Dan walked out of the sixth restaurant of the day shaking his head in disgust. It was one of those places where the staff walked around in costumes and entertained the customers with their impersonations of famous Hollywood characters. He didn't like the idea of being a show business entertainer. He didn't like the idea of having to entertain the customers. He felt that customers should come to his place to celebrate and enjoy their lives. It was just a matter of finding a concept for the pizzeria that would draw people wanting to have a good time.
For two months he had been checking out restaurants trying to find one that was a fun place to eat. The closest that he had come was a sports bar, but that was a bar and not a place for the whole family. It was loud, but much of the noise was from the televisions broadcasting sporting events. He had tried one of the T&A chains. He found that people were having fun, but that fun involved a lot of work on the part of the waitresses as they strutted their stuff. There was a children's pizza chain and the kids were definitely having fun, but the noise would have driven him crazy in a day.
It amazed Dan as he went around that there just didn't seem to be many fun places anywhere. He wondered if Americans had lost their sense of humor and play. Getting into his car, he asked, "Is the only way that people can play is to get so drunk that they lose their inhibitions? I refuse to believe that."
Feeling like his plans were starting to fall apart, he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. Not having a fixed destination, he drove in random directions. After thirty minutes of driving, he drove past a park and decided that he needed to stop so that he could think about his problem. After turning around, he pulled into the parking lot and shut off the engine.
The park was nearly deserted except for a small bunch of teenagers. They were walking past his location while talking to each other. Shaking his head, he said, "There has to be some way of providing a physical environment that promotes having fun. It can't be that hard."
His mind was going around in circles. The most fun place he had found was an ice cream parlor. He had watched people line up in front of the counter to point out the flavor of ice cream they wanted. There was often a fleeting moment of indecision as they wrestled with that all important question of whether to have a cone or a cup. There was a sense of excitement and anticipation that was missing in the other restaurants he had visited.
Dan watched the teenagers as they reached one of the picnic tables. They sat down on the picnic table. He stared at them for a few minutes thinking about how they were acting. There was some light hearted pushing and shoving that was accompanied by smiles and laughs. Even at the distance that he was from them, he could hear their funny little comments to each other. It looked to him like they were having fun.
Dan watched them for several more minutes and then glanced away. There was no way that he could recreate the entire park just to sell a few pizzas. He looked back at them and then he noticed something important. The kids were sitting on the picnic table; not at the picnic table. Their asses were on the table and their feet were on the benches. Some of the kids were standing; facing those seated on the table. As he watched, one of the kids danced a little jig.
Inspiration struck. He realized that he didn't have to recreate the entire park. Slapping his forehead, he said, "All I have to do is create a place where the rules can bend a little."
No one sat on the table in a restaurant. No one threw nerf balls at basketball hoops while people were eating. No one rang a bell when someone said something clever. People didn't draw funny faces on the table. People didn't do those kinds of things except when they were at a party. Restaurants didn't have scoreboards for keeping track of friendly insults. Restaurants didn't expect some its guests to stand around eating and drinking while telling jokes or playing games. Restaurants didn't have funny hats for people to wear. Restaurants didn't have games like Twister painted onto the floor.
Dan sat in his car staring at the kids in the park. His mind was churning; thinking of all the things he could do to turn his pizzeria into a fun place for friends and family. He had never seen a place like that. He had never heard of a place like that. It was a niche market and it was all his.
He laughed as an idea flitted through his mind and started his car. It was time to go visit Tom's parents. If anyone knew how to throw a party it was them. Not all of the ideas that were swirling through his brain would make it into the pizzeria, but he now had a concept for it. That was the important thing.
Friday night, Dan was getting ready to check out the bathrooms at the start of his shift when Trent entered the back room. Without saying a word to anyone, Trent went over to the office door and knocked on it. Dan looked over at Trent thinking that the guy looked like he had a few beers too many. He didn't really care all that much for Trent. The guy was always talking about moving on to somewhere else, but seemed to stay where he was.
Rob opened the office door and asked, "What do you need?"
With a slightly angry tone to his voice, Trent asked, "Have you got my paycheck?"
Nodding his head, Rob said, "I'll hand it out at the end of the shift like I always do."
"I want it now," Trent said holding out his hand as if he expected Rob to put the check in it right that second.
"I'll hand out the paychecks at the end of the shift like I always do," Rob said with a frown.
"Dude, I want my damned check now," Trent said getting angry.
Shaking his head, Rob went over to the desk and rifled through the stack of checks. He pulled out the one for Trent. Handing it over to the cook, he said, "Here's your check."
"Thanks. I quit," Trent said as he turned to walk off.
Disgusted by the cook's behavior, Dan watched Trent leave. He looked over at Rob and said, "That's pretty rude."
