Get a Job

They spent the rest of the afternoon feasting on eggs, pancakes, and coffee at The China Cup Café. The China Cup had opened with aspiriations to be a European style bistro and bakery, but the only things left of those aspirations were the stale pretension of its name and some old dingy lace doilies that were stored behind the dishrags. The China Cup failed to achieve a refined atmosphere, but it found success serving breakfast to people who were not awake at breakfast time. Tim started work at The China Cup his freshman year as a waiter and soon found that he was not well suited for the job. He did, however, find a home in the dishroom and later in the kitchen. The China Cup had become home to him, a place to eat after a long night of drinking, and a place to drink after a long night at work. He also managed to do some studying at the bar when he needed coffee and when the silence at home was more distracting than the noise of the restaurant.

The sun streamed through the windows of the restaurant, the angular rays visible in the dusty, smoky atmosphere, but the dark polished wood work and the dark tile floors absorbed the light before it could penetrate the depths of the restaurant. This baroque scene, the dramatic effect on such a mundane scene put Tim in an introspective mood that lasted after the sun had advanced past the window, and left the restaurant in a melancholy shade, the world outside still shining happily beyond the window. Sunday afternoons were slow and Jeff was alone between the kitchen and the dishroom. Robert Johnson wailed an incantation from a small tinny radio and drove the wait staff out of the kitchen in search of more hospitable company, and left Tim to work lazily and happily, his thoughts seldom interrupted. The dinner shift brought with it more business and an end to Tim’s solitary existence, in addition to the second person that was normally scheduled on a Sunday evening there was a new guy to train, Paul. Paul had also just finished his sophomore year, and was working toward a career in pharmacology, whether as a pharmacist or researcher he had not yet decided. What he had decided was that going home to his parent’s house for the summer wasn’t an option. So when he was forced to leave the dorms at the end of the quarter he got an apartment. His parents agreed to pay the rent, but all living expenses were his responsibility. So he got a job.

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