Jonny Kolata
I woke up to the sensual sounds of the garbage cans being thrown onto the hot summer sidewalks by our city sanitation workers (who I love and adore very much – you rock! xoxo). It was the natural alarm I needed to start my blissful hot and steamy Friday in South Philadelphia. Most Fridays I work both my jobs. I slowly got ready for my first gig while my boyfriend ran to the coffee shop near our home to grab me an iced coffee for my walk to work. He doesn’t know that I will drive the four blocks because I don’t enjoy the heat. The iced coffee is very cold and exactly what I need to start my day.
My first gig is being a front of the house pastry salesman at the Machine Shop bakery nestled on the first floor of the Bok building. I love my tiny viennoiserie family I get to see every Friday morning. My coworkers are super talented and passionate about their craft and it’s honestly one of the highlights of my week. The morning shift is often simple with an occasional dog fight here and there or someone asking if we have gluten free desserts (we do not). I get cut a little early because the building is quiet during the summer. I drive home quickly to have an hour of peace before my next endeavor. My second gig can be a bit more taxing on the mind and body.
I get home and take my boyfriend’s dog outside to pee at the park across the street. He is also over the heat and wants to quickly go back inside. I then put on a record to unwind a bit. I choose the Catching Chickens EP by Nourished By Time. It is only 18 minutes which is perfect because I’m on a time crunch and only have 22 minutes. I pack myself lunch and hit the road for round two. The drive is very easy as I sing along to the album Brat by Charli XCX. I blow a kiss to the city of brotherly love as I cross the Walt Whitman bridge. I’ll be back soon – I will miss you.
I manage a grocery store in the beautiful hills of Cherry Hill, NJ. The parking lot pavement is glistening as I pull up. Most days are very quiet at the store with very little commotion because most Cherry Hill socialites are down the shore. They love to hang at the boardwalk or play the slots in Atlantic City during the summer months. I thought to myself this was going to be another quiet evening but I was sadly mistaken.
Shortly after getting settled in and putting on my apron I get a call to report to the customer service desk – this is typically a 94.6% chance of an unhappy guest. I mentally prepare myself by taking a deep breath. I approach the desk and can see the customer was ready to pounce the moment I said hello. She immediately points out the window and tells me that she believes she backed into one of our shopping carts and it caused a very large dent in her minivan. Why would she do this, I thought to myself – I hope the cart is okay. She repeatedly yells “someone better call me, I want you to write a report, someone better fix this.” I ask her to show me the damage but she replies “I’m kind of in a rush, it’s my daughter’s birthday.” She eventually agrees to walk with me outside and points to the large dent on her van which is parked oddly close to a pole. She says “I’m pretty sure there was a cart here.” There are no carts around. The pole clearly has her car paint on it and has experienced trauma from the minivan arse backing up into it. I say “are you sure you didn’t back up into this pole…” and she immediately snaps back “why would I do that and if I did there is a problem with your pole.” She keeps saying “someone better call me” and walks away. I walk inside and watch her immediately drop a large watermelon on the floor while trying to put it into her shopping cart. The watermelon does not survive the impact. I really love it here I say to myself as I walk into my office to submit the incident report.
I drive home replaying the watermelon hitting the ground in my head. Just like the garbage cans hitting the hot pavement at 7:28am. I get home and my boyfriend is nestled on the couch and smiles at me. He makes me tea and we recap our day to each other. We cuddle and fall asleep watching TV and I mentally prepare for the next hot day on the horizon. Goodnight South Philadelphia.
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