Rob looked over at Dan agreeing with his comment. He said, "We usually don't get much notice when someone quits. I hate to say it, but Sue's leaving was kind of unusual. Most folks leave like Trent. They just show up one day and say they're quitting."
"That leaves you short a cook on a Friday night," Dan said knowing that Friday nights were the busiest nights of the week. The other cook, Tim, had transferred over to days.
Rob shook his head and said, "No. That leaves me short a busboy. I'm officially moving you over to cook trainee."
"Oh," Dan said. He wondered if that would come with another raise. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Are you sure you want to do that?"
"We're still trying to hire another cook to replace Tim," Rob said with a sigh. The turn over in a restaurant like that could be pretty high.
"He's been gone for more than a week," Dan said wondering why they hadn't replaced Tim already.
"It takes time to hire people. Most folks don't want to work jobs like this," Rob said. He looked at Dan and said, "When you open your pizzeria, you're going to have staffing problems. People won't show up to work or they'll be late with tons of excuses. They'll quit in the middle of their shift. You'll have high school kids that will announce that their parents are taking them on vacation for two weeks so they need the time off. There will be some who just won't work no matter what you do."
"I hadn't thought about that," Dan said. He always gave his best on the job, but knew that he was an exception rather than the rule. He had watched how many of the construction workers were willing to blow off the job for rather trivial matters. For some, all it took to forget to return to work was a beer at lunch.
"That's the heart and soul of managing a business like this. Finding and keeping good people. You might not like someone, but you'll keep them if they show up on time, do their job, and don't cause any problems. You may just like someone to death, but if they are unreliable and create problems, you'll have to fire them. That's just a fact of business," Rob said. He knew that he had been real lucky the day that Dan had been hired.
"I don't know if I could fire someone," Dan said.
"It is never easy. You'll have some that'll cry and demand a second chance. You'll have some that will threaten to sue you for some stupid reason. You might even get one that turns violent on you. It is hard to say. The one thing you have to keep in mind is that this is business; it is not personal," Rob said. It had taken him a long time to learn the difference.
"I'm going to have to think about that," Dan said. He didn't like the idea of telling someone that they didn't have a job. Frowning, he said, "I'm not sure I can do it."
"That's the price you have to pay in order to be successful," Rob said, "Now get out of your smock and into your chef's apron. You've got to get in that kitchen and help Jimmy."
Dan had only had to help out in the kitchen during the rush times. Entering the kitchen earlier than usual, he discovered that the job had dimensions that he hadn't thought about. Jimmy had piles of food on the counter. He looked at the pile of food and asked, "What are we doing?"
"You don't think all those tomato slices appear on their own, do you?" Jimmy asked looking over at Dan. He noticed that Dan was wearing a chef's apron and the hat. He was rather surprised to see that Rob had sent Dan into the kitchen that early in the evening.
"No. I just didn't know when you did that. I kind of assumed that the last shift did it before leaving," Dan said. He knew that Jimmy usually refilled the garnishes before leaving in the morning.
"Where's Trent?" Jimmy asked with his back to Dan. He knew that Trent was scheduled to work that night. Knowing his luck, Trent would be late again.
"He quit," Dan answered. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm the new cook trainee."
"It's about time," Jimmy said with a smile. He wasn't sure if he was happier to see Trent go or Dan start working as a full-time cook. Getting a serious expression on his face, he turned to face Dan. Sounding like a drill sergeant, he said, "Atten' hut! You are now in my kitchen and you will work hard. You will say yes sir, no sir. When I tell you to jump, you'll ask how high. Do I make myself clear?"
"Huh?" Dan said staring at Jimmy in shock.
Jimmy burst out laughing and said, "Damn. The look on your face was perfect."
"You got me," Dan said laughing.
Jimmy got serious and said, "All I've been having you cook is the basic egg dishes and the burgers. Now that you're training to be a cook for real, you're going to have to learn the whole menu. That includes the dinners. Let's get to work."
Dan looked at the counter and didn't see any orders. He said, "There aren't any orders."
"There won't be many orders for the next half hour or so. The first thing we're going to do is prep the ingredients," Jimmy said.
"Okay," Dan said grabbing the knife.
"This is a head of lettuce. You don't cut lettuce with a knife. You shred lettuce with your hands. Let me show you how it is done," Jimmy said holding up a head of lettuce. He slammed the bottom of the head of lettuce on the counter. He reached over and pulled out the stem. He peeled off the outer layer of leaves and tossed them into the trash can. With deft moves he tore the head of lettuce into halves and then into quarters.
After washing the lettuce, he pulled off a bunch of the leaves that were the next few layers. He said, "These we use on the burgers. They are larger and a little stiffer. The hearts we rip up for salads. The center of the head of lettuce is tender. People like that in their salads."
"Oh," Dan said watching as Jimmy threw the shredded lettuce into the large bowl for salads.
Jimmy said, "On a night like tonight, we'll go through eight to ten heads of lettuce."
