The last real job that I had was helping Bobby run his restaurant, when we lived in Idaho and were first married. After that, my heart had deteriorated too much for me to be able to work any kind of a job, either full or part time. Bobby wanted to open a restaurant , and what he wanted was to serve real Cajun food there. This kind of food was hard to find in North Idaho, so it was a unique niche for a restaurant. Bobby prepared all of the food, baked the little loaves of bread that we served with all of the meals, and took care of ordering supplies. My job was to make all of the salads, dressings, and desserts. I also set up the salad bar, put out the pitchers full of ice tea, and other things necessary for the buffet. Then I also greeted people , took orders, and served the food. It was long and hard days for both of us, and I was exhausted when we finally closed at night. Some of our fresh beef came from Wood's Meats, which was around 40 miles away; so when we needed more meat, I also made the drive down to pick up the meat, as well as make a stop at the farmers market for fresh produce for the salad bar. People would bring us things like fresh rhubarb from their garden, and we would trade them a free meal for it, and then I would make rhubarb cobbler to serve with ice cream for dessert. We had a regular group of people who came all of the time, and sometimes they had requests for special foods. One person asked about alligator; so Bobby ordered some, and everyone had to try it. The kids went back to school and told the other kids that they had eaten an alligator. When we got in the live crawfish, I would pick out a few of the lively ones and put them in the fish tank, and the kids especially loved to look at them. They were not as impressed when we brought one right up to the table, and only a few were brave enough to touch one of the formidable little creatures that were waving those claws at them. All in all, it was an interesting experience; but one I am glad I do not have to still try and do anymore.
I remember many little mom & pop resaurants like your's when I was younger. I loved knowing what flavors I could expect from the different little places all around. If you wanted to go out to a special fancy type of restaurant, you generally would have to go into the main parts of the city. But, now we have big fancy or fast food eateries on every corner. You have to look far and wide to find just a little place thar serves good basic food. And, what I miss most is being greeted by a smiling waitress who been there forever.