Maybe I should have known better.
I worked a couple of bad jobs for worse bosses so I could keep my head above water.
Then I got a job at Joe’s Diner. I liked it right away.
Joe hired me because one of his waitresses quit in the middle of a breakfast rush, and I happened to walk in asking if he needed help.
He looked me up and down and said, “You ever carried three plates at once?”
I said, “No.”
He shrugged. “You got ten minutes to learn.”
Then I got a job at Joe’s Diner.
That was Joe — blunt, mean-looking, built like a fridge, and somehow one of the more decent people I had ever met.
At the end of long shifts, he’d shove a burger and fries at me and say, “Eat before you pass out and make extra paperwork for me.”
Sometimes after closing, I stayed and helped wipe down counters while he complained about suppliers, food costs, broken freezers, and people who ordered eggs “medium-medium-well.”
Mrs. Rhode came in every Tuesday and Thursday morning at eight sharp.
Sometimes after closing, I stayed and helped wipe down counters.
The first time I waited on her, she squinted at my nametag.
“James,” she said. “You look tired enough to collapse into my waffle.”
“Long week.”
She snorted. “Try being 85.”
That was our introduction.
After that, she always asked for me.
“You look tired enough to collapse into my waffle.”
“You ever smile, son?” she asked once.
“Sometimes.”
“I doubt it.”
Another morning, she said, “Your hair looks worse every time I see you.”
“Good morning to you, too.”
“Hm. Better. You sound almost alive today.”
She was difficult in a way that felt almost playful once you got used to her. I never saw her be sweet, but she paid attention. That counts for more than people think.
“You ever smile, son?”
One afternoon, I was carrying a couple of grocery bags home when she called to me from behind her fence.
“You live nearby, James?”
I stopped. “Couple houses down.”
She looked me over. “Hmm. You want to make some decent money, son?”
I stopped dead. “Doing what?”
She opened her front door and beckoned to me. “Come help me. We’ll agree on a price. I’ll explain everything over some tea.”
