Closed

Nicki and Jeff came to see the show over the week end. Nicki is my niece and Jeff is her husband. They are the production coordinator and production supervisor respectively for a movie shooting in Boston. They are really good at their jobs and rub shoulders with some of the best actors and film makers in the business. I know some day I will be working for Nicki and Jeff as they will own Hollywood. Their kind of talent and gift can't be stopped.

We were having coffee and donuts at a local hang yesterday and took a table at the back. We were catching up and not really concerned about the time. They have really good show biz stories and I love stories. The doughnut shop suddenly filled up with a half dozen locals who took positions at the counter. They seemed to be regulars. It suddenly went from a sleepy little establishment a lively one.

At some point an old man caught Nicki's attention. With a crisp New England accent he said "The place is closed." We weren't sure what he said so Nicki asked him to repeat. "They're closed and as soon as you all get out of here the owner is going to take us to lunch." Every eye in the place was on us as we realized we were the only guests not invited. It was as if we had suddenly walked into the wrong western saloon. It is the first time any of us has been 86ed from a Doughnut shop.

It wasn't particularly rude, just odd. It is usually the owner of an establishment who will say, "Anything else for you today, because we are about to close." Normally you're not thrown out by aging patrons. Lesson to learn: never stand in the way of a New England senior citizen when he is ready for lunch.

When Lisa Sweasy was here she joked that all she had to do was say a noun and I had a story for that word, which reminds me of a story about the origin of the term, 86 ed. It means to get thrown out or invited to leave, usually from a bar. I understand that it was a good fellow's term meaning to drive a person 8 miles out of town and bury them 6 feet under. Shut up Lisa.

As you were,

Jay