Open Writing

While I was away in Toronto my sister Gloria had married Edward J. (Ted) Perry and had moved to Watson Lake in the Yukon. Ted had been appointed as the Watson Lake airport agent for Canadian Pacific Airlines. Ted loved being in the rugged country but it was torture for Gloria. Consequently when their first child Alexander (Sandy) was due to be born, she flew back to Vancouver where she could be near her mother. When she refused to return to Watson Lake, Ted resigned from the airline and took up selling cars for a living for the rest of his life, a job I believe, he grew to hate.

When I returned to Vancouver, at Ted's suggestion I applied for an air traffic controller position with the airline. My application was put on the waiting list.

For about a year to fill in time, I worked as a `car hop at the White Spot drive-in restaurant chain. It did not offer much in the way of prospects in my opinion at the time. I did make good money and a couple of good friends. And I was finally able to see to my missing tooth.

The amount I earned as a car hop rested squarely on my own shoulders, as our tips made up more than half of the pay packet that I took home each week. One New Year’s Eve I was late waiter. This was not usual, as I preferred to do the earlier shift even though the tips were not as good, it allowed me time in the evenings to go to the movies or socialize. I on request had swapped with another young man who wanted to join in the New Year’s celebration. The late shift waiter’s duties were to collect the last remaining trays from the cars and the racks, clean them and clean the kitchens and serving area. A heavy task as all the walls including the equipment had to be disinfected with Bon Ami powder and wiped off. The bonus for me that night was the amount of tips and loose change either intentionally or unintentionally left on the trays. I collected almost $200, a large sum in those days.

Each car hop developed his own regular clientele. As the customer's car drove into the yard the ca rhop and the driver would exchange looks and the order was soon written and passed onto the kitchen for processing. This is where I learned that people are generally creatures of habit as my customer's orders seldom varied. The best tippers were working class men and women and the worst, were those who drove Cadillacs, Rolls Royces or the like.

One interesting fact about the White Spot chain of restaurants was that the overall manager lost his and his wife’s half share in the company in a poker game.

During this period my immediate supervisor introduced me to cryptic crosswords. I have been a devotee ever since.

© Clement 2006