Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Grilled Cheese Twins

When I was a young, pup, my very first job was working at a place that sat right on Pony Express Lake. On one side, you could buy fishing license, bait, various other fishing items, and even rent a little aluminum boat. On the other side, there was a short order grill. That's where I worked.

We typically saw the standard fishermen. Sometimes when they did their big geese round-up, we saw droves of conservation agents. On Sundays, we saw the Senior crowd. They had no interest in fish, nor geese. But they did like the food. And in that area, places to eat were few and far between, unless you wanted to drive to Cameron or St. Joe.

With time, I got to know the Sunday regulars. For the old part, nice old people who said I reminded them of their granddaughters. All of them.

Regardless of how well they liked me, they still tipped like shit. Fixed incomes, I guess.

There was one couple, who always came in on Sundays. They were so odd, the waitresses would always bicker over who had to wait on them. They were an old couple. Brother and sister. And they always came together. One of the waitresses, Mary, dubbed them the Grilled Cheese Twins because that is what they ordered. Every. Single. Sunday.

They also ordered the iced tea, and put a bunch of sugar in it. Then, they'd pour powdered coffee creamer into the glasses. For those of you not familiar with powdered coffee creamer, it only dissolves fully in hot beverages, like coffee. In iced tea, coffee creamer just sort of clumps up and floats to the surface.
The first time they did it, we thought they had just mistaken the creamer for the sugar. But they liked to drink it this way.

Mary was convinced their parents were related.

Why is this story important? Well, as I was sitting in the dentist chair today, and Brother in another chair in a couple cubbies down, I thought about The Grilled Cheese Twins (who have probably died by now). I thought about how now, Brother and I sometimes do things together.

Even though our parents were not related, and we don't put coffee creamer in our iced tea, we are the new Grilled Cheese Twins. And from now on, our adventures together will be chronicled as such.

Enjoy.

4 comments:

Donna. W said...

I'm so old and cheap that I'd rather starve than pay for a grilled cheese away from home when I can make one myself for a tenth of the cost. When my husband and I want a burger, we get a double-cheeseburger off the dollar menu at McDonalds. And we hate McDonalds. Yeah, it's an old people trait, being a cheapskate.

KC Sponge said...

I can't wait to see the T-shirts!

Spyder said...

Have you told bro yet?

bobbie said...

Hi! I've just discovered your blog, and LOVE it!!
Another nurse...
bobbie