By Jamie Tomosunas
Contributing Writer
Saturday afternoon Trisha walked into The Deluxe, the trendy new coffee shop downtown. She was so excited, since everyone she knew dreamed of working there. She would soon be the envy of all her friends.
Trisha even got her hair cut for the occasion. Everyone had loved her long blonde hair, but she was just dying to get the new Jennifer Aniston haircut. However, to her dismay, when she entered the coffee shop, whiny college music pouring into her ears, she noticed three other girls with aprons, donning her new do. This was only the beginning.
She stood at the counter for twelve minutes before the girl with the apron and her do finally looked up at her, saying, �Hi. Can I help you?�
Trisha hid her aggravation, to be polite, and said, �Yes, I'm Trisha Walsh. I work here now.�
The girl looked her up and down, then smiled slightly. �Oh, sorry. I thought you were a customer, or I would've talked to you sooner.�
Trisha was confused. If she were a customer, wouldn't it be polite to help her as soon as possible? The girl behind the counter noticed her confusion.
�You'll learn. Don't worry.�
�Learn what?�
The girl laughed, �How to be a bitch.�
This helped Trisha's confusion none.
The girl laughed again, then yelled to a guy walking back, �Hey, Jon! The new girl's here!�
Jon looked back, nodded, and continued on his way. He was almost feminine looking, and Trisha could tell he had attitude.
�I'm Donna,� the girl behind the counter said, a sorry introduction. �Jon'll show you the ropes.�
He appeared from the kitchen where he had disappeared. Trisha heard someone calling in the distance:
�Excuse me, sir! Waiter! Sir!� He went unnoticed. �First of all,� Jon said to Trisha, �you must hold your head higher. And work on your walk. No, don't walk, strut. You need attitude. Otherwise, these people will think we are their slaves. We've got a reputation here, you know. Oh, and don't worry about losing customers. They come back.�
Then he was gone, back to the kitchen. Trisha turned to Donna, perplexed.
�Is that it? What about the rest?�
�You'll figure it out. Here,� she said handing Trisha paper and pen. �Write your orders on this.�
Donna handed her an apron.
�And by the way, you might wanna buy some new clothes."
She looked Trisha up and down, then disappeared into the kitchen. Trisha looked down at her new dress she had bought for the occassion, and wanted to cry. Her silence was interrupted by a very aggravated customer:
�Waitor! Please, can I get some service?"
�Don't yell, sir, it's rude."
Rude?
Trisha was appalled. She dropped her apron, paper and pen and ran from the place.
Jamie Tomosunas is a senior at Laney High School in Wilmington. She takes creative writing on the North Carolina Information Highway.
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