Any and all participants of a sexual nature are 18 or older.
Bens Diner
To this day it amazes me how many people will order a burger, fries and a soft drink for breakfast. I offer the regular breakfast items as well, but part of the original draw to Ben's Burgers and Breakfast was that folks could have a burger anytime we were open, which included one with your eggs if you wanted. Early on my hours were an issue, that blew over in less than a month, I was open from five AM until three PM Monday through Saturday. Sunday and Sunday only I had a self-serve buffet type meal from ten AM until two PM, long enough for the church crowd and anybody else who happened to drift in.
The original diner had been small by comparison to the facility it was now, I'd bought it off old Mr. Ferguson when I retired as a Postal Carrier, for thirty two years I delivered the mail come rain, snow, cold, or heat. During those years I'd covered delivery in every section of our fifty-five hundred population town. I've always been a gregarious person; I have relatively good looks and walking miles a day Monday through Friday over thirty years has kept me healthier than many.
I had moved with my new wife to Saylesville at the ripe old age of twenty and a brand-new position with the USPS, a position that through the years was a blessing and sadly the demise of my marriage. My dreams and aspirations nowhere compared to the woman I thought I knew when we married, we'd been sweethearts since our sophomore year of high school.
Long story short, after living in what she called the edge of the earth and so far from civilization they had to pipe in sunlight, she dumped me for a High School English teacher headed for a job in of all places ... Chicago. Mind you, there was a city of over sixty thousand less than an hour away, I finally reached the conclusion she was tired of me. We'd never had children, as far as I knew she wasn't screwing him before the divorce and if she was, they weren't doing it locally, which helped me save face to some degree. I involved myself in my work, my church and my love of outdoors.
The original diner had been a morning through supper type of place, Mr. Ferguson did alright through the years, but I noticed the majority of the business was breakfast and lunch. Loving to be in the woods hunting, hiking, or snowshoeing I was one of many who wished someone would serve breakfast earlier than six thirty besides McDonalds, who opened at six. It was on that premise and listening to dozens of other early morning people that helped me decide to buy the diner and make it into something that wasn't there before. A place that opened early for breakfast and a burger any damned time you wanted, screw the breakfast menu only before eleven attitudes.
When I bought what is now Ben's and changed not only the menu, but the hours, people complained and told me I'd never make a go of it if I wasn't open for supper. In their opinion nobody would want fries or burgers at breakfast time, or only being open until three. Having been to 5 Guys several times in the city I wanted to emulate their concept of only using fresh burger and pressing each patty as it was ordered along with the double cooked fries. I knew it would go over big, with the original staff and a mountain of enthusiasm I opened the doors at five AM on a Monday and ran out of eggs twice, thankfully there was a major grocery store two blocks away.
In the weeks following I had regulars that stopped coming, but the new diners I added far outweighed those no longer eating at Ben's. There are many hunters, loggers and log haulers in our area, they all start at oh dark thirty and made Ben's their stop for breakfast every day, we maintained a large portion of the original lunch specials and items which meant our mid-day crowd remained intact. With the larger facility and a Sunday brunch added a few years later we were meeting nearly everyone's need in some manner. Which included the influx of hunters every fall for deer hunting, I would order triple what I normally did for that two-week period and was often at the brink of running out on certain items. Those people spent money like it grew on trees.
I was behind the counter topping off a cup of coffee when she walked in, looking around, taking in the facility and the patrons. Several guys looked her way and went back to their meals. You could see on her face she was used to being noticed, she was a knockout and she knew it, the kind that think their farts don't smell and men should open her door because she smiled. To be honest, she was very pretty, it was a warm day, she took advantage of that and had donned a spaghetti strap sun dress which hugged her bodice nicely and ended no more than mid-thigh.
The early bird regulars had come and gone; I usually covered the front along with two mid-morning starters while my early morning gals took an hour break before the lunch crowd started. She didn't garner any favor when she looked about saying loudly,
"Am I going be seated or not?"
I looked up, pointed at a sign stating *seat yourself* and answered, "No, go ahead and take a seat, any seat, there are plenty open."
