Learning to Jive

Pinecone Hollow Café is a long slot of space painted Flying Squirrel gray. It’s about 40 feet long and 11 feet wide. One third of it is the storage room, the rest is cooking and serving space. The back is lined with deep fryers, grills and refrigerators, all the things that get hot. The front is the customer service area lined with registers and soda machines. In between is space for 14 of us to walk, zig and zag without hitting each other. After 60 minutes we finally get a rhythm, dancing with fervor and finesse with hands loaded with sodas, burgers, tenders and fries.

Princess yells “The soda machine isn’t working.“ “Oh great. I’ll call the Coke man.” says Placido, taking a break from wrapping burgers to radio for help. In short order Coke Man arrives and with skill you’d expect, sodas are flowing again. If only Skywire would show up and get the register going. It’s hot over here at the grill. How many hot dogs and buns have I wrapped?" I'm thinking. (Would you believe 800?)

The game is SOLD OUT! That’s good news. Being a part of the excitement, providing fun for the customer and doing the café jive with new friends really is exciting and stretching me big time. That is why I’m doing this, right?

“Big, tuck in your shirt tail. It’s the dress code. Tall Boss is on the way.” Placido says. Thank heavens for shirt tails. It covers up those drawers hanging out. I am so glad they’re wearing drawers – otherwise I'd surely be mooned.

“Blackberry, you keep checking that thing. Are you waiting for a note from Nutzy? All the Princessahs must be expecting to hear from him too. Are you having a contest to see who gets the note first?” I ask. We’re in the storage room taking a break and drinking water to replenish ourselves. My ears are ringing from all the conversations. It’s a baseball Tower of Babel.

Break is the 2 minutes when we’re drinking water, sweeping, straightening up, getting some food under the heat lamp and drinking more water.

It’s back to wrapping dogs for Doggie Dude and burgers for Burger Guy. We’re grooving with the Pinecone Hollow jive, zigging and zagging in the aisle.

As happens to all good things it’s time to close the Café which takes 45 minutes. The point is to clean up and be ready for tomorrow’s business. 14 of us work there and there are 14 ideas of clean. My area is where I began – the lifeless cash register. While fans animatedly leave the Diamond, the Funn Crew is having a different experience.

My legs are throbbing, feet are stinging. I am worn out. With all tools in everyone’s hands, Pinecone Hollow Café is clean and ready to jive in tomorrow.

The Funn Squad is dirty and droopy. I wonder if those spongy insoles would make a difference. The parking lot is two blocks away - much too far away. Wish there was a trolley to take me there. "Feet, don't give out yet," I pray. Slowly I crawl to my car dragging my lifeless tail behind me. Prayer's answered again.