Bags And Rode Off

There was a young man sitting on the stoop.  This is the old Italian section of Poughkeepsie, now reduced, as with Little Italy on Mulberry St. to an ornamental remembrance.  Young kid on the stoop.  Place looked closed.  I was there to pick up a friend chicken dinner. “Who?”  I repeated my mom’s name.  "Here to pick up an order. " He went in to check.  On the wall are pictures of the chef.  He must be my age.

In a moment he’s at the door saying that order was ready at 3:00PM.  “I’m just picking up the order for my mother.   I don’t know about the time.”  And he left.  He didn’t say, “Just a minute.  He didn’t say, that’s a hassle, but I’ll deal with it or that’s a hassle and in as much as it is presently 6:000PM that is now no longer possible, as an order.   He just went inside. I began to wait. 

I stood there like a fool for about fifteen minutes when he came out and repeated that this was to have been picked up at 3:00PM.  I had to open up my whole kitchen again.”   I repeated that this had nothing to do with me.”  And I wanted to know, but he cut me off.  “Just don’t ask me when it will be ready.”   “Yeah, but give some idea.”  “It will be out when it's ready.” And he returned, feeling presumably like he’d taught be a lesson about the value of his time.

I checked with my mom.  She suggested this was all silly as she’d wanted it for this evening and had told him as much.  A miscommunication.  She’d already paid for it, she informed me.  And suddenly I’d wished I’d had that piece of information as in-the-moment, or if there is another moment, I will simply say, “I don’t need any lessons from you.  Keep the money and I’ll get my food somewhere else.  I don’t need ill will food.” 

But in a moment, his two sons, were carrying out two large bags with my food. I noted a certain polish of politeness that seemed to try to compensate for the man I presumed to be their dad and his rudeness. He looked at me and said thank you.  I also said thank you and took the bags and rode off.  And I wondered if this all would have played out differently if there wasn’t the suggestion of race, which hung over the whole scene.

Sunday 6/21/20