his friends here, then showed us.
After bowling, we stayed up late. I read to Daddy from my journal so he would know what we’ve been doing and wouldn’t feel left out. Mum gave him the muffler she has been knitting. It is blue and the stitches run in long tight chains. I love the way it looks. I have never seen people knit here the way we knit in Mussoorie. Up at Landour Bazaar, the women walk, or sit in a circle, and make sweaters and gossip about whoever is not there that day. Their fingers move faster than their tongues, and they never look down at their work and they never make a mistake. Well, Mum gave Daddy the muffler and said she had thought of him with every stitch. It was not cold that night but Daddy wrapped the muffler around his neck anyway. It went around twice, and he said, “I am a lucky man.” It was sweet.
Have I told you before that Daddy works at a catering hall? I can’t remember. It is a good job that Sushil-Uncle got him. If you work in a restaurant, some nights are slow and you get bad tips. But if you work in a catering hall, you are always guaranteed to make $150 a night, and whatever else you make in tips. Daddy eats for free at the catering place five days a week, and he shares a room in a hotel with three of the busboys, who are all from South America.
Daddy loves to watch people and tell stories. At the catering hall, he sees lots of weddings and sweet sixteens and anniversaries and corporate meetings and confirmations and bar and bat mitzvahs. He has told us about all of these things. It is crazy how much money people will spend on a party that lasts only one night.
Here are the two best stories Daddy told about his work:
#1 One night a sweet sixteen happened at Old Miller Ridge (that is the name of the catering hall). The birthday girl wore a pink dress and a diamond crown. There was a DJ at the party and everybody ate lobster, even the children. The teenagers at the party were rude to the waiters and waitresses, and the girl’s father kept talking about how much money he had. (Daddy said the man never even talked to his daughter. He was too busy showing off.) At one point, the man stood on a table and ripped a $100 bill in half! Daddy said he did that to show he had so much money he could afford to waste it. And all of the teenagers applauded. Well, right when the party ended, someone got sick from drinking beer and threw up in the hallway. Daddy was very irritated and went to get a mop, and when he opened the cleaning closet, he saw the girl’s father in there. The man was kneeling on the floor in the dark, and guess what he was doing . . . he was putting that ripped $100 bill back together with Scotch tape!
Oh, we laughed so hard at that story! Daddy acted out all the parts. You should have seen him leaping on the table.
Here is the other work story he told:
#2 It was a nice wedding with yellow flowers and salsa music. The bride was a pretty girl with a lot of energy. She danced for hours and talked to everyone. She was from Mexico, and only her mommy and daddy had come to the wedding. The rest of her family was still in Mexico. Her husband was American, and Daddy said you could see he loved the girl, and so did his family, because they all kept hugging her. In the middle of the party, the girl came bursting through the kitchen doors. Her dress was white and full and made lots of swishing sounds. She came into the kitchen to tell everyone how good the food was and to say thank you, and then she started talking a mile a minute in Spanish to the cooks, and it turned out her cousin was from a village close to Javier’s (Javier is the head chef at the Miller Ridge). She sat down on a grapefruit crate, with her dress spread all around her. Next to her was a big bucket of potatoes and a peeler, and all of a sudden the girl picked up the peeler and started to work. She sat there for fifteen minutes in her beautiful white wedding dress and peeled potatoes and swapped jokes with the
After bowling, we stayed up late. I read to Daddy from my journal so he would know what we’ve been doing and wouldn’t feel left out. Mum gave him the muffler she has been knitting. It is blue and the stitches run in long tight chains. I love the way it looks. I have never seen people knit here the way we knit in Mussoorie. Up at Landour Bazaar, the women walk, or sit in a circle, and make sweaters and gossip about whoever is not there that day. Their fingers move faster than their tongues, and they never look down at their work and they never make a mistake. Well, Mum gave Daddy the muffler and said she had thought of him with every stitch. It was not cold that night but Daddy wrapped the muffler around his neck anyway. It went around twice, and he said, “I am a lucky man.” It was sweet.
Have I told you before that Daddy works at a catering hall? I can’t remember. It is a good job that Sushil-Uncle got him. If you work in a restaurant, some nights are slow and you get bad tips. But if you work in a catering hall, you are always guaranteed to make $150 a night, and whatever else you make in tips. Daddy eats for free at the catering place five days a week, and he shares a room in a hotel with three of the busboys, who are all from South America.
Daddy loves to watch people and tell stories. At the catering hall, he sees lots of weddings and sweet sixteens and anniversaries and corporate meetings and confirmations and bar and bat mitzvahs. He has told us about all of these things. It is crazy how much money people will spend on a party that lasts only one night.
Here are the two best stories Daddy told about his work:
#1 One night a sweet sixteen happened at Old Miller Ridge (that is the name of the catering hall). The birthday girl wore a pink dress and a diamond crown. There was a DJ at the party and everybody ate lobster, even the children. The teenagers at the party were rude to the waiters and waitresses, and the girl’s father kept talking about how much money he had. (Daddy said the man never even talked to his daughter. He was too busy showing off.) At one point, the man stood on a table and ripped a $100 bill in half! Daddy said he did that to show he had so much money he could afford to waste it. And all of the teenagers applauded. Well, right when the party ended, someone got sick from drinking beer and threw up in the hallway. Daddy was very irritated and went to get a mop, and when he opened the cleaning closet, he saw the girl’s father in there. The man was kneeling on the floor in the dark, and guess what he was doing . . . he was putting that ripped $100 bill back together with Scotch tape!
Oh, we laughed so hard at that story! Daddy acted out all the parts. You should have seen him leaping on the table.
Here is the other work story he told:
#2 It was a nice wedding with yellow flowers and salsa music. The bride was a pretty girl with a lot of energy. She danced for hours and talked to everyone. She was from Mexico, and only her mommy and daddy had come to the wedding. The rest of her family was still in Mexico. Her husband was American, and Daddy said you could see he loved the girl, and so did his family, because they all kept hugging her. In the middle of the party, the girl came bursting through the kitchen doors. Her dress was white and full and made lots of swishing sounds. She came into the kitchen to tell everyone how good the food was and to say thank you, and then she started talking a mile a minute in Spanish to the cooks, and it turned out her cousin was from a village close to Javier’s (Javier is the head chef at the Miller Ridge). She sat down on a grapefruit crate, with her dress spread all around her. Next to her was a big bucket of potatoes and a peeler, and all of a sudden the girl picked up the peeler and started to work. She sat there for fifteen minutes in her beautiful white wedding dress and peeled potatoes and swapped jokes with the
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