It’s been nearly four months since I had my interview at the
Lafayette Club. I’ve written extensively on the subject as time has allowed
over the summer season, but I have one subject I’ve only barely broached.
I remember clearly being lead around the enormous compound by
my future boss on the day of the interview. I was dressed in tan slacks with a
blue plaid shirt tucked in, brown leather shoes to match my belt and watch: I
looked like I wanted a job. Maybe I even used “product” in my hair like some
sort of model. A lot of people say I look like a model.
I remember the tour well because something significant
happened; I saw her for the first time. She sat across the bar doing paperwork (an employee not a patron)
as I stood and tried to listen to the history of the dining room. I stared. I
had never seen such a beautiful woman. My brain told me then that I would take
the job because I needed to get to know her. I knew then that I needed to taker
her on a date. I don’t think she ever looked up, but I hoped that if she did,
she would feel the same way.
Time passed, I started working behind the line, and I got to
see her more often. I was scared to talk to her at first; in fact, I would look
down every time she walked by in fear of her catching me staring. Fears get in
the way of a lot of our lives, so I decided that plan wasn’t working. One day
she was on the opposite side of the line and I offered her a sweet potato fry,
and she accepted, and she smiled. The smile nearly buckled my knees. I
whispered in French, “Tu me tues.” You
kill me.
I needed a plan. I decided to kill two birds with one stone:
I would bring hilarious jokes to work every day and tell them to her. She would
laugh, and I would get to see her smile.
So I did. Every day I would bring the funny, and every day she would
laugh, and every day I would get to see her laugh. And it just kept going.
Each day of our lives
represents opportunity to better this world. I have found over the past few
years that if I continue to do things to help others: to make them laugh, to
listen, to care, my life in turn becomes more whole. Each day I am given I try
to figure out what I can give to this world, and when I focus on that instead
of myself, good things seem to keep happening, so for today, I’m going to keep
doing what I’ve been doing, because what’s happening is incredible.
Every day we would talk over the foodservice counter
(through the window in kitchen speak.) Every day I would learn a little more,
and I would want to know more. And one day, we became Facebook friends. And
that’s when I found out she had a husband.
To be continued…
