One of the good things
about living in the Washington DC area is that there are several bus companies
that drive the DC/NYC route, so you can easily score a cheap ride to New
York. When we have a weekend off, we like
to do just that, and it’s even better when we have an “excuse” to go. Recently we were invited to an anniversary
party in NYC, so we jumped on a bus.
But not before hunting
online for fun things to do while we were there and making a list! This time the list included Chocolate By The
Bald Man - Max Brenner – which looked amazing in online reviews! Especially since my sweetheart is a huge
chocolate fan!
We popped into the
restaurant on a Saturday afternoon and were told we would have quite a long
wait. But then we spied 2 seats at the
counter, which was 1st come 1st served. And BEST SERVED, it turned out!
Our seats were directly in
front of the CREPE MAKER. This woman’s
job was to make crepe after crepe after crepe.
She did not stop! She had 2 crepe
machines, and as soon as she would pour and circle the batter on machine 1, she
would do the same on machine 2. Then
flip (repeat on machine 2). Then take
off (repeat on machine 2). Then start
again. Crepe after crepe after
crepe. And they were all perfect! I guess she has a lot of practice… We felt like we had won the seat lottery
since we got to watch her work.
The menu had loads of
chocolatey goodness to choose from, but of COURSE we picked a crepe!! We ordered a hazelnut, banana, chocolate
crepe, then sat back and waited for it to be OUR TURN with the crepe
maker!!
She knew we were watching
her – we exchanged several smiles. And
she knew when she got to OUR CREPE. For
that one she seemed to take EXTRA CARE – specially drying the plate it would be
displayed on, drizzling the sauce… We
laughed and pointed and gave her lots of “thumbs up” on the production. When she was finished, she tried to reach
around the counter and hand it to us personally, but was intercepted by the man
in charge of organizing all of the food before it went out. Her eyes seemed to say to him, “But it is
THEIRS – it is for my FRIENDS who have been cheering me on! I want to personally deliver it please…” but
he was having none of it. In fact, as he
took it away from us, he said it was for someone else. I think the crepe lady felt bad, she had put
extra care and love into that one, and it turned out it wasn’t even ours!
But wait – the boss man
was wrong!!! IT WAS OURS, and he had to
eat a bit of crow as he handed it back to us.
We exchanged big smiles with our crepe friend and dug in.
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| Our amazing crepe, and in the background, our new friend the crepe maker!!! |
It was delicious!!! All of the flavors blended perfectly and one crepe
(and an amazing hot cocoa) was more than enough for us to share. We were very happy!
I wanted to tip the crepe
lady. It was HER who had done all the
work, so carefully making crepe after delicate crepe. She had treated us like special guests, and I
wanted to treat her special in return.
So, we took a $10 bill and slipped it through a line in the glass that
separated her from us. I gave her a big
smile, pointed to the tip, and pointed to HER, making sure she knew it was for
her and her alone. She gestured back,
“ME????” and we nodded YES!!!
She. Was.
Thrilled. It was obvious she was
not used to being tipped – she didn’t know what to do!!! The bill was suspended in the glass between
us and her, and she kept eyeballing it and grinning from ear to ear as she cranked
out more crepes. Finally, she turned to
the woman who was probably her supervisor and explained (in Spanish) that the
tip was there. The supervisor looked at
it, then looked back and said, “FOR YOU????” and our friend giggled and said
“Siiii!!”. The supervisor smile at us,
retrieved the money, and gave it to the crepe maker.
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| A steaming hot "hug mug" of Italian hot cocoa - ahhhhhhhhh. |
This tiny gesture of
kindness went such a long way. The smile
on the woman’s face would not go away, it was the sweetest thing. And one by one she pulled co-workers aside,
explained in Spanish what had just happened, and showed them the $10 bill in
her pocket. They all looked like they were very happy for
her luck.
Sometimes small gestures yield BIG RESULTS. We couldn’t give money to every homeless
person we saw in NYC. We couldn’t buy
meals for everyone there going hungry.
But we could make one dedicated crepe maker feel as special as she
is. We could remind her that her work is
appreciated. And we could make her
smile.
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| Bonus NYC photo - the Statue of Liberty as seen from Battery Park on a warm(ish) Spring day! |
