A long time ago, before most of you were born, I had hair, and wore leisure suits to work every day, selling insurance. I had an office in the little strip shopping center, just on the east side of OC, on Benson Road and Memorial. I officed with different people over the years...Bob Forrester and Bob Lashley, to name two. Bob was a home builder. I sold insurance, and for a brief stint, so did Lashley. Ah, those were the years. Men's ties were about a half-foot wide on the business end, and were often loud paisley things. Guys often wore (get this) WHITE belts with their leisure suits! Women's clothes were no better.
Bob Forrester and I got in the habit of going to a Chinese restaurant over in the Britton area every day for lunch. No exaggeration here. Seriously. EVERY workday for a year or more. We got acquainted with the wait-staff over time, and when we walked through the door, our little waitress motioned us to our 'usual' booth, along the west wall. Her name was Emily, but she pronounced it "Emory". She was a sweet young lady, and we tipped her well, so, unless she was off work, or ill, she was our waitress every day.
Over time, Bob and I settled in on our favorites from the limited menu. When "Emory" would seat us, we would tell her: "2 plus 2", and point to the two of us. Here's the breakdown on what "2 plus 2" meant, once deciphered: No.2 on the menu (beef chow mein), and 2 eggrolls-- each. We both got the same thing every time. The beef chow mein came with fried rice (Emily called it something that sounded much like "flied lice"...and Bob and I had to work through the mental picture THAT pronounciation brought to bear in our minds each day.
The perplexing thing about our ordering of such simple fare is that when we would look at "Emory" to place our order (to you Oklahomans, that is 'prace oul ol-del'). Emily would look at us, and wrinkle up her eyebrows at the "2 plus 2" and on the second part of that 2 plus 2 -- knowing that we were talking about the egg rolls -- she would ask: "2 pieces...or 2 ol-del?" (orders). We would tell her, very carefully---
"No, Emily, not 2 orders (4 eggrolls each), but ONE ORDER", to which she would reply:
"One piece?"....and on and on it would go, until the manager would intervene and tell Emily that we each wanted 2 eggrolls, not 2 orders each!
What is unbelievable is that this went on day after day, month after month, with no end. It was incredible!
In spite of her difficulty in understanding us, we tipped her well and she put up with our teasing and snickering. Bob and I have often wondered what became of our sweet little "Emory".
I had forgotten this story until I read my daughter's blog (Harmonious House -- check it out!), about the stuffing of her mailbox with a Chinese food menu from a local Chinese restaurant. Reading her story made me laugh -- a lot- and then the memories came flooding back. Thanks, Gena, for the memories!
Dad
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2 comments:
Gene - great memory only a few of us would understand. Seems like we went in cycles with resturants. If we found a place we liked we wore it out.
Remember Westoaks and the chicken fried steak sandwich w/ onion rings? Same order by you me and Harmon every single day for who knows how long.
I do remember New China and Emily very well ... also the daily eggroll ordeal with poor emily. She never got it but they were the best eggrolls anywhere ... definitely worth the hassel (not really a hassel if you know what I mean!)Ha!
It's funny how we remember things. I was thinking 2 + 2 meant "Garlic Frittered Chicken"(#2) plus 2 extra pieces. We had to add two pieces because their serving was never enough. Do you recall that or is that my memory fading once again.
By the way ... on a sad note, I heard from Kitty that Emily had passed away from cancer several years ago. Hard to beleive!
Bob
Bob, it's now 8/19/09 and I just looked at this posting again...and read your comments! Thanks for writing!
You're probably right about the '2 plus 2 meaning #2 for the garlic frittered chicken (WHAT IN THE WORLD IS A 'FRITTER', ANYWAY??), plus 2 eggrolls. I'm 65 this October, and I'm probably about half senile!
I'm worry to hear about Emily. I can't believe you've kept up with Kitty, after all these years.
Yes, I remember Westoaks! Especially Harmon, and his red slacks, white belt and white shoes and loud polyester jacket, with steak sauce on his ties! Ha! We kept those people in business, didn't we? We'd sit there and listen to Harmon regale us with stats of the Cowboys -- and, of course, we'd all discuss the Cardinals (the Ft. Worth Cardinals, of course). Those were the days! ....'THMOKE!!!!!' :)
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