yesterday morning i started off the day the way any self respecting southerner on the road would - with breakfast at The Waffle House. I opted for the All-star breakfast which included coffee, grits and, of course, a giant waffle.
there was a gentleman sitting across the room from me speaking in a thick cajun accent, and wearing a blue bandana around his neck the way a spoiled chihuahua would, asking if he could tell me some jokes. I shrugged and obliged and sipped my cofee. he started rattling off a variety of religious jokes aimed at various denominations laughing almost hysterically after each one with his cackle that told me he'd been a smoker for quite a few years and was missing about half of his teeth. he seemed harmless enough though his punch lines were a touch offensive, from what i could make out. He didn't seem quite right - he fidgeted quite a bit and wasn't having anything except coffee - lots of coffee. little bit of a twitcher that one.
Ealier, while waiting for my grits and sausage I went and perused the jukebox selections available to me. There was the expected array of country classics including Brooks & Dunn hits from the early nineties. (not that there were any others from other decades) and classic Eagles. However, I noticed a name that appeared quite frequently on this playlist. Mary Welch Rogers. Now, I'd never heard of her and the songs listed had interesting titles such as "Waffle Do Wop," "Good Food Fast, " and, of course, the perennial favorite, "Life is Like a Cup of Coffee." it turns out 'ol M.W. is co-founder of our beloved House of Waffles. Her husband, Joe, opened the first Waffle House in 1955 in Georgia with nothin' but a few bucks and a dream. Mary simply set that dream ... to music.So, I want to say, thank you. Thank you, Joe and Mary for having a dream and seeing it through with good, old, fashion, American hard-work so that I can eat a waffle bigger than the plate it rests upon, sip coffee fir for a king, and listen to crackpot Cajuns shoot their mouth off.
2 comments:
Dude...waffle house? what happen to the kettle? What, you join the circus and abandon your roots? Next you're going to tell me that you relate to the economic and sports championship struggles of Cleveland and are hoping for a Lebron upset! ;)
Nice start to the blog. I am looking forward to more stories involving strangers that interrupt your cup of joy to tell you existential jokes that illustrate their inner angst about the weirdos next door... "Now I ain't a racist, and I enjoy a joke about as much as the next guy...hehehah...you're going to love this next one...hehehaha." My only regret is that I'll be missing most of it. You'll have to send carbon copies to turkmenistan. Carbon Copies!
Woo! I thought it was exciting that I knew 5 people in the Peace Corps... but this totally tops that! ;)
I've got you in my feeds now, I'll be keeping up with your travels!!
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