Breakfast 44 -- Melanie Allsup

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           "yeah, everywhere I am turning, nothing seems complete, I stand up and I am searching for the better part of me."

           I have been quite reflective this month with the breakfasts and that other thing.  When we are down and out and someone says, "Every time a door closes, a window opens.",  you kind of want to punch that person.  Because we cannot see the future,  we remain trapped in our misery.  Today I told Melanie the story of my greatest heartbreak, Nerinx Hall,  and she smiled and said something about God opening other paths.  I did not punch her,  because she was right,  if I had not gone through that shit storm,  I never would have had Mike Kiefer as a friend,  I would not know Fifi,  and I would not being eating breakfast with Melanie.

            Dave Difani was right when he moved above the bar or lived in the basement the myths get tangled here.  It is nice to have that place, where you see familiar faces and they greet you with a smile and you almost hear them scream, "Norm!"  You know you are home.  I feel that way every time I walk into the Blackthorn.  I am home.  I am with good people.  I am with friends.  Mike Kiefer and I are having breakfast this week, so you can read about him later,  but he and I had such a great partnership on Sunday night and the two of us,  welcomed both old friends and new friends into our home,  the Blackthorn.  Three years ago,  I started teaching again and it was tough getting down there on a Sunday night and waking up at 5:30 a.m. the next day.  I did come back and I saw that I was replaced by Melanie. She was lucky,  she got to work with Mike.  She told me that she was scared of the ugly, bald guy at first (Mel would never use those adjectives),  but we agreed that Mike Kiefer is a jewel of a human being.

             The first couple of times I saw Mel, as I was introduced, the conversations were real short as she works hard and she was always moving fast to make sure all of her customers got great service.  But eventually after several visits, there was a lull and I got to see and hear who Melanie was.  She is kindness wrapped up and when she smiles at anyone you melt a little bit as her genuineness grasps you.  She really does truly care about each and every person she serves.  And not the cynical caring or the fake friendship that people sometimes do when we work for tips.  Melanie is the real deal.  I know this because I saw a notorious shitty tipper come in to pick up a pizza and Melanie greeted him warmly and welcomed him in.

            I am striving now in these breakfasts -- to give each soul its worth,  to be ready to listen, to be ready to love the person standing in front of me.  That is why I am dismayed a lot by the current state of affairs, we have forgotten that all souls have their worth, their dignity no matter where they are born.  Melanie somehow figured this out long ago,  I cannot remember one conversation we have had,  and often she was busy working behind the bar,  where she did not give me her attention, her eyes, and her ears.  I know what some of these men sitting at her bar must feel like.  With just a few words and  a smile she can lift you out of your current malaise and maybe just for a couple of hours drinking an IPA or a Jameson,  feel your worth again.

            It is no accident that Melanie is a theater kid.  I love Theater Kids.  From Claire to Maria to Amanda to Julia too many to name.  The Marjory Stoneman Douglas kids leading are nation were theater kids.  The Theatre !!

                                 "I was born to join in love, not hate -- that is my nature."

            Today,  44 breakfasts in,  I had such a pleasant time talking,  laughing, and listening to my friend Melanie.  I say this after every breakfast,  but who knew this happiness was so cheap.  Today it was the Carondelet Diner,  a little place tucked between Broadway and the river.  Today's breakfast was the cheapest of the 44 and as I told Melanie afterwards,  "Thank you."  I received so much more today than the cost of the breakfast.   Melanie told me she wished she had the superpower to touch someone and heal them.  I bet if you would ask some of the people sitting at the bar at the Blackthorn or at Friendly's , we would agree she has that power.  She has the S on her chest that Alicia sings about. She speaks the "sound of the genuine" that Marian Wright Edelman tells us about in her book.

 

           "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."   Helen Keller


            Over the last week and year,  I have often heard the line, "Thank you for your service." It is always to soldiers.  What about the teachers, the social workers, the surgical nurses (THANKS)  and What about the bartenders.....    If you are down in the dumps,  look for my friend Melanie and she will give you the tiny push of an honest worker.