Souper Days

By Lorraine Archer

I am standing behind the food counter where I can
see the customers starting to line up with their tummies
empty and their money ready and so I take a deep breath
and ask the first man if I can help him and he tells me that
he would like a Caesar salad and so I start to make him
one and then he says No! and asks me what other kinds
of dressings we have and so I list them off and he decides
on the creamy dressing at the front of the display which
looks good to him and so I tell him that that one is the
Caesar dressing and he says Yes! that one sounds good
and so I spoon it over his salad not bothering to ask him if
he would like Parmesan cheese or bacon bits on it and then
I smile politely and hand it over to him and ask the next lady
in line what she would like and she asks me what kind of
cheese is in the ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and so I tell
her that it is Swiss cheese, hence the name ham and Swiss
cheese and she says to never mind because she does not like
ham all that much and so I roll my eyes politely and move on
to the next customer who asks for a bowl of trail mix and
when I ask him if he would like anything else with that he says
Yes! a spoon and starts laughing hysterically and so I slap my
knee and smile courteously making sure to stay behind the
plastic sneeze guard which separates us and then I notice a
lady looking intently at our soups and so I turn the temperature
down to reduce the cloud of steam which is snaking up towards
the menu sign and I ask her if she would like a bowl and she
asks me if it is hot and I say No! I am just wearing these oven
mitts because they match my shoes and she says Oh! and moves
on down the endless line of crazy customers which fills my days...

About the Author
Lorraine Archer writes full-time from Peterborough, Canada. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including SkyWritings, Sasee Magazine, The Globe & Mail, Fifty Something Magazine, Open Spaces Quarterly, Chronogram, NFG Magazine, Generation X Journal, Garden and Hearth, Mocha Memoirs, FellowScript, Absolute Write, The Freedom Chronicles and The Front Porch.

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