The New Guy
He made a great,
really, way cool egg cream; he had the old soda fountain, where he made the
best lime rickeys, and cherry cokes. But alas, nothing stays the same forever,
things must change I guess. It must be a law of nature. The day came when he
couldn’t do it any more, and he sold the place. We must have known he was about to sell, because one day he had a new guy helping him out behind the counter. The new guy was very studious, and carefully scrutinized everything. He had a smile on his face but, oh…it just wasn’t the same. Al’s was genuine, he cared about us, and asked about the family whom he knew well. This guy was smiling, because…well, the caching in his mind, the thunk of the cash he was going to pull in, his smile was all bogus, and about cashing in. We all knew the day was soon coming when Al would be gone. Well before we knew it, one day Al wasn’t there. I guess I must not have been there the day he bid his goodbyes, anyway there he was, the new guy smiling behind the register.
“Hey man…where’s Al?”
“Oh, he gon…I noo
owner,” he proudly responded with a wide grin, good enough for a before dental
work adv.
Al’s was the only
candy store for blocks, Veng had made a wise investment. Then one Saturday afternoon, after playing some handball, I was
really in the mood for one of Al’s egg creams, and so I asked for one.
“Hey Veng gimme a large
eggcream!” I smiled, as I looked over the magazines.
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