DIS03
RECEIPT #003
FILED UNDER: DINER-DIS
DATE: 09/13/95
EMPLOYEE #71
I saw something... interesting in the paper this morning. A column by Peter H. King, “The Four Horsemen Unhorsed.” He opens with, “something strange is afoot in California. Nobody wants to talk about it. Nobody wants even to think about it.” King speaks of a strange calm that has claimed the state following the various disasters of prior years. Floods, fires, quakes, the usual calamities. Normally I am not one to take much stock in the papers, especially seeing how that sausage is made, but I still can’t help but feel this unnatural calm myself. Then, it hit me. It isn’t just calm in California. It’s downright pleasant.
When we think of our lovely customer Mrs. Pleasant many remark on her rather off-putting stare, but we often forget her other, shall we say, “charm.” She brings with her an eerie and unnatural calm before the storm. Like a spider injecting venom to soothe its meal, it makes us far too complacent for what is undeniably coming next. Where there is Mrs. Pleasant, there is sure to follow a disaster. Perhaps her midnight walks have served as a way for her to calm the air a bit. But why? What is she planning to order? And can we be the ones to fill it?
...
Or, perhaps, everything is alright after all. Besides, we have greater things to worry about than Mrs. Pleasant. She is only a Mrs., after all. Perhaps it was all just in my head. There is no calm in chaos, after all. Perhaps we should just relax for once and take a second to actually enjoy the coffee before it goes cold.
Cold. Huh. I feel like I’m forgetting something. Something important…