Easy
by Holly—Age 42—Killingly, CT
I leave my quiet home on the lake and arrive at work every weekday at 11:00 am. Standing behind the register of our family restaurant, I take in its familiar sights and sounds.
A three-year-old throws a tantrum when his pregnant tattooed mother takes away the salt shaker he was busy sucking on. My overworked husband at the grill behind me mutters something about a plastic bag and the kid’s head.
The drunk on the other end of the counter mistakenly pours thousand island dressing on his lasagna instead of his salad and tries to convince the waitress that he meant to and that it tastes good like that. An hour later we find him sleeping behind our dumpster. A customer who also doubles as a singer/philosopher sits next to him and tells anyone who will listen that when he gets old and is in a nursing home and isn’t counting his toes or the flies on the wall he’s going to go up to all the old ladies and sing “We’ve Only Just Begun.” A businessman whacks a fly with the newspaper he’s reading. A meth user puts a crossword in front of him and a pencil in his hand to disguise his sleep for concentration. The phone rings. Someone wants to know the number to the Chinese take-out place up the road.
The lady across the street meanders over and referring to me as her aunt, asks me if the Red Sox are playing tonight and what time and who’s pitching and would I write it down for her. Then in her accusing victim voice she tells me how she didn’t win at the BINGO this week and can I buy her a coffee. I agree for the hundredth time only to have her return a few minutes later and tell me I didn’t put enough cream in it.
A stranger sits at the counter and eats our number one breakfast special heartily.
Our dishwasher tells me her kid has just been suspended from school and she has to leave. She leaves me doing the dishes for an hour. The police show up and take one of my waitresses outside to inform her that her mother has been reported missing.
My job is to oversee this. When my husband bought this restaurant, he told me it would be easy. Just run the cash register.
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