I'd met this woman a hundred times before, oh not her specifically, but dozens just like her, arrogant, good looking, expecting others to wait on her hand and foot. Watching her walk to the far end by the windows it was quite obvious she was braless as her tits moved with each stride, her normal gait wasn't smooth, almost choppy, like she was bouncing on the balls of her feet, which in turn made her tits bounce and jiggle. Several of the guys were salivating, I made the choice to ignore her, no way was I giving her the satisfaction of knowing I liked what I saw.
Standing next to her table I asked, "Just coffee or breakfast?"
She feigned not hearing me, I ignored it and stood staring at her. She eventually got the hint and ordered a large black coffee.
"Only got one size lady, but you can have all of that you'd like, refills are on the house. Be right back."
I sent Ruth over with a carafe of regular blend. I'd gone in the kitchen and was watching, the lady was pissed, I smiled to myself. No way was I going to kowtow to her wants and desires as I'm sure she was used to, I knew I was being a prick and I really didn't care. I was back behind the counter talking with some regulars when she walked up with the bill in hand. I took it, punched it into the register and waited. She did nothing as I stared.
"Well lady, you gonna pay or do I call the cops?"
Her face became crimson red, "How much is it asshole?"
"Gee, that little screen pointed at you eye level says $1.85, or don't you know how to read?"
Tossing her credit card at me I laughed, handed it back to her and told her it was on the house. I wasn't going to run a dollar eighty-five through a credit card transaction, on the wall directly behind me a large sign stated in bold letters, *No credit card transactions under $5. Digging in her purse I could see the steam rising from her ears, when she'd finally found a dollar bill and enough change on the bottom of her purse she slammed it on the counter.
I slid it back to her, "I told you lady, it's on the house. Have a good day."
She spit and sputtered as she walked away leaving the money on the counter, I picked it up and stuffed it in the girl's tip jar. Watching her walk away I decided to sink the knife in to the hilt, I probably should have just kept my mouth shut.
"You'll have to open the door for yourself lady."
Thrusting herself through the opening she spun and flipped me off just as a mom with two kids walked past her. The mom gave her a look that could have killed, the woman hung her head and headed to the lot. I was curious what she might be driving, sure enough, an Audi Quatro, the snooty little bitch, just where the hell had she come from? Must have been traveling through. A week later on a Saturday morning guess who walked through the door again, yup, miss snooty britches. She didn't wait this time as she sauntered up to the counter and grabbed a stool, Ruth was about to pour a cup of coffee when the gal covered the cup with her hand.
She pointed at me and stated, "Him. I want him to pour my coffee."
Ruth looked amused, "Well darlin what you want and what you get aren't always the same now are they. You want this coffee or not, Ben's busy."
Snooty britches looked at me and pointed, "He isn't doing a damned thing, just standing there."
I heard Ruth tell her I was busy as I walked toward her, took the pot from her and poured the sniveling little brat a cup of coffee. Looking dead in her eyes I asked.
"That good enough for you miss? By the way, what did you do with the other dwarfs because you're obviously Grumpy?"
I walked away chuckling only to return with a menu. I tossed it in front of her and said the number three breakfast was right up her alley. One egg, one strip of bacon, seasonal fruit and a choice of toast for $3.50. She said nothing as she looked down, I took the opportunity to head into the kitchen. When I heard her asking Ruth where I was, she told her in the kitchen cooking.
Ruth finally asked, "You wanna order sumthin or not lady, we got other customers ya know. The number three? Smart choice, how you want yer egg? Soft yoke hard white, got it."
Ruth turned and yelled, "One number three, wheat toast, no snotty egg whites."
Everyone knew what she was talking about except the wanna be diva who cringed as Ruth yelled. When Ruth slid the plate in front of her the lady asked what the fruit was.
"Grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and cantaloupe. Fruit that's in season, just like the menu says. Eat up honey, the lunch crowd will be showing up soon and I'll need that stool."
I was at the register when she was checking out, in a snotty condescending voice she filled the air with her arrogance.
"I suppose I won't be allowed to use my card again today."
