A Hundred’s Not Enough

At six o’clock a neatly dressed older man sits in my section. His table has four place settings. I figure his friends are running late. I let thirty seconds pass before I make my approach. “Good evening sir,” I say, greeting the man. “How are you this evening?” “I’m...

Perspective

“How old are you?” I ask incredulously. “Twenty,” the willowy brunette replies. “Twenty?” “Actually,” the girl says sheepishly, “I’ll be twenty in August.” I stare at my new hostess. A college student on summer vacation, she’ll work the front desk until school starts...

Tense

Its 6:00pm and The Bistro’s been overrun by the Memorial Day rush. Fluvio’s down the Jersey Shore, I’m missing a waiter and the new hostess quit. The phone’s been ringing non-stop. The cordless is on the fritz so I’ve been rushing up to the hostess stand every time it...

Another Sparrow

“Do you hear that?” Melinda, our hostess asks me. “Hear what?” I reply tiredly. Its Sunday brunch and I’m exhausted from the night before. “There’s a bird in the restaurant!” “You’re kidding me.” “No, listen.” I strain my ears. Over the din of our busy restaurant I...

SNAP

“A man cannot break his penis,” Kylie, my twenty two year old waitress, exclaims. “Sure he can,” I reply. Don’t ask me how we got on this subject because I forgot. Waitstaff conversations are free associative exercises that usually culminate in sex talk one way or the...