March 19, 2025 ‘A Day in the Life’

‘Tomorrow is spring? Tomorrow is spring’ he answers his own question. ‘Yes’ I nod. ‘End of the road, in theory’. All because the beaver didn’t see his tail’. Silence. ‘Or the chipmunk’.

I add ‘The groundhog didn’t see his shadow’. He nods. ‘Yes. We lucked out this year’.

We enter the restaurant and he begins a friendly banter with the waiter. They chatter happily in Spanish. ‘I’m going to ask him where he’s from when he comes back to our table. I’m pretty good at guessing the sounds’. I ask him, ‘Where do you think he is from?’

‘The Dominican Republic’ he answers. ‘Really? The Dominican Republic?’ ‘Yes’ he nods vigorously.

The waiter returns. They start to talk again. I hear it this time. The Dominican. The waiter turns to me to translate. I do not interrupt him. Then he says, ‘But I’m only half from the DR. Here’s a challenge. If either of you guesses the other half, I’ll pay for both of your dinners’.

I’m slightly nervous playing this game as I’m the token Anglo here. Or is it ‘Angla’? ‘Um’. I’m silent. My husband pipes up. ‘German?’ Half German?’ The waiter says ‘nope!’ I offer up ‘Irish?’ What else am I going to say? Upon entering this establishment I noted I was the only white person in our section. Our server laughs happily at me and answers, ‘My people. Where did they all come from? They came in the surge’. He chuckles again. ‘You said that, not me’ I respond quietly.

‘I say what I want!’ he laughs again. ‘Your people…you know!’ And he rolls his eyes. I smile. It turns out the waiter’s other half is French. ‘Well, it’s hard to tell’ my spouse sighs. ‘I never would have guessed French. But I do recognize the sounds from the Dominican. They just say things a certain way. And Argentina and Brazil…that I’ve got. But all the others, I don’t’.

I look around the restaurant again. ‘French’ I offer. ‘Who would have guessed French?’ The waiter asks me about the generous tip and I tell him. ‘White guilt!’ He shakes his head. I chuckle. ‘I say what I want’. My turn. My husband and the waiter banter happily as we exit the restaurant.