Jody the Waiter

You know on Monday how I mentioned eating at Mazza, the Middle Eastern restaurant next to TKE? So, we had this fantastic waiter named Jody. Not only was he totally cool when we told him we were, essentially, ditching out on our food to go listen to an author read, but he set it up so we could come back and have our food hot and ready when we came back an hour later. (Actually, we were an hour and a half.)

When we got back, the place was busy, but he still found us a new table, a bigger one that would accommodate four extra people. He even remembered what drinks we ordered, and brought us new ones as soon as we got there. The guy was awesome.

He had one of those memorable charismatic personalities that makes authors stand up and take notice. And there were six (possibly seven) authors at that table. Dude, Jody. I hope you know you’re totally going to end up as a character in at least one book. Maybe more.

Have you ever met someone like that? Someone so authentic and real that you just had to model a character after them? Or—if you’re not a writer—someone you remember for years, even though you only knew them for like an hour? What is it about that person that makes them so memorable? Is it the way they make you feel while you’re in their presence? Is it the way they look you in the eye when you talk? Or maybe it’s dependent on the situation itself?

If the circumstances were reversed, I wonder how Jody the waiter would remember me? Or us as a group. If you were going to end up in someone’s book, would you be the hero or the villain?

Food for thought. Happy Wednesday!