Work Ethic

"I'm so sad, angry, and pissed off right now," perky Coffee Girl says to me. Coffee Girl, with her pony tail brown hair and rosy cheeks, is a constant dish of unrelenting sprightliness and zip... even when she's in a bad mood. Standing near the dark wood coffee kiosk in the hospital lobby, my eyes widen and ears pull back, as I ask, "Why?" I notice this is the first time I've ever seen her face express anything other than conviviality. I observe a piece of foundation chip off and plummet to the ground as she attempts to grimace.

Pointing her creamy, ring less hand toward the ceiling, Coffee Girl begins,"Well, see, I have to pick up my son at noon. The girl who has the shift from noon to seven called and said she can't make it. This means that I have to stay here and keep the bar open," she talks while miscounting money. I hope she doesn't notice she hasn't charged me yet for the cup.

"Mmm-hmm," I say, understandably nodding and pressing the lever for some Colombian roast.

"So, since I had to stay here, while not getting paid overtime, mind you, I called my boyfriend and asked him to pick up our kid." (FYI, I relish juicy stories about children born out of wedlock. However, now is not the time to ask about a fruity shotgun wedding.) I add three artifical sugar packets to my coffee and stir, trying to shadow my escalating interest in her colorful life.

Hair flying about, she continues, "Yeah, so he asks his boss if he can get off, and then he calls me back to let me know that he can. JUST THEN, like an hour later, the girl who called in this morning says that she is back in town and can make it for the 12 o'clock shift. So, I call my boyfriend back and tell him that I don't have to stay, and he gets all mad at me and starts berating me over the telephone."

Grabbing a coffee lid, I say, "That doesn't make sense. You're off and he's off, plus tomorrow is a holiday - double trouble. Why not go do something fun, like a park or Arizona Falls?"

Her forehead surging crown-ward, she hollers out, "I KNOW! He just got all mad at me. His manager asked why I couldn't pick our son up or call in sick. Obviously I can't, because I"m already here, and I'd show up for work even if I was sick. He's called in sick three times this month. I guess I made him look bad in front of his boss. But, that's not my fault that my work ethic is better than his, EVEN THO I make less than he does, AND he gets overtime. Besides, it's not like he can't change it, you know?"

I reach out with my words, trying to smooth her ruffled feathers, "Well, look at it this way, you can't take what he said personally. I mean, you don't know what else happened in his day that he might be projecting onto you. He's probably not mad at you, he's angry at his own lack of character and laziness. And besides, if he doesn't want to hang out with you, then you just call up one of your friends and say, 'hey, let's go do such and such'." Buttering her up even more, I continue, "After all, look at you, you're so wonderful, you're a mix of fantastic and fabulous - you're fantabulous! Go have fun without him on your mini weekend."

She smiles and thanks me for the suggestions, then looks at my cup and asks for my money. I guess advice is free; coffee isn't.