Smoothies and Tatoos
Mark K August 28th, 2011
I was dying for something to eat – wandering around the Novato Safeway with low blood sugar, hoping to find something healthy before resorting to Twinkies or donuts.
Jamba Juice!
There was a Jamba Juice stand inside the store with only one person in line. I scanned the menu for something more substantial than a smoothie. I found something called a “Chunky Strawberry” – a new item consisting of five of my favorite foods – yogurt, peanut butter, granola, strawberries, and bananas. What’s not to like?
As soon as Jamba Juice Guy finished with the customer ahead of me, I ordered one. At that moment you could almost hear the well-oiled gears of the Jamba Juice factory come grinding to a halt. Rather than making a quick 360 as he added yogurt and fruit, made a quick stop at the blender and poured the smoothy into a cup, Juice Guy had to do a considerable amount of head-scratching and consulting of formulas.
Then, just as he was adding the yogurt, a smiling new customer arrived behind me in line. But as it turns out, she wasn’t a customer at all.
“When will you be home for dinner? the middle-aged woman asked.
“I’m not coming home for dinner at all tonight,” Juice Guy responded without turning around, consulting a formula taped to the wall.
“Why not?” asked Jamba Mom.
“Because I’m going to San Rafael after work to get a tattoo.”
“You can’t go to San Rafael,” Jamba Mom replied without dropping the smile. “There’s a guy with a hostage shooting from the window of his hotel. The SWAT teams have shut down the freeway in San Rafael. You can’t get there.”
That’s brilliant, Jamba Mom, I thought to myself. I’ll have to remember that one when my own son asks for a tattoo. I wonder how she came up with that one.
Juice Guy wasn’t fazed though as he donned a pair of plastic gloves for the delicate dissection of a banana.
“I won’t be home for dinner tonight,” he repeated tonelessly, without looking up.
Jamba Mom and her tireless smile wander off and I got my Chunky Strawberry, preventing an embarrassing swoon onto the tiles of Safeway.
“That was quite a workout,” I offer by way of acknowledgment for his efforts,” but I get little more than a grunt in reply. Perhaps his thoughts were consumed with hopes that the next customer would order a simple smoothie so that he could divert his attention to the upcoming inking of his bicep.
I finished the snack, a little disappointed considering the time and effort that went into, but re-energized for my drive home to San Rafael.
Approaching the last hill leading to San Rafael, traffic slowed and soon came to a complete stop.
SWAT team induced gridlock.
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