Dan nodded his head. Stepping up to the counter, he went through the same motions as Jimmy. Jimmy shook his head and said, "You can hit it on the counter a little harder than that. You won't bruise it by hitting the stem like that."
It didn't take long for Dan to prepare the heads of lettuce. When he was done, the big bowl for salad was nearly half full. It didn't look like that much salad to him. He said, "Do we need more salad?"
"No. Salads aren't a particularly big item at night. During lunch, they'll go through thirty heads of lettuce. All of the women are worried about their figures and they'll order salads," Jimmy said with a smile. Half of the time they drowned the lettuce in salad dressing without realizing that they were ruining their diets.
"That makes sense," Dan said.
"If you're going to be a cook, you're going to have to learn the ebb and flow of the orders. At breakfast time, you'll be cooking a lot of eggs and pancakes. At lunch, it will be mostly sandwiches, burgers, and salads. At dinner, it will be a lot of burgers, the dinners, and a few salads. After ten, the orders are mixed with breakfast and dinner foods."
After tossing the stems from the lettuce into the trashcan, Dan asked, "Why do we throw away the outermost leaves?"
"They usually have lots of defects. That's the oldest part of the head of lettuce and has been exposed to the dirt, the bugs, and all. Customers don't like seeing lettuce with visible spots on them on their plates. For some reason, it tends to ruin their appetites," Jimmy answered.
"Okay," Dan said covering the bowl with plastic wrap. He put it in the refrigerator so that it would stay fresh longer. Jimmy watched Dan put away the lettuce pleased that he didn't have to tell him how to take care of it.
"This is parsley," Jimmy said holding up a bundle of the plant.
"Really?" Dan asked looking over at Jimmy. He was very familiar with using parsley as a garnish. He looked closer at the sprig of parsley and said, "I thought that was a banana."
Jimmy laughed and said, "We wash it and then trim the ends."
"Just this one bundle?" Dan asked.
"Yes, we've still got plenty at the cooking station. It should last us through most of the bar rush," Jimmy answered. He was pleased that Dan was concerned about the quantities of food required over the shift. That was usually one of the hardest things to teach a new cook.
Dan washed the parsley and put it into one of the metal bins. When they needed a little parsley, they would tear off a leaf or two. He covered it with plastic and put it into the refrigerator. He asked, "What's next?"
"You can slice some onions," Jimmy said. He laughed when Dan made to wipe his eyes as if he were wiping away some tears and said, "Don't start crying until you after start on the onions. I'd hate for you to run out of tears before you're done."
"Let me guess, you're going to do the tomatoes," Dan said looking over at the other ingredients that were waiting to be prepared. There were tomatoes, bell peppers, green onions, oranges, lemons, and cheese.
"You're going to slice the tomatoes after you're done with the onions. I'm going to start making the bacon bits," Jimmy said holding up some bacon. He added, "I'll be cooking any orders that come in while you're slicing and dicing."
"I think I'm going to enjoy working back here," Dan said as he started to work on the onions. Tears came to his eyes as the smell of onions stung his nose. He said, "These onions are strong."
Dan parked his car in a visitor's space at the school parking lot. He looked around at the kids scattered across the front lawn. The sight reminded him of all the bad things that had happened while he was a student there. He tried to recall even a single good memory of his days in high school that didn't include Tom, but he drew a blank.
He growled as he opened the door to the car and stepped out. He was feeling grumpy. Part of the problem was that he was tired. It was nearly noon and he'd had a three hour nap after working all night. He would have still been in bed except he had promised his mother that he would take his sister Diana to her doctor's appointment.
He made his way to the school office. With each step, he expected to hear the sounds of someone shouting loser as he walked past. He couldn't believe how tense he was by the time he had reached the office where Diana was waiting for him. It only added to his already bad mood.
Seeing her brother step into the office, Diana said, "Thanks for coming, Dan. I really appreciate it."
Dan yawned and then said, "No problem. Am I supposed to sign you out or something?"
The secretary looked over at him and said, "Hello, Dan. It is nice to see you. What have you been up to since you graduated?"
Dan smiled at the secretary somewhat surprised that she remembered his name. He answered, "Hi. It is nice to see you again. I've been working on opening a business."
"Really? That's nice," she said with a smile despite the fact that she didn't believe him. She remembered him as being one of the slow students. She thought it was a shame that some of the students didn't have much of a chance of succeeding at life. The modern world required people to have a college education. The problem was that not everyone was cut out for college.
Glancing over at the clock, Dan said, "I've got to take my sister to her doctor's appointment. What do I need to do?"
"Just sign her out on this form," she answered pushing a clipboard over to him.
He took his time and filled out all of the required fields. When he was done, he turned to his sister and said, "I guess we're ready to go."
He was about to follow his sister out of the office when the Principal of the school walked out of his office and spotted him. He said, "Dan Parker! What are you doing here?"
