There is just one employee at the LCBO on Dupont who won’t let me bring our dog into the store. She’s in her 60’s, has a hairstyle from the 50’s and she calls everybody “honey.” She must be 30 years older than everybody else who works there, and I suspect that she’s been working at this particular location for decades. Everyday, she sits behind her cash– never moving too quickly– following procedure to a tee.
When I dash in to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner, I often try to sneak our miniature Daschund in under my arm. Everybody else who works there melts when they see her, but not this woman. She just starts shaking her head from side to side, and dropping the “honey” from her vocabulary, she says “SIR, DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE STORE. YOU WILL HAVE TO LEAVE.” She makes no exceptions. I might be paying at the cash, but it doesn’t matter, without exception, she points outisde and sends me out to the street. I know she’s just doing her job, and I’m actually the villain in the story, but still, I feel aggrieved and irritated every time I see her.
On Tuesday, I went to the People’s Food Restaurant, which is just a block away from the LCBO, for lunch. My anti-dog nemesis from the liquor store came in and sat at the booth beside me. She moved heavily, like her feet were killing her. She was a regular there, and everybody knew her. “May, honey, how you doing? No soup today, but I make something special for you!” May, a name that would have been popular back in the 40’s or 50’s, but not one that you hear very often anymore.
She decided on the Banquet Burger with a side of Coleslaw for lunch. While waiting for her meal, she flipped through the jukebox, settling on Don’t Worry, Be Happy, by Bobby McFerrin. When she got her meal, she cut the burger in half, and quietly ate it while sipping her glass of water.
It was obvious just how happy and welcome she was there amongst all the confident, sturdy middle-aged women who worked there–women who also called everybody “honey.” It was a peaceful hour carved out of her working day, where for a few moments she could be free of the frustration of all he entitled and impatient Annex types, peevish that the line-up was taking too long or that they had to tie their dog up outside.