I had been on so many subways and walked so much that my feet hurt. One evening while going back to Jeff’s apartment, there were two guys behind me that had ski masks on. They said, ”Hey give us your wallet!” I turned around dropped my pants to my ankles and screamed as loud as I could. They quickly ran the other way.
I was on a food budget. There was a Chinese restaurant nearby… I would order egg foo young and fried rice. At the end of the meal they would hand me a fortune cookie. Before I opened it, I looked up to the heavens and said… “May this fortune inside say that I will get a job.”
I ate at a few pizza joints and once every two weeks I would go to the West Village to a restaurant called Chumley’s. It used to be a speak easy that turned into a pub. They served chicken on skewers with peanut butter sauce.
One of my bartender roommates told me there was a new restaurant opening and they needed waiters. Oh that fortune cookie was so right. The restaurant was called the Autopub and it was in the basement of the General Motors building.
I went and had an interview with the manager. He said the two words I needed to hear so badly…. “You’re hired!” This was quite an unusual place. In one room you sat in cars and watched movies while you ate. The other room was filled with antique cars that had been refurbished. Each car there had a round table in the middle of the car and there were banquettes at either side of the table.
All of the waiters and waitresses had to wear blue jumpsuits. So we looked like we worked at a gas station. I bought a few colorful handkerchiefs to tie around my neck to jazz up my uniform. I thought I looked pretty good.
This place was really hoppin…I was given four cars to serve. The first thing we served the customers was a round loaf of sourdough bread. I gave the cook a few dollars so that my bread would be warm before I brought it to the table. When they would take off a piece of bread steam would come out of it. The butter would just melt over the bread.
The menu was pretty basic. Steaks and ribs…One evening I went to one of the cars and there was Lauren Bacall. I was a little nervous serving her. I said, “Ms Bacall you are very pretty.” She laughed in her sultry voice.
I was really making good money. But I did not feel that I belonged there. I knew there was something better. I thanked the manager for believing in me. He said, “We will miss you Richard.” With the money I made, I went back to New Orleans with my tail between my legs.
Do you remember me telling you about my roommate in New York? Many moons later I was doing a book signing in Manhattan. I had been signing for about two hours and my left hand was getting a little numb. I would shake it a bit to get the blood flowing. I heard a man’s voice….”Richard do you remember me?” It was my roommate in New York….Jeffrey. I stood up and gave him a hug. He took out his wallet and showed me a picture of of his wife and kids. He was now a dentist in Queens. We were both teary-eyed.
