more “cheerful” when they served the meals to the sailors coming down the line.
“A smile, a cheerful comment, and a willingness to serve them will reap great benefits,” he told them.
After his pep talk, the Food Service Officer and the Chaplain stood back and watched as the food was being served.
A new sailor aboard walked down the chow line but he didn’t like anything he saw so he just continued down the line till he got to the desert section. He picked up a saucer containing a large piece of chocolate cake.
The Mess Specialist looked at him. “Is that all you’re gonna eat?”
“Yeah,” the sailor responded looking back at what he’d passed up. “The rest don’t look too appetizing.”
The Mess Specialist smiled and said, “Well, in that case would you like two pieces of cake?”
The Chaplain smiled and jabbed the Food Service Officer in the ribs. “I told you my talk did them some good.”
The kid said, “Yeah, man. I’d really appreciate that.”
The cook leaned over to the sailor and chopped the piece of cake on the tray in half with his bare hand.
“Now, ya got two pieces. Have a nice day!”