Alright, here’s the story of me being nearly strangled at the Belvoir Grill in about 1966. The name of the perpetrator is withheld because I have no idea who he was, but even if I did, on the off chance he is still alive, I don’t want to make him mad again. Trust me on this one.
I worked alone 5 days a week from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM serving as the cook, cleaning crew, and server for a small grill on the western side of Rt. 1 almost as far south as Ft. Belvoir, Va. Interstate 95 had only recently been built so there still was some truck traffic on Rt. 1. The Belvoir Grill was owned by an Asian man whose name I do not remember. He was a nice man but he was very cost conscious and very suspicious. He was so afraid that I was going to give free food or drinks away to my high school buddies that every day at 6:00 PM when he took over, he would count all the burgers, buns, hot dogs, etc. and would weigh the drink cartridges to see if I had given away any drinks. We sold mostly hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chili and half smokes, although occasionally I would fix eggs over light or scrambled egg sandwiches. The place was known for the size of the fountain drinks. A large fountain drink was served in a cup that held 48 oz. of liquid when half filled with crushed ice. (A large Mcdonalds drink holds 32 oz.). You can see why he weighed the drink cartridges every day. (Little did he know that none of my friends would be caught dead in the Belvoir Grill).
So one day as I was earning my $1.25 an hour grilling hot dogs and hamburgers a customer walked through the front door of the grill. He was a big man, about 6 ft. 2 and probably weighed 280 lbs. As he walked up to the counter he announced, “I’ll have a half smoke with everything and large coke.” As was my custom I first grabbed the giant drink cup filled it half way with ice and then placed it under the coke dispenser so it would fill up while I fixed the half smoke. I then went to the rotisserie grill containing hot dogs and half smokes with buns in the warmer beneath. I picked out a large bun with the tongs, chose the best half smoke off the revolving grill and placed it on the bun. I grabbed a plate, placed the bun and half smoke on the plate and proceeded to load the half smoke with cheese and chili, mustard and ketchup and topped it with onions. I deftly spun around, grabbed the giant 48 oz. coke in my right hand while holding the culinary delight in my left hand and placed it on the counter.
I said, “That will be $2.00” and then the nightmare began. The large trucker, who had watched me fix the half smoke and fill the large coke step by step said, “Make that an orange!” All I could think of was that I was going to have to pay for that large coke if I had to now fix him a large orange, so I decided to be funny. I said, “Poof, it’s an orange. Oh, sorry, it didn’t work. I did my best. Guess you’re going to have to drink the coke.” Then as quick as a cat, the big man reached across the counter, grabbed me by the collar and yanked me to himself until we were face to face. He said, “I said I want an orange!” He had convinced me. I squeaked, “Ok, an orange it is.”
I spent the rest of the day drinking my large coke. I wish I could say I learned my lesson that day when it comes to trying to be funny. I didn’t. But I did learn some valuable lessons – Never underestimate the quickness of a big man and don’t mess with a man who is twice your size in a confined area. Those lessons came in handy years later in business. God is good!
Thank you!
I come from a family of big people. You don’t want to get the big guys angry! Scary lesson to learn!