long-distance running is now out of the question/at my age and weight and joint-degenerative status/but slicing tomatoes using a hand slicer/affords a similar satisfaction

place a tomato stem-navel side down/cock the elbow of your slicing arm/pile-drive the tomato through the blades into your catching hand/inspect and discard unsuitable slices while conveying the tomato to the tray/arrange the tomato in the tray and quicklikeabunny take another tomato from the cambro/and do that loopy set of motions over and over seventeen more times/till you have a full tray/adding the step of making a half-tomato top layer with the last six tomatoes

then put the slicer and its fluid-catching platform aside/wipe your workstation surface with sanitizing solution/slide the boxed roll of sealing wrap into position/and gift wrap the tray/and convey the tray to the cooler and while you’re there and if you’re low on tomatoes/grab another cambro full of tomatoes from the rack/and take it to the station

do this over and over again until mandated break time/then quickly strip your hands of the six gloves you are wearing/discarding the vinyl gloves but putting the cut-resistant gloves in a ziplock bag/then stripping your forearms of protective plastic sleeves/discarding them/untying your apron as you stride to the exit and hanging it on hanger #11 if available/then stripping your head of the bouffant hairnet/and tossing it in the trash receptacle just by the exit door

do all these things over and over in the course of a shift/over the course of a week/over the course of a pay period/over the course of a month/then a year

and it is oddly like running a marathon

a good marathon runner has an efficient stride/a foot strike neither pronated nor supinated/a mindfulness that dissociates from the endless repetition/while simultaneously running telemetry ofstride turnover and hydration need and breathing cadence and arm swinging/watching the ground for consistency/weaving around obstacles

over and over hill and trough mile after mile

tomato after tomato

footrace after footrace

finish line after finish line

clockout after clockout

with intense satisfaction that comes with a lengthy and worthy effort

and an effort-rewarding payday