Same Fibre, Other Name

A school kitchen in Saxony on an October morning before dawn, warm light from bare bulbs, steam rising from large aluminium cooking kettles, on a hook on a white tiled wall a sleeveless knee-length smock apron of royal blue woven synthetic fabric, slightly glossy and creased, the V-neck and the top edges of two patch pockets trimmed with a rust-red braid with a small white pattern, five copper-pink buttons down the front, from the right pocket a folded grey cloth, at the right edge only a bare forearm and hand reaching in, the rest of the person outside the picture, a stack of plain white enamel plates on a steel shelf.