Dan stopped and looked over at the Principal. He answered, "I'm taking my sister to her doctor's appointment."
"Did you sign her out?"
"Yes, sir," Dan answered gesturing over to the sign out sheet.
The Principal had always respected Dan for working as hard as he did to get through school. He wished that other students would work half that hard. He asked, "What have you been doing since you graduated?"
"I'm starting my own business," Dan answered.
"What kind of business?" the Principal asked rather surprised by Dan's answer.
"I'm going to open a Pizzeria," Dan answered.
"I'm impressed," he said thinking it was actually a pretty good business for Dan. He asked, "Will you deliver?"
"I'm planning on it," Dan answered thinking to himself that was one of the things he was going to have to work on next. He knew nothing about how the delivery aspect of the business worked.
"Great. You know a lot of the kids have cell phones. This year we started letting them call out for lunch and have it delivered here," the Principal said.
"That is very good to know," Dan said thoughtfully. Three or four large pizzas a day to the school might make the difference that was required for the business to succeed. He smiled up at the Principal and said, "I'm going to remember that."
"Maybe I'll see you here in the future," the Principal said with a smile.
"Yes," Dan said. He noticed that Diana had already left and said, "I better catch up to Diana and get her to her doctor."
"All right. Take it easy," the Principal said watching Dan leave. It was nice to see that Dan had plans for the future. He worried about students like Dan.
"I will," Dan said before rushing out of the office.
Dan stepped out side and spotted his sister walking towards the parking lot. It was lunch time and a number of students were outside eating their lunches. He was struck by the difference between his sister and the other girls outside. Too many of the women were making fashion statements that reflected the different social groups to which they belonged. Some were dressed in jeans and tee shirts. Others were dressed in short sexy little outfits. There were even some dressed in sluttish Goth garb. It seemed to Dan as if none of them had minds of their own. The exception was his sister.
Diana glided along the sidewalk to the parking lot looking like a queen. She was wearing a simple outfit that didn't show off any cleavage or even much of her legs. It was a basic pale orange dress that came to below her knees. She wore a belt around her waist that highlighted her figure. She had a pair of matching shoes with a modest heel. Despite the conservative nature of her outfit, she radiated sexuality. Her hips swayed with each step. Every guy out there was watching her walk past.
Dan watched her and thought, 'Where did she learn to turn heads like that?'
He raced to catch up to her. When he reached her side, he casually asked, "Did you dress up today because of your appointment?"
Diana smiled at the question and answered, "I dress like this every day."
"You do?" Dan asked. He looked around and counted six guys staring at her with obvious desire. He didn't like the boys looking at his sister like that.
"Yes," Diana answered. She looked over at him with a smug smile and asked, "Why do you ask?"
"Have you noticed the way the boys are looking at you?" Dan asked gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb.
"Yes," Diana answered with a smile. She was very aware of every eye that was watching her. The painting that Sue had done of her had shown her as a woman on the verge of her sexual awakening. She was more than happy to help the awakening along.
"Oh," Dan said. He didn't know how to respond to that. It was even worse when she laughed at the expression on his face. He growled and said, "Let's get to the car."
When they reached the car, Dan opened the door for her. She got in and reached over to unlock his door. Dan climbed in and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she replied.
Dan frowned as a rather unpleasant thought occurred to him. Looking over at his sister, he asked, "Why do you need to go to the doctor?"
"I'm getting a prescription for birth control pills," she answered.
Dan turned to look at her and shouted, "What?"
She laughed at his reaction and patted him on the arm. She said, "I'm getting a prescription for birth control pills."
"Does Mom know?" Dan asked thinking that his mother was going to kill his sister if he let her go through with her plan. He was half tempted to kill his sister for hatching the plan.
"Of course she knows. She made the appointment for me. She asked you to take me there," Diana answered.
"No way. I'm not taking you there for that. You're going to march right back into that school and work on math or physics. You're going to stay late and study in the library or do something equally academic," Dan said pointing back at the school. Thinking about the reaction of the boys to the way she was dressed, he said, "You're going to have to start dressing uglier, too."
Rather than getting upset, Diana calmly said, "Biology is Queen and her rule is absolute. Ignore that fact of life and the consequences can be devastating. We always have choices, but if we wait too long some choices can be taken away from us. I'm making this choice before it can be taken away from me."
If there was one argument that Dan couldn't defeat, it was one based on the facts of life. Dan slumped in his seat knowing that it was a lost cause. Hoping to salvage something, he said, "Promise me you won't do something foolish."
"I am responsible for my happiness," she replied looking him in the eye.
Dan looked up at the roof of his car with his hands raised in the air. He asked, "When did my little sister get smarter than me?"
Diana laughed as she poked him in the side. She answered, "The day I was born."
Lazlo Zalezac