MIDDLE FINGER MASHED POTATOES

JOE, SERVER

MOUNT LAUREL, NJ

Joe, a scrawny 18 year old server, clocked in for another day of serving at Empress Kosher Deli in the heart of the Italian neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. His co-worker, the man who got him the job, Norman—a neighborhood legend— was waiting on two elderly women who he loving described as “ball-busters.” Nothing was good enough for these ladies, the food was sent back three times due to not being '“hot enough.” Norman was at his wits end. An important detail about Norman is that his middle finger got severed in an accident years back. Joe watched on as the ladies got their re-heated mashed potatoes once again, complaining that it still was too cold. Norman took the stump on his hand and stuck it right in the center of the potatoes, saying it feels “hot enough to me.” Astonished, the women finished their meal, and even tipped well! Years later Joe was reading through the Daily News and saw a write-in contest for crazy waiter stories, and couldn’t believe he was reading the story he had seen play out right before him, submitted by the lady herself (who cashed in a $50 second place prize for this story).