A Christmas Gift For You Continued.....

I had a job as a dishwasher in a locally owned steakhouse after I got out of high school. It was definitely not the greatest job one could wish for, but a couple of my friends talked me into it and I figured it would give me an excuse to hang out with them after work. I had been working there for a couple of months when I realized that the owner of the place Jerry, was also the father of the family that had moved into the house across the street from my parents about six months earlier. It took me that long to be sure he was the same man who signed my paychecks. He kept some very unusual hours and in addition to that he wasn't what you might call the next door neighbor of the year. Most of our neighbors didn't even know his name much less what he did for a living. For a person who owned a business Jerry was not what could be described as a fixture in his own establishment. After working there and observing him for those first few months it became clear that he had many other interests besides being a successful local restaurateur. To say the man had many vices would have been an understatement at best. His favorite pastime when he was at the restaurant was sitting in the bar and drinking. He would sit and watch the bar staff while drinking Kamikaze after Kamikaze, the type of drink that one would be able to consume many of before their Mitsubishi Zero crashed into a aircraft carrier deck. Coming in a close second on Jerry's list of vices would have to have been his shameless pursuit of any woman other than his wife.He didn't seem to be too particular in this department. Basically any woman younger than his wife who would still be interested in him after trying to carry on a conversation with him filled his criteria. Even after my parents had met Jerry I didn't shared these facts with them until sometime later. I found it a bit dis concerning to be working for a man who was quite possibly less mature than me. Even without his multitudes of vices Jerry was a man was man who for the most part was bewildered and confused by the world around him. I always found it strange that a man like Jerry would choose the restaurant business as a profession. A business that by nature lends itself to human interaction. Anyone who spent time with Jerry could tell that human interaction was not his strong suit. I guess you would have to say Jerry was just not a people person. To be continued............