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| New York Fancy Woman courtesy photobucket.com |
I did enjoy telling the girl’s
stories about women in New York
The truth was I was so busy I
didn't have time for socializing. My hours were long in the kitchen, and
logging all the recipes in my journal at night for future reference took a lot
of my time.
Another thing was, I was
getting paid with knowledge instead of money. They paid me just enough to
squeak by and certainly not enough to go out and party.
There was one other thing I
realized early on; Marly and Linda were dying to tell me of their exploits
while I had been gone.
I deliberately put them off
until they couldn't stand it any longer, so then I asked if they had been going
out on dates.
It was as if a great weight
was lifted from them as they began to tell of the guys they had met and went
out with.
I acted as if I was really impressed but inwardly I was thinking, “So
what?” Two healthy second year college girls should be dating and preparing for
the future both in employment and - or marriage.
I asked, “How many of them
were sailors?” And they both turned red and hemmed and hawed. Finally Marly
said, “Some of them were.”
I said, “Tomorrow is Saturday
so I suppose you have dates. I will call up one of our old schoolmates and see
if any of them want to go to the movies with me.”
Linda spoke up and said. “I
don't have anything to do so I'm available if you want company.” Marly said, “I may have a date, but if not I
will tag along with you.”
As the evening wore on they
told me of their future plans, and where they planned to go to college and get
their degree.
The next day I met Paddy down
at the gym and he pushed me into a good workout. Afterward he said, “Would you
like to go a couple of rounds?” and I said, “No way, not with you.”
I knew he wouldn't hurt me
but I didn't want my nose to get in the way of his fist by accident. It had
happened before and even when he pulled his punches it hurt like blazes.
By the time we left the gym I
was already getting sore, and I thought, “This is what happens when you don't
have a regimen to follow.”
I went back to the restaurant
and helped Noonan prepare for the lunch trade. I told him that I would make the
Gumbo while he did something else. He teased me saying, “I hope they haven't
ruined your cooking with all those fancy ideas.”
I said, “Nothing could hurt
the stuff they serve here even if they tried.”
He said, “It had better not.”
and I answered, “One pot of gourmet Gumbo coming up.”
By the time Marly got to work
I had the Gumbo on and had set her tables, filled the salt and pepper and was
ready for customers.
After the lunch crowd left Ma
came down, and Marly and I went down to the Navel installation. I could see it was a lot different than when
I had left.
There must have been three
times as many sailors as before. I supposed it had something to do with the war
raging in Europe. There were guards that blocked your way where before anyone
could walk right in.
We walked back to the
restaurant and got ready for those hungry fisher men.
Noonan said, “That Gumbo was
eatable so I suppose you might as well make another pot.” As I put it on I
thought, “There is sure a lot of difference in the food here and what I had
been used to.
Here they wanted big portions
that tasted good and was just simple cooking.
In
Their palate was expecting a
light hint of different seasonings with the portions being small.
They weren't like the hungry
fishermen who had worked really hard and felt like they were starving.”
Before I went to New York
When you say something, speak
as an equal on his level. If some ‘know nothing’ complemented him it would mean
nothing but as an equal he would be impressed.”
I kept that advice in mind,
and only when the chef did something extraordinary would I brag on him.
Oh Lawd!
To be Continued
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