communal snow shovel

First snowstorm of the season today. As usual, many of the younger folk were taken by surprise when they found their cars plowed in. Since there is a parking ban tonight, they need to get their cars off the streets or they will be towed. Not prepared, more than one came and asked to borrow our snow shovel.

See if they could borrow a snow shovel at the supermarkets. I kind of doubt it.

Communal snow shovel. This is what it's all about with a neighborhood store.

Twinkle in his eye

Mr. T is an elderly man, with lots of opinions. He walks with a cane and has had some health problems recently. Most of the time we hear about politics, both local and national. He's not quite a curmudgeon, but close.

The day after Thanksgiving, it was my stock statement to say "how was your holiday." Most people gave stock answers - great, ate too much turkey, watched football, etc. I expected something as such from Mr. T. Perhaps he'd say "I was invited over to so-and-so's house for dinner" Instead, when I asked, I saw something I never have seen in him - a twinkle in his eye. His daughter had come to visit. He was tickled pink. A twinkle and a smile. What a wonderful site to see.

Cast of Characters

We have names for certain customers, names which are not their given names. Mostly they are adjectives to describe the person. When we say the name, everyone on staff immediately knows who we are talking about. Some are funny. Some are sad. Here's a few of the names. In upcoming posts, I'll strive to tell a little bit about the person.

We've got

Cigarette Man
Shaky hand man
"Let me ask you something" lady
Traumatic brain injury lady
One bottle refund man
Wheat penny man
Sacajawea man
Half a tuna sandwich lady
"I'm here for my regular" guy
Meatball magician
Paper bag & straw beer lady
Old bum thief
I've got a tab man
"She's grounded" pregnant lady
"Oh no, it's you again" man
Soap factory man

Common sense 101 - a hand sink is for washing hands

When we purchased our little corner market, the hand sink was unoperable. It had a huge hole right in the porcelain. A hand sink is where people wash their hands, and is a mandatory part of any food service establishment. It's surprising that the previous owner was not cited for this.

We replaced the sink, all the while wondering how a huge hole could have been made in the previous one. Soon we noticed how this possibly might have happened. Huge pots, waiting to be washed, piled on top of the little sink. We quickly put an end to that.

However, soon little things appeared in the sink. Knives mostly. How dangerous was that - knives in the hand sink. And beyond common sense. A notice went up - on the sink, that the hand sink was for hands only. Worked for awhile, and mostly knives have stayed out of it.

This morning, when washing his hands, an employee noted that the sink wasn't draining. Great. We'll have to deal with it after lunch, and hope the health inspector doesn't come in. I HAD noticed an employee putting a thermometer on the back of the sink the night before, and actually caught the thermometer before it slipped down into the sink. The employee told me "yeah, I thought about that before I put it there." Duh. Common Sense 101. A few weeks before the same employee called me to say they noticed a thermometer wedged in the drain of the sink. Duh, so let's do it again.

Well, today, it wasn't a thermometer. It was macaroni. Hmmm.... macaroni drained in the hand sink, meant for HANDS ONLY. If they used a colander, they missed it. When we took apart the drain to clear it out, we found at least half a cup of cooked macaroni and a plastic half a teaspoon. I don't know how long the spoon had been there.

Common sense 101. A hand sink is not a macaroni sink.