Bread Machines

One of the best parts of grocery shopping in Maseru is the opportunity to use the industrial bread slicing machines. After you checkout, there they are, two square blocks of gleaming metal approximately the size of full-sized Xerox machines. Slide your newly purchased loaf in the back (mind your fingers!), slowly ease the lever forward, and watch the miracle of sliced bread become a reality. It has become an eagerly anticipated part of my grocery ritual, and even feel a little haughty when I see newbies trying to use the machines for the first time and winding up with mangled loaves. This arrogance is truly misplaced as I required some help the first time myself. A nice but rather shabbily dressed man was watching over the machines and offered to help in light of my obvious ignorance. At first I thought he was hoping for tips, but it became clear after watching for a bit that his primary motivation was free access to all of the bread scraps the machines’ operations inevitably produce. He helped me load the bread in, showed the correct technique, and helped himself to the odd half slice that fell through into the catchment beneath the machine.