A Little Help
Today I rode my Rock Hopper (which is so smooth these days after Matt intervened in the tire crisis) over to Bentleys to get some work done. Bentley’s is close, but it means crossing Campbell, so I always dread the ride. When I got there today I realized that I had forgotten my wallet. I wanted to throw my head back and yell “WHHHHHHHY?” but I was very discrete. I simply packed up my stuff and headed out the door. As I was unlocking my bike, a woman who works there ran out and stopped me. She said, “Are you by any chance leaving because you left your wallet at home?”
Surprised me: “Yes, actually I am.”
Lovely woman: “Oh no, don’t go. We’ll take care of you. After all, you come in here A-LOT.”
Maybe it’s a little sad that I’m there so much, but really the whole exchange just thrilled me. It means I have a Cheers place (except they don’t actually know my name). Maybe I’m not known there, but I’m noticed. The place was really crowded, but she noticed that I arrived and left quickly and she wondered about it. I’m a regular and therefore I’m to be taken care of when I need it. So much of graduate school revolves around self-sustainability, building up walls and perfecting systems of self-preservation. Today I was reminded of how good it can feel when people step in and help me.
2 comments:
being a "regular" at a place is a very fun feeling. I go to The Rising Sun across the street almost every day and sometimes I dont even have to tell him what I want, he will just ask if I want the usual and I need only nod and give him the three pound ten for my coffee and tomato and mozzerella on a baguette. He's a cute old man from afghanistan who owns the cafe and his wife and daughters work there with him. Its perfect. I'm glad you have a regular place too.
so weird, I was just thinking about this sort of thing. I'm not sure when. Time starts to mean very little when you're sick and shut-in for a week. But I digress. I was just recently thinking, "I wish I had a St. Elmo's Fire type place. Like Cheers."
I'm a little bit of a regular at Wings Your Way, but that's actually a little embarassing. They know me there, almost have my phone number memorized, and know my "usual."
A few of us go the The Knot every Thursday night, but I'm not really a regular there. It might be that there aren't great spots to BE a regular here. If I had a car, I might be a regular somewhere.
But I'm excited that you've got a place where they'll take care of you. I'm a bit jealous, really?
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