Pie Boy, Bake Me Some Pie, pt 1

Working at Robertshaw Pies could be just an afterschool job to pay for camera and biking gear, but it turned into more stories then I ever could begin to tell.

apologies that it's not edited properly, i need some feedback to figure out if the style works or not.

might turn into a series, do enjoy and I hope I don't make you too hungry. maybe the hidden message will be stay away from tim hortons, starsucks & other mass produced chains!! support little coffee shops. they have way more character.

Are the Goddam pies in the oven yet?

Yes. Good morning to you too Jack.
Good, carry on as you were.

Or Nope, had the stove pilot light burn out, the meat isn't cooked, or there's no lard for pastry, Jesus...... well do the best you can and get those bloody pies out!!

sigh... Jack it's the summer

Well the heat's going to be too much

he wasn't here when the heat wave hit 32C.... his apartment was cool enough, but the roads too hot... people were complaining.... i'm like it's 7C hotter back there... ohhhh... he just sleeps out in the back in the shade.

me and my buddy just siesta'd and talked with a stack of dishes unwashed.... when it got bad enough. the steam would have been too much, two days later the manager brought in a fan.

but that's rare inactivity because there's always something to do or clean in that tiny bustling shop

He comes over by the time the shop is open. An hour earlier:
Wandering over barely awake to jiggle the key in the lock
pouring arabian aroma of coffee to perculate
flicking on the staticky old radio to warm up the tubes to CBC
grabbing ice cold trays of tarts and pasteries to bake while fingers burn

a few cheerful construction workers and dozy hospital administrators pick up coffee and break the monotonmy
vacuum the front carpet and flick on the counter lights
grabbing a cookie for breakfast and pulling out the pastry, i take stock. 15 steak, 10 chicken, 5 steak & kidney pies to make.
lots of danish pastries to make though, gonna be busy

plug in the pastry bottom press and wait until it goes cherry red
scrape tins for meat pies of any baked on pastry
fire up the ovens to a healthy roar of life blood
blue gas flames lick the 40 year old blackened steel ovens
i turn the knob to 375F and throw in a few fruit pies after brushing milk on them and setting the timer
hope i remember they are there, the oven gods are merciless

the first regular comes in and pours his cup of coffee
you don't have any more cream
he says with the old italian american accent mellodic
sorri vincint, i don't drink coffee, i didn't know we were out
I can't hear you could you please speak up?
i repeat and add, i'm barely awake yet
it's ok you keep baking

he wanders to the back to find the cream in the fridge
he's really quite ageless, though a bit more grumpy since i met him years ago. been coming here for decades
incrediably smart old professor at harvard, still teaches one american history class with pride
his silent counterpart, a retired uvic english prof, clears his throat and i remember
right... sorri your danish, and i go to find him his favourite, lemon

i could set my clock by them and if i'm ever late i hear from them
woody needs his morning tea scone toasted with glass of water
as does the doctor, frank who impatiently taps his coin on the counter,

the group hasn't been the same since betty passed away
she told my friend beds were good for sleeping and sex
gasping laugh with her respirator tank as my friend stood open mouthed unsure how to answer
al with a jolly laugh got divorced and he was a wreck last i saw him
elenor, beautiful painter, left for quiet reasons too
all these characters have amazing charm in their golden years
there is still a bunch of old women who chuckle and tease me on wednesday mornings for their pie and coffee
Pie boy make us a fresh one ohhhhhhhhhhhh yum, you're quick!
i bring out a steaming pie a few minutes later that had been waiting for the occassion

the ovens might provide the goods, but coffee drives the shop
from political debates over globe and mail rustlings to horse & golf betting
even betting over palelistine, i never knew that the lebbanon conflict had bookies
though the soccer world cups, hockey and even curling each have pools as well
at least, i think they were joking about the 2:1 odds for the isreali airforce over the lebbonese rocketmen

what do you call the professional streaker as they arrested him? he was at the peak of his career. thankyou woody, i'll have to get back to you on that one
that old auzzie comedian treats me like a grandson for all his standup comedy, always asking about my schooling and soccer and encouraging me
five minutes later, i'm not as good at it by a long shot
but why was he so disappointed about the arrest?
woody looks at me bemused
it was all very anti-climaxic
good try haha. just come to them a little quicker you could say

lemon crisp, mince, butter current or walnut, mixed berry, or cherry tarts, 40 on a tray at a time, don't burn them delicates
danish twists, butterhonrs, texas cinnamon rolls and ecceles cakes
loganberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, strawberry rhubarb, saskatoon berry, peach & cherry
Don't forget apple pie!!! which is for to die! oh divine. so would any jenny craig program participant to try to resist to the urge.
as it is, i took an inch off my belt in four months after i left for a year

almost four years of the most amusing incidents. beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep timer's telling me it wants to die like two others I've broken. i shall have to write more when I get to sit down and have a break again. better not burn the pies. cheerio