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McNormal's: Another Last Food Restaurant by: Roscoe Smith

CHAPTER TWO: The Interview: Meeting McNormal's

   

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BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ !!! The alarm sounded. I rolled over to see the clock, 7:00 AM. The irritating alarm kept buzzing. BZZZZZZZ !!! I reached out of the warm cocoon of blankets to slap the little plastic noisemaker, 7:03. And a routine quick glance at the wall thermometer? 50 degrees F.

Pulling the night cap down over my eyes and the bed covers up over my head would give me three more minutes of preparation for the cold room. After what seemed like three minutes, the clock read 7:32. The sun streaming into the room warmed the temperature to 51 degrees F. At this rate, the house would warm up to 55 degrees by 12:00 noon. To be at McNormal's by 9:00 AM called for drastic action.

I had to make a game out of the situation: Imagine the green walls of the bedroom are the green walls of the tent at Summer Camp. The Summer Camp rule was:'The last camper out of bed gets dish duty.' Then, after 'dish duty' when there was no hot water left, the camper doing the dishes still had to take their morning shower. The threat of a morning shower with cold water was a good motivator to get out of bed.

Jumping out of bed when the room was still 51 degrees made this camper run. I ran to the bathroom and turned on the space heater to warm the room. I ran to the kitchen to turn on the stove and place a kettle of water over the flame. Then I ran back to the bedroom and slipped under the covers before the sheets cooled off. Two and a half minutes of shock treatment. With covers pulled to my chin, I listened for the friendly sound of a whistling tea kettle, my next alarm that breakfast was served. On the sound of the whistling kettle, I got out of bed, put on my overcoat, and went to the kitchen for a hearty breakfast of hot tea and oatmeal.

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DANIEL Z. SEYLER ©