I have never thought of Ted and I looking particularity needy, but I am beginning to have second thoughts. Around noon yesterday, we wind up in Amsterdam looking for lunch. But as it turns out any restaurant near the trail is closed.
“Do you know of any places we can get lunch?” I ask a woman, whose name is Jackie, watering plants on the second floor of Parillos Armory Grill at the corner of Center and Bridge Streets. She makes a few suggestions following with, “Oh no, they are closed today.”
So Ted and I sit on black iron chairs under an umbrella each drinking a water and munching on a power bar figuring we will need to tough out a ride and find something eventually. Jackie, the proprietor of the Armory Grill comes by stating, “I had a big party yesterday, I must have some left overs. Let me check.”
Ted and I wait not really knowing what to do. After five minutes we figure we should leave and not to be rude I go into her establishment and thank her for her kindness and tell her we will be on our way. “You can’t go,” Jackie exclaims. “Just go outside and I will serve you in a minute.”
I sheepishly leave the building listening to her command and tell Ted we have to wait. In a few minutes she arrives with two heaping plates of penne and rigatoni pasta covered with a tomato based meat sauce with chicken and sausages.
“Eat up boys.”
Ted and I start to dig in and it is Italian ambrosia. Little conversation passes between us and Ted inhales his meal even more quickly than I (a notoriously fast eater) do. Jackie comes back with water for me and we complement her on the meal and ask how much we owe her.
“Nothing and I won’t hear another word about it!” she decisively exclaims. “But if you want to do anything for me, take a picture of my building and put it on Facebook or something.”
Ted jumps up with his camera. It’s the least we can do. Perhaps if any of you are in the area, you can return the favor by visiting her establishment.
3 Comments
What are the major business enterprises that support the
towns and cities on your trip? Are the towns places lost in time,
or flourishing?
Unfortunately our trip too us through some very lovely but economically depressed areas. There were many abandoned factories and businesses along our route.
Notice that her kindness was not free of self-interest. I state this
not as a criticism, but an observation of a constitutive characteristic
of the human condition.