Last week I found somewhere to get a good New York-style bagel, where the owner is the only one you ever see. I got my "everything bagel toasted with vegetable cream cheese", and he asked if I needed a drink? Maybe a coffee, or a wodka? (this was when I knew this was the place for me)
Today I stopped in at lunchtime, so Gary was a little busy. A little old man shuffled in behind the local high school kids (ordering pizza bagels and sodas). As he got near the counter, Gary stopped attending teenagers and started hauling up several large bags, calling off "this one's two, this one's three, this one's one". The old man nodded, asked if he could have help getting them to his car. Gary paused and said he could in a second, eying his growing line. I asked the man if I could give him a hand.
"Do you work here?" (him sizing me up)
"No, but my bagel's toasting, and I might as well be useful." (me sizing him up)
"Okay. You get these, I'll get this one." (Gary goes back to throwing raisin twists at 15-year-olds)
"18-dozen bagels is a lot..." (me hefting two full bags)
"I run a deli. Best one in town. The Star, over at Telegraph. Come see me sometime." (he slams the trunk, hands me a fifty) "I gotta run, pay Gary for me? Keep the change."
Change wasn't much, but there's a grateful smile on Gary's face and an extra bagel in my bag. I grew up in a small town where The Families owned all of the farms. Where there were breakfast discounts if you were on the football team. Where the head of the Knights Of Columbus suggests you come talk to him about a summer job. Gary was just doing good business, but it's hard not to feel those old connections.
The lunchtime business depends on getting people out the door quickly. Especially when they're teenagers who would just as soon go down three shops to Subway. Old-world atmosphere demands respect for regular customers, especially when they buy 200 bagels a day. Especially when they're older than you. Today I got a reminder that there's more to business than the exchange of goods for cash. Economics is what happens between people, seeking mutual improvement.