The favorite joke of the back kitchen workers is, “Yo mama so ugly, she looks like she went bobbing for French fries,” because they know all to well how kitchen grease burns look. Working at Harvey and Lois’ was a dangerous risk. Not just in the kitchen, but the place as a whole. Leaky roof, cracked tiles, and broken doors were just the half of it. Not to mention it ruined your reputation. Joshua Lamport new it all to well.

There are only six people who work at Harvey and Lois’s. In the back there’s Chris Adams, Tom Ashford, and Joshua. Chris and Tom usually just goof off because nobody eats there, so they really didn‘t have to do the job. The diner also has two waitresses, Amanda Adlam and Constance Raymer. Both of them just talk at the counter. Then there’s the almighty manager, Ron. He’s a completely boring dork; yelling at everyone because they’re not doing they’re job. He makes working a nightmare.

Joshua, on the other hand, doesn’t do what he’s supposed to, but he doesn’t hang out with the others. They’re just freshman and there’s one sophomore, but Amanda’s an anorexic, so why talk to her? She just complains about her weight. Joshua is a senior and almost done with this place. He likes home and never would want to leave, but the rest of the people in the suburb suck. He’s just working here till he has enough money to pay for college himself., which isn’t that far off.

Not many people come into Harvey and Lois’s. Except on this one day Wwhen a charter bus pulled into the potholed parking lot. About thirty old men and women walked out and went strait into the diner. Constance stood behind the counter with a dumbfounded look on her face. Amanda looked out the window and then to the back kitchen.

“We’re gonna be busy,” she yelled out to everyone as she walked to the back. Joshua was standing close enough to her to hear her say, “At least they’re the kind of victims who don’t know how bad the food is.”

The cotton heads seated themselves, just like the sign said they should. Both Amanda and Constance started on either side and worked their way to the middle; taking drink orders. Everyone asked for the same two things, iced tea or a Coke.

“Go figure,” Joshua thought as he started the fountain pop machine. Constance ran to the back to pick up some of the drink orders.

While both the girls were doing their job, Ron was pacing in the kitchen demanding what the guys should do. They had already thrown out the batch of French fries from this morning. No costumer wanted cold and soggy fries. They were getting out the sandwich bread hamburger buns. They had only cooked one soup, but they weren’t going to start another. It was the soup of the day, and most older people ordered that anyway. They were getting set up for the food orders that started coming in.

All six workers scrambled in and out of the dinning area, kitchen, and the food pantry. The pop machine was on overload, and so was Ron, yelling at them to move faster but in a quiet tone, of course. He didn’t want the costumers to hear. As they went about doing their work, slowly Joshua actually started liking the job, and so did the rest of them. Constance started feeling like she was doing something with her high school life. Amanda thought that it was a great work out. The boys had something to do during the day, and Ron had the opportunity to exert his power as manager.

The waitresses learned that the group that was occupying Harvey and Lois’s was a high end poker group out of Portland and on their way to Las Vegas. When asked about it, everyone told the story of how they won big time in gambling and all decided to start a club at the senior apartment they lived at. “Who ever would have thought that old people like these would know how to party like that?” Tom chimed in when talking about it in the back.

All the food was served, and Ron put the two boys on dish duty. It was almost over. The poker group paid their bill, and the driver of the bus told everyone that it was 8:45 pm and they had to get moving to make it to the hotel on time. As the group shuffled out the door, Constance, Amanda, and Ron were waving. “What dopes they are,” Joshua thought.

As the day was wrapping up, and they all did their jobs of closing, it was a shock to them that they made so much money that day. The girls actually had the chance to really split tips with the back kitchen. It was an odd day for all. Nothing was going to get any better after that, not for Joshua anyway. He only had to work five more weeks before graduation. He didn’t like the job, but it paid for the things he needed, and that was fine with him. As long as he got paid at the end of the week.

That was probably why they all were there. It was the worst job in the world. Sometimes you have to put up with it though; there’s money and when you have money, you have a life. They wanted a life. Harvey and Lois’s was the one place that could provide it for now.