Smith's Store

An important third place

I was at a time in my life when I had been forced to take a long critical look at myself. I had been laid-off from what I thought was a secure job where i thought I was appreciated and valued and had a hard time finding another. During that out-of-work time, I rediscovered my humility working as a bartender and security guard. Not that these are bad jobs, I had developed a distorted view of who I was. A serving and/or lower status job will change how you see yourself.

When I got a job as an Elder Abuse Investigator/Case Manager, it was a step back from what I had been but back in my field

Smitty’s, across the street from my new office (a converted old mill) became the center of my rediscovery of the self I wanted to be.

The convenience store which included a lunch bar was a lingering reminder of the town’s past mill workers morality, now almost entirely replaced by a college liberal mentality The folks at Smitty’s cared little for the disdain of the college students. - They were just kids..

Smitty’s catered to a group of long term regulars most of whom had been coming there for their whole lives. It was a place that wasn’t home or work but something else. - A kind of comfortable gathering place that often functioned as the community’s hub. People came to Smitty's daily for breakfast, lunch, or whatever with side orders of commiseration with peers, chit chat and arid wit from Bob, the owner and cook, sympathy understanding and advice from Frieda, Bob’s wife, and edgy service from Alice the waitress. Over lunch, all things great and small were discussed, dissected, and dealt with. In the community called Smitty’s at one time or another, all of life’s dramas played out.

It still served tradespeople and factory workers, very much common sense people, but now had new customers, human service workers all of whom were very liberal minded.

One day having forgotten the lunch I usually brought from home, I decided to try Smitty's. It always seemed like a waste of money to go out to eat lunch but why not, I thought.

The outside of the store was plain bordering on decrepit and as I entered I could feel the age of the place - it was like a dying old tree which survived because its roots went deep into this ground. As I walked through the door I heard the buzz of several conversations in the filled lunch area.

Inside of the building, the finish on the floor had been worn down to bare wood by years of countless feet shuffling up to the lunch counter and tables. Everything in the place said, old but I could still feel the pulse of life in it. Nothing had been done to pretty up anything in the store, The restaurant gave new meaning to the phrase ‘lived in’.
Though not exactly sure why, I was immediately at home.

I didn’t sit at a table; instead I sat on the one empty stool at the counter. I knew instinctively that sitting alone at a table at lunchtime would be unforgivable - a waste of valuable space as others would not sit with you unless they knew you.

As I took a stool at the counter an unordered mug of coffee was placed in front of me and Alice (the waitress) looked me in the eye after a quick look of appraisal and said, "Know what you want?"

I had not even thought about it but knew from Alice's look that I better reply quickly - there were many others to wait on.

“How about a tuna sandwich”, I said.

Within a few minutes, the sandwich arrived and was slid in front of me like a runner stealing second base. The first bite

was a trip back to my childhood. The bread was doughy, the mayonnaise fat-filled, chips, and on the plate those

special pickles.

This was so good. Somehow I had forgotten that sometimes simple food reaches out and hugs you. In my line of work, everything seemed complicated - simple was wonderful!

As I ate, I glanced around and knew that I had been noticed. People were watching me. At first, I thought it was

because I had on a suit - I was the only one in the place in a suit. But then I realized that it was just curiosity. The bits

of conversations I picked up indicated to me that people here did not hide their agenda. In fact, they wanted their

agenda clearly understood Pretense, it turned out, was a stranger at Smitty's.

As I finished my cup of coffee, Alice was suddenly in front of me brandishing a steaming coffee carafe. I smiled, held

out my cup, and said “Oh well, by the time this kicks in I'll be someplace else so you will be safe from the lunatic that I

become on too much coffee".

Alice looked at me for a moment, reached out, took my cup, and said, "I'm doing this for your own good".

Although surprising, I knew instinctively that this was a gesture of goodwill didn’t protest but instead said "Thanks for saving me from myself".

For her part, Alice almost smiled - a rare event, I came to know.

A guy sitting next to me said without looking up, "I wouldn't let her get away with that, she already thinks she runs this

place and everyone that comes in here.

I waited and said nothing wondering if this was real friction or just playing.

I did not have to wait long as Alice without looking at the guy - still looking at me- said, "Some people have trouble accepting the way things are. They are always tempting fate.

"I wasn't tempting fate. Was tempting you.” the guy (Bill) said.

"My Mother told me that I should do whatever any woman tells me." I said.

“Your Mother was right!” said Alice.

Bill thought this over and said to me, "I see you had a rough childhood."

I said, "You know, sometimes doing whatever a woman tells me, hasn’t worked out well for me."

Bill turned his head slightly and regarded me with a sidelong glance and said, "There may be hope for you."

Alice looked at me and told me, "Don't come in here looking for hope."

Bill added, "Especially if you are hoping for good food."

At this point, Bob( the cook /owner) yelled from the kitchen, "Hey the food here is good. It's keeping you alive".

"Well, I'll give you it hasn't killed me", Bill conceded.

"Keep talking", Alice threatened, "and something else may."

The dialog sort of petered out when Alice went to wait on someone else.

This was great fun. Lunch and a floor show with the "cover charge" the price of a cup of coffee. Not only that, but I

had been invited to perform in the show. I knew I was hooked.

I looked at Alice and as I left said "I'll be back."

Alice replied, "As long as you behave".

Bob looked over the top of his glasses and rolled his eyes.

Frieda who was standing nearby said quietly, “Oh don’t mind her, you can come any time”.

There you have it, I thought, this is not just a place I want to be - it is a place I need to be.