August 2021

Duncan had gotten himself a penthouse suite at Caesar's Palace - for the month.  But he had never been a people person.  Crowds bothered him.  He could take them up to a point so long as he stayed near the edge.  But it just felt like there was nowhere like that on the strip.  And even though he knew the ladies were just trying to make his stay pleasant, he felt … patronized.  So he had begun to fan out his search for out of the way places to eat.

The first place he discovered that he liked was a diner named Omelette House.  It was a small, family owned establishment with a friendly staff.  It was about 2 miles SW of downtown and about 3 miles north of one end of the strip.  It was also only maybe half a mile off the interstate.  He had looked it up online and expected it to be anything but what he was looking for.  But he found it exactly what he was looking for.

For his first meal he had glanced over the menu and frowned, searching for something apparently not on the menu.  He asked if he had just missed it and was going blind.  But he wasn’t.  Grits.  He had wanted grits - real, honest-to-God grits - fresh.  He sulked momentarily, then went to Plan B.  He actually called it Plan B.  He ordered the stuffed french toast (blueberry) with 2 extra eggs (over easy).  He was decisive and quick.  He added coffee.  Yes, cream and sugar.  He asked about flavored creamers.  As it turned out he had his own - caramel macchiato.

He had picked a booth.  He had brought a laptop with a powerpack in with him, a touchscreen that flipped to become a large tablet, and went happily tapping away at the keys while he waited.  He mostly typed one handed, which made the fact that his left hand had a fingerless glove on it more obvious.  But he typed fast for someone with one hand and had to have finished a couple pages before his meal got to him.

He was quiet.  And he was later joined by an older man.  The second man was built like a marine, but sharply dressed.  Duncan clearly cheered up when the guy arrived.  He offered the second man, Gary, anything he wanted, but the guy just asked for some coffee and as small a meal as he could order.  When Duncan considered seconds the older man smiled.  When he was younger Duncan might have gone for thirds.  Instead Duncan just took the bill and paid - with a very, very healthy tip.  He shook his head hard when Aliyah tried to make change.  His own mean had been around $20.  Gary’s had been maybe $6.  Duncan had handed her $60.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxokA0dBKb4pbFlYQ3VlcGdRekE
Gary

The next morning he returned.  As it turned out he had been waiting for 2 hours.  He hadn’t noticed the limited hours.  And there was a cop asking him questions about the time the staff showed up to open up.  Duncan was growling a bit.  But he explained the misunderstanding.  He was used to Waffle Houses and IHOP’s.

His routine was pretty much the same each morning.  He seemed to like a splash of flavor - something new and different each day.  He didn’t gamble - not really.  But he had finally played at a live table - a first.  He explained that his mother had been a dealer when he was a child too young to remember.  His story about that involved her catching him shuffling cards wrong.  He asked about things to do in the area.

By his 3rd breakfast he was proving to be a creature of habit.  He looked around first to see if he could tell who was waiting what tables.  Then he tried to sit in Aliyah’s section and the disappointment was evident when a different waitress came over, a rather cute blonde.  His attention kept straying back to the redhead.  Gary, who was apparently just Duncan’s limo driver, noticed and smiled when the younger man wasn’t looking.  He still tipped good though.

Breakfast #4.  He again got lucky and got Aliyah as his waitress.  His had announced he was going to try ALL the omelettes that weren’t offered in most diners already - like western and Denver.  He decided to start at the bottom of the list and work his way up.

#25. “Jolly Green Giant”..............................................................10.99 
Broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes and Cheddar cheese - ho! ho! Ho!

Extras - Salsa, Sour Cream or Spinach each ..............................1.09 
Avocado or Guacamole....................2.09 

Coffee … he had to have coffee.

Today was going so well though.  Aliyah got one of those nasty, foul mouthed customers with a privileged attitude.  If Duncan had been a cat his ears would have laid back.  He kept looking back over at the offending table, then around at the other customers.  Most were trying to ignore the scene, but clearly uncomfortable, especially those with kids.  He spotted a family with kids around 5-7 years of age who were talking about getting their meal to go.

That was enough.  Duncan flagged a waitress, any waitress, and asked politely, calmly and quietly for the manager.  He got up and followed, limping to keep up.  Once he got the manager, the woman asked if there was anything wrong.  Duncan assured her that HIS meal was just fine, but he could see customers being driven out by the one table.  He offered to pick up the tab - with a healthy tip - if the staff would just pack their meal up and make theirs to go.

Duncan added a stack (100 bills) of $20’s, still banded, clipped to the signed receipt.  Noone saw that except the cashier and manager.  But when the manager politely informed the unruly guests their meal was to go and that they need not worry about the bill, there was an air of relief.

For his own meal, he tipped his usual healthy tip.  He looked a little embarrassed about the other table.  He actually